NFC West YAC

[Crimsoncrew]

From Sando:

NFC West racked up YAC against itself - NFC West Blog - ESPN

A couple noteworthy things: Crabtree and Davis are the only two Niners, both right around 5 YPC. That's down from 6.8 for Davis last year, and 5.4 for Crabtree last year, and has them at 11th and 10th in the division, respectively. Everyone but the Seahawks has three guys ahead of them in average. Perhaps more remarkable is the fact that we only have two players who meet the 20-reception minimum.

I realize we haven't had to throw as much this year because we've had more success on D and running the ball, but it seems as if the passing game has regressed, especially over the past few weeks. This is an offense that theoretically should be great for YAC, and we're just shitting the bed in that area. Got to improve. Hopefully getting Kyle Williams more involved will help, and I'd really like to get the RBs - Gore and Hunter - more involved in the passing game.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

Im hoping this is just a product of the shortened offseason and no TC with a new system in place. We have to be thankful we have accomplished this much and have this great of a record considering our circumstances. If this keeps up next year then we have a problem.

 

[deep9er]

there are a lot of things tied into this but what came to mind first is the type of routes? it just SEEMS our receivers run routes that don't facilitate YAC's? not all routes, but most of them.

the one route that did - seam pass to Davis - we don't see anymore?

it could be Alex Smith is best throwing these more 'static' routes? anyways, just one fans view.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Crabs loves to stop and dance after he catches the ball. Tons of side step BS that rarely gains him any yardage.

 

[zman1527]

Im hoping this is just a product of the shortened offseason and no TC with a new system in place. We have to be thankful we have accomplished this much and have this great of a record considering our circumstances. If this keeps up next year then we have a problem.

Sorry, but this has been going on for years so it is not due to the shortened offseason, it is due to a receiving core with little skill for the big play. Too slow or poor instincts. Williams score 2 games ago was the only one I can remember like that for ages.

If they had that ability it would show up once in awhile regardless of QB, O-line, play calling, any of that.

 

[Flyingiguana]

there are a lot of things tied into this but what came to mind first is the type of routes? it just SEEMS our receivers run routes that don't facilitate YAC's? not all routes, but most of them.

the one route that did - seam pass to Davis - we don't see anymore?

it could be Alex Smith is best throwing these more 'static' routes? anyways, just one fans view.

well crabtree cant catch a slant pass, usually looks like a tip drill

when ginn gets open he's either ovethrown or there's a penalty. usually both

edwards is injured

davis is blocking or can't catch a cold

smith is still looking for someone to actually get open and it's been 3 days

 

[imac_21]

well crabtree cant catch a slant pass, usually looks like a tip drill

when ginn gets open he's either ovethrown or there's a penalty. usually both

edwards is injured

davis is blocking or can't catch a cold

smith is still looking for someone to actually get open and it's been 3 days

Translation:

Smith is perfect. Everyone else on the offense sucks. If we had a WR or a TE that was even decent, or a mediocre OL, Smith would be putting up Brady/Brees/Rodgers numbers. Instead he's stuck with a bunch of rejects that don't belong in the league.

 

[Flyingiguana]

are you fucking dumb? i didn't say smith was perfect

 

[imac_21]

are you fucking dumb? i didn't say smith was perfect

No, you just blamed EVERYONE else. Again.

 

[Flyingiguana]

maybe u should read it again. try glasses this time

 

[clyde_carbon]

maybe u should read it again. try glasses this time

Hopefully that wasn't an attempt to state that Smith can't read the field. You did a really good job at disguising it.

 

[Flyingiguana]

he's missed some open recievers but overal the recievers cannot get seperation.

there's plenty of reasons why the offense isn't executing. from the playcalling, the line, and the playmakers not getting the job done. we need to get back to what we were doing earlier in the year before we started getting cute with our plays, especially in the red zone. i'd rather lose because a throw to crabtree didn't connect instead of a fade route to ginn with both crabtree and edwards on the bench

 

[clyde_carbon]

he's missed some open recievers but overal the recievers cannot get seperation.

there's plenty of reasons why the offense isn't executing. from the playcalling, the line, and the playmakers not getting the job done. we need to get back to what we were doing earlier in the year before we started getting cute with our plays, especially in the red zone. i'd rather lose because a throw to crabtree didn't connect instead of a fade route to ginn with both crabtree and edwards on the bench

So you're really not saying that Alex Smith has trouble finding receivers.

