Speed or Size at WR

[AU_Fever]

It would great for the Niners to land a receiver with size and speed like a Calvin Johnson or an AJ Green. But these kind of receivers do not come often and if one is available, he is usually drafted in the top 5. The Niners have Crabtree who has great hands, but is more of a possession receiver. He has adequate speed and has difficulty creating separation. Boldin, if resigned is an older version of Crabtree. I think the Niners need to go with a speed receiver like Cooks out of Oregon State. He's a burner which should help loosen up
Seattle's secondary. The big question will be if Harbaugh and Roman will know how to utilize this asset.

49ers need speed more than size from wide re - 02-18-2014

 

[Jikkle]

We need speed moreso than size.

Even though they didn't put up huge numbers I did think we missed Moss and Ginn's speed and the threat it put on defenses.

Of course we shouldn't make the mistake of taking speed for speeds sake like we did with Jenkins. Crabtree and Boldin aren't likely to be on the team much longer so really we should take BPA when it comes to WR whether it's speed or size.

 

[purguy12]

Speed. Mike Evans gives us a little of both.

 

[deep9er]

It would great for the Niners to land a receiver with size and speed like a Calvin Johnson or an AJ Green. But these kind of receivers do not come often and if one is available, he is usually drafted in the top 5. The Niners have Crabtree who has great hands, but is more of a possession receiver. He has adequate speed and has difficulty creating separation. Boldin, if resigned is an older version of Crabtree. I think the Niners need to go with a speed receiver like Cooks out of Oregon State. He's a burner which should help loosen up
Seattle's secondary. The big question will be if Harbaugh and Roman will know how to utilize this asset.

49ers need speed more than size from wide re - 02-18-2014

IMO we shouldn't factor in Boldin and Crabtree too much, just draft the best WR prospect whether he leans 'speedier' or 'sizable'.

IF solid value arises later, they can consider adding a WR who leans the other way?

 

[maniax]

I think we need size. If Evans or Benjamin project to be Brandon Marshall or Vincent Jackson I would take that in a heartbeat.

Boldin is old, and Crabtree has neither speed nor size and our QB is delusional and has a man-crush on him, and Crabtree is going to want to be way overpaid in about a year.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

As of right now I wouldn't mind getting a big receiver that can also be our elusive redzone threat, and then circle back and get a speedy/quick slot receiver who can return punts later in the draft.

We'll see what happens though in FA because a lot of the current needs should be addressed ahead of the draft. Typically Trent does a good job of minimizing the needs ahead of the draft to be in good position to get BPA throughout the draft outside the first few picks.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I've been on record for some time saying we need speed first and foremost. I'd like to take two WRs, one with speed and one with size (a little of both wouldn't be so bad, either...), but our priority has to be a guy who can get downfield.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Speed. Mike Evans gives us a little of both.

I don't think Evans is going to be all that fast, though we'll see in a few days.

 

[maniax]

I've been on record for some time saying we need speed first and foremost. I'd like to take two WRs, one with speed and one with size (a little of both wouldn't be so bad, either...), but our priority has to be a guy who can get downfield.

We had a few 4.4-4.3 (Jenkins, Williams) speed guys here the past few years that did jack squat. They get jammed by the Seahawks at the line of scrimmage and it's over.

Personally I want a guy like Demaryius Thomas. He had a nice game actually against the Seahawks.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

We had a few 4.4-4.3 (Jenkins, Williams) speed guys here the past few years that did jack squat. They get jammed by the Seahawks at the line of scrimmage and it's over.

Personally I want a guy like Demaryius Thomas. He had a nice game actually against the Seahawks.

Our guys with size haven't exactly been lighting up Seattle, either. We have to be able to take the top off a defense. That's our number one need on offense. A big receiver can do that, but I'd like a guy who has speed to push safeties out of the box.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

We had a few 4.4-4.3 (Jenkins, Williams) speed guys here the past few years that did jack squat. They get jammed by the Seahawks at the line of scrimmage and it's over.

Personally I want a guy like Demaryius Thomas. He had a nice game actually against the Seahawks.

Here's where this argument falls apart: the speed guys you mention haven't done anything, period. AJ Jenkins had no receptions for us at all, so his performance against the Hawks wasn't markedly worse than it was against other teams (frankly, I'm not even sure he got in the field). Williams' best game in 2013 was the week two game against the Hawks, and the year before his one game against the Hawks was his fifth-best (of eleven). Granted he didn't make a real impact in either game, but he had as much or more success against the Hawks as he did any other team.

Contrast that with Boldin, who averaged 78 YPG against teams other than the Hawks, and 51 YPG against them (I'm counting playoffs). Or Crabtree, who averaged 65 YPG against other teams and 46 against the Hawks this past year. The year before, which is probably a better gauge, he averaged 76 YPG against other teams and 48 against the Hawks. Perhaps a better comparison for Crabtree's 2012 is 58 YPG against other teams with Smith at QB, 31 against the Hawks; and 91 YPG against other teams with Kap at QB, 65 against the Hawks. Those guys suffered a clear drop-off when facing the Hawks. Meanwhile, speed receivers have had some success against the Hawks. Earl Thomas is very, very good, but he can be overly aggressive and thus beaten deep.

More to the point, as important as it is to beat the Hawks, we have to beat other teams, too. And we need another big-play threat at WR when we play most of the league.

 

[purguy12]

I don't think Evans is going to be all that fast, though we'll see in a few days.

Not speedy WR but has some wheels for a Big Wrs. Evans is my man crush in this draft.

