Originally posted by ImaMod:
yay a bunch of #2 WRs = logic. Ok I think I get it now lets ignore one of the biggest reasons we lost in the NFC championship game and stock pile #2 and #3 WRs 
and waste a first round pick on something we already have and dont need
We lost the game for a lot of other reasons before the lack of WR catches affect the outcome.....
1. Lack of execution or sticking to the game plan
2. defense or specifically Rogers got torched by Cruz for an entire half then when we adjusted to it they torched us with another wideout
3. Alex smith falling back into a less risk taking mindset / possible result of play calling or the WRs not able to get open
4. Kyle Williams 2 terrible turnovers
5. the utter lack of depth at WR after crabtree.
Who is this magical #1 WR that we would draft at #30th overall? I already posted the statistical history of drafting a 1st round WR gives us a 1 in 4 chance at drafting a complete bust, a 1 in 4 chance of drafting a "randy moss like #1" and 2 in 4 shot at drafting a #2 or #3 talent. its a complete crapshoot when picking a WR in the early rounds.
The projected WRs to be selected from the 15th pick to the 45th pick
Michael Floyd - He reminds of Hakeem Nicks in weird way
Kendall Wright - A mix between Desean Jackson and Antonio Brown
Rueben Randle - I struggle to find find a good comparison to him lol
Alshon Jeffery - He could end up being the next "Big Mike" Williams :(
Mohamed Sanu - A near replica of Kenny Britt(not just because their both from Rutgers lol)
- Goes without saying that if Floyd or Wright fell to us we'd absolutely have to take them but after that it gets debatable what they should do with the pick. All 3 of the remaining guys are high risk, high reward picks. Randle has almost no tape because of the emphasis on the run game and the poor qb play, Jeffery's production fell off because of QB play and their is the ever present issue of "character concens", the knock on Sanu is he looks just as slow as Jeffery but lacks his jumping ability and height, he makes up for it with acrobatic catches and amazing hands but he leaves a lot to be desired.
My choice of the top 3 WRs at #30
-Rueben Randle - superb hands and body control and is an efficient blocker
-Alshon Jeffery - The athleticism is too great to pass up, if he runs a 4.5 we have to take him
-Mohamed Sanu - those hands and amazing body control would really help us on 3rd down but his lack of burst and quick twitch put him at the bottom for me.
The top free agent talent was drafted all over the board or not at all.
VJAX: Round 2 - 61st pick
Wayne: Round 1 - 30th pick
Welker - Undrafted
Desean - Round 2 - 49th pick
Bowe - round 1 - 23rd pick
Stevie - round 7 - 224th pick
Colston - round 7 - 252th pick
Wallace - round 3 - 84th pick
Rather then take a shot with an unknown prospect at #30 It makes so much more sense for us to draft a TE familiar with the system, subsequently allowing for more 2TE sets in our offense and giving Alex another playmaker on offense while looking to the mid to late rounds for WR depth and possibly free agency should Baalke and Harbaugh deem it necessary
As it stands right now Crabtree was "#1 receiver" for the whole year right up until he disappeared after that TD against the saints and unless Harbaugh goes back on his word of re-signing morgan we at best need a #2 and #4 WR
1-Crabtree
2-???????
3-Morgan
4-???????
5-Williams
Morgan is probably the most dependable #3 you can imagine, he was on pace to replicate his 2010 #s before injury of 45 catches for 650+ yards 3 TDs. Anyone saying that isn't solid production for at minimum a #3 WIdeout is just being stubborn and unreasonable
Through nearly an entire season Williams showed nothing to say he should stay on the roster or really be cut. Not counting his 56 yard catch and run against the rams he had 19 catches for 190 yards, not exactly astounding #s but what was more important that 14 of those catches resulted in 1st downs, also had 8 catches on 3rd down 2 of them resulted in TDs. The guy is worthy of the #5 maybe #4 gig but I can easily see that we can find an upgrade.
Crabtree statistically has shown that he is going to be at minimum an 80 catch for 950-1050 yard receiver which according to that ESPN article I posted is one of the requirements for a #1 receiver(only 17 1st round receivers since 2001 have posted multiple 1000 yard seasons) and Crabtree looks capable of doing so for years to come.
Something I feel compelled to remind everyone is that Crabtree is just 24 years old and he will get better!
Vincent Jackson first 5 seasons looked like this.
2005. 8 games 3 catches for 59 yards 0 TDs
2006: 16 games 27 catches for 453 yards 6 TDs
2007: 16 games 41 catches for 623 yards 3 TDs
then he hit his pro-bowl form with Rivers
and had 2 seasons 59+ catches 1,100+ yards 7+TDs
Crabtree's first 3 seasons
2009: 11 games 48 catches 625 yards 2 TDs
2010: 16 games 55 catches 741 yards 6 TDs
2011: 15 games 72 catches 874 yards 4 TDs
Every year he has improved and if he had been healthy for the whole season he would've easily pushed for 1,000 yards. Hes also done this with a QB carousel of Alex Smith to Shaun Hill to Alex Smith to Troy Smith to Alex Smith, imagine if he had the same QB for every single game. They've also said Alex and Crabtree still lack chemistry, can you imagine what they'd be like if they "had" chemistry!?!?!
You never know if Crabtree is going to explode the way Vincent Jackson did and we just need to stay faithful that the upward trend that Crabtree has displayed holds true.
My re-rank of the 2009 1st round WR class
1. Hakeem Nicks
2. Michael Crabtree
3. Percy Harvin
4. Jeremy Maclin
5. Kenny Britt
6. Darrius Heyward-Bey
After 3 years we have the 2nd best WR out of the 1st round selections, I like the odds of success that he'll get better. We have a #1 on our roster and we just need a #2 that can rotate with Josh Morgan, then we need to look at our depth and find players to compete with Kyle Williams.
[ Edited by sfout on Feb 21, 2012 at 10:59 PM ]