 

[Flyingiguana]

he's missed some throws and open looks, nobody can doubt that, but there's no denying how bad our wr play has been this year. i think a healthy edwards and morgan would make the offense look much better. just like any team would look better with their top 2 wr's instead of starting numbers 3 and 4 on the depth chart

 

[clyde_carbon]

I find it disturbing that some people on this board continue to undermine everyone else on offense to pimp and prop up Alex Smith.

 

[Flyingiguana]

i find it disturbing that people hold a grudge against smith because he hasn't lived up to his draft position. we have one of the worst pass blocking lines in the league and lost our top 2 recievers. even then, smith is having a career season.

i'd hate to beat a dead horse but i wonder if these alex haters around here are the same people on espn boards who told me drew brees sucked when i wanted to trade for him after his 3rd season. rumours were a 3rd coulda grabbed brees.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

i find it disturbing that people hold a grudge against smith because he hasn't lived up to his draft position. we have one of the worst pass blocking lines in the league and lost our top 2 recievers. even then, smith is having a career season.

i'd hate to beat a dead horse but i wonder if these alex haters around here are the same people on espn boards who told me drew brees sucked when i wanted to trade for him after his 3rd season. rumours were a 3rd coulda grabbed brees.

Funny, Crabtree has played in all but one game.

Smith has had some tough shakes based on OL play and dropped passes lately, but you overstate the situation. If Smith didn't have the limitations that he does, he would be able to mask some of those deficiencies in other players, especially the OL. This week should be a good test against an attacking defense.

 

[zman1527]

Smith has had some tough shakes based on OL play and dropped passes lately, but you overstate the situation. If Smith didn't have the limitations that he does, he would be able to mask some of those deficiencies in other players, especially the OL. This week should be a good test against an attacking defense.

Circular argument: better O-line play or better receiver play would mask some of Smith's deficiencies.

Objective stat-wise it seems clear the deficiencies are with the O-line, ranked 29th in PP, or the receivers, showing up with weak YAC in a weak conference. Considering those two it is impressive that Smith has a top 10 QB ranking. Does he have deficiencies? Yes. Are they as bad as the receiving and O-line deficiencies? Apparently not.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Circular argument: better O-line play or better receiver play would mask some of Smith's deficiencies.

Objective stat-wise it seems clear the deficiencies are with the O-line, ranked 29th in PP, or the receivers, showing up with weak YAC in a weak conference. Considering those two it is impressive that Smith has a top 10 QB ranking. Does he have deficiencies? Yes. Are they as bad as the receiving and O-line deficiencies? Apparently not.

There's no doubt that better play from the OL and receivers would make Smith look better. Lately, Smith has played poorly against the blitz. Sure, our OL has struggled. But Smith needs to shift the protection and get the ball out of his hand. His passer rating looks good because we are 31st in the league in sacks per attempt. Instead of forcing things, he takes the sack. Now, a sack is better than an INT, but only marginally when it leads to 3rd and long and we only convert once every four tries. Smith has taken quite a few sacks that a better QB would avoid by reading the defense better and making quicker decisions.

There's very little doubt that all three phases of the passing game - QB, blocking, receivers - bear a lot of blame for our struggles, and I'm on record in the passing offense thread saying that our recent struggles relative to the start of the year have more to do with the OL and receivers than Smith. But Smith has shown time and again this season and throughout his career that he has limitations that hold the offense back.

Claiming that we've been without our top two receivers is just plain bias. Cratbree has been our primary receiver since week four of the season, as soon as he was more or less healthy. Losing Morgan and dealing with a hampered Edwards has hurt the passing game without a doubt, but the overstatement weakens Iguana's argument.

 

[h0ckeysk83r]

I find it disturbing that some people on this board continue to undermine everyone else on offense to pimp and prop up Alex Smith.

Were 10-3 with this teams, why you always so negative in your post clyde. Seems your just as guilty for drilling smith in his own right or blasting people just for saying anything good about him. Kind of getting old. Nobody here is proclaming him the savior, but this team has us at 10-3, lets see how it finishes out.