Overall Watkins is the the perfect pick for the 49ers but I just don't see us trading up that far to land him.

 

[maniax]

Here's where this argument falls apart: the speed guys you mention haven't done anything, period. AJ Jenkins had no receptions for us at all, so his performance against the Hawks wasn't markedly worse than it was against other teams (frankly, I'm not even sure he got in the field). Williams' best game in 2013 was the week two game against the Hawks, and the year before his one game against the Hawks was his fifth-best (of eleven). Granted he didn't make a real impact in either game, but he had as much or more success against the Hawks as he did any other team.

Contrast that with Boldin, who averaged 78 YPG against teams other than the Hawks, and 51 YPG against them (I'm counting playoffs). Or Crabtree, who averaged 65 YPG against other teams and 46 against the Hawks this past year. The year before, which is probably a better gauge, he averaged 76 YPG against other teams and 48 against the Hawks. Perhaps a better comparison for Crabtree's 2012 is 58 YPG against other teams with Smith at QB, 31 against the Hawks; and 91 YPG against other teams with Kap at QB, 65 against the Hawks. Those guys suffered a clear drop-off when facing the Hawks. Meanwhile, speed receivers have had some success against the Hawks. Earl Thomas is very, very good, but he can be overly aggressive and thus beaten deep.

More to the point, as important as it is to beat the Hawks, we have to beat other teams, too. And we need another big-play threat at WR when we play most of the league.

Demaryius Thomas did real well against them in the Superbowl: 13 catches, 118 yards and a TD.
Welker and Decker did nothing against that secondary.

Boldin is physical enough to hang with Seattle secondary but hd is old and slow so he's pretty much got Seahawks draped on him every time he catches a ball, and Crabtree to me is a decent receiver but not a dominant receiver and not big.

Julio Jones had a good game against them in last year's playoffs. Andre Johnson had 110 yards on them this year in the regular season. I want a receiver in that mold.

 

[Badger8843]

Speed. Mike Evans gives us a little of both.

Said this last week, this guy is a monster

 

[RoboticDreams]

Speed. We need a deep threat other than our TE. I love Crabs and Boldin but they aren't scaring anyone deep. We don't need another possession receiver.

Unless we can't get size and speed but Calvin Johnson doesn't come around that often.

 

[Ray_Dogg]

We need both. Size guy to replace Crabs and/or Boldin in a year and speed to open things up and get explosive plays deep from someone other than Vernon.

 

[AU_Fever]

We need both. Size guy to replace Crabs and/or Boldin in a year and speed to open things up and get explosive plays deep from someone other than Vernon.

Dodub has mentioned about Cooks. I really like him. It all depends how his measureables are in the combine. Dodub mentioned that if he is 5'10", he will probably go late 1st round. If he is 5'9" or shorter, maybe early 2nd round. I don't think he will last past the 2nd round. I am curious how he runs in the 40. Ray, how about Benjamin, Robinson or Matthews? They all have size but not necessarily burners. Matthews should be available in the 2nd round. He runs good routes, has good hands, but has trouble getting separation at times. He's definitely taller than Crabtree, but I don't know if he is faster.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

Demaryius Thomas did real well against them in the Superbowl: 13 catches, 118 yards and a TD.
Welker and Decker did nothing against that secondary.

Boldin is physical enough to hang with Seattle secondary but hd is old and slow so he's pretty much got Seahawks draped on him every time he catches a ball, and Crabtree to me is a decent receiver but not a dominant receiver and not big.

Julio Jones had a good game against them in last year's playoffs. Andre Johnson had 110 yards on them this year in the regular season. I want a receiver in that mold.

Decker is a big receiver. Not to mention that Thomas had the quietest big game I can recall seeing. He had 6 receptions for 28 yards prior to the Hawks leading by 20+. Some 70 of his yards and his TD came when the Hawks were trailing by four TDs.

Perhaps more to the point, all the guys you list as doing well against the Hawks are also very fast. Thomas didn't run at the combine or his pro day, but he has great speed. Andre Johnson ran in the low 4.4s, and Julio Jones in the 4.3s. Johnson has lost some speed, but he's still a superior physical talent. Not to mention that two of those guys were top-6 picks. I don't see a WR in this draft who combines size and speed the way these guys do.

We have size at WR. We don't have speed. Obviously you'd like to have both, but given a choice between the two, I think speed is the feature that is clearly lacking from our WR position.

And as far as Crabtree, he's pretty big. He weighs around 215, which is on the larger side for a WR. And while he's not incredibly tall (6'1 1/2"), his ridiculously long arms give him a catch radius that's equivalent to guys who are 6'3" or 6'4".

 

[Ray_Dogg]

Dodub has mentioned about Cooks. I really like him. It all depends how his measureables are in the combine. Dodub mentioned that if he is 5'10", he will probably go late 1st round. If he is 5'9" or shorter, maybe early 2nd round. I don't think he will last past the 2nd round. I am curious how he runs in the 40. Ray, how about Benjamin, Robinson or Matthews? They all have size but not necessarily burners. Matthews should be available in the 2nd round. He runs good routes, has good hands, but has trouble getting separation at times. He's definitely taller than Crabtree, but I don't know if he is faster.

My #1 Size WR is Moncrief based on availability to us. Maybe Benjamin makes it to us but he strikes me as a one trick pony concern. Moncrief can do it all. Matthews has the lack of burst but Robinson could work for me.

 

[purguy12]

Isnt Patton suppose to be our speed guy? What did he run at the combine. 40 Time?