When last we saw the San Francisco 49ers, they were losing to the New York Giants in the NFC Championship. Kyle Williams was the scapegoat in that game because he fumbled two punt returns, that led directly to 10 points by the Giants, including the game winning field goal. However, 49ers wide receivers caught just 1 pass for 3 yards all game, which had to have cost the 49ers at least 10 points and unlike Williams, they were actually supposed to be out there. Williams was a backup who rarely returns punts.
The 49ers knew wide receiver was a position of need for them this offseason, bringing in Mario Manningham in free agency, taking a chance on Randy Moss coming out of retirement, and drafting AJ Jenkins in the 1st round of the 2012 NFL Draft. However, it’s still unclear if they have a #1 receiver. Michael Crabtree was drafted 10th overall in the 2009 NFL Draft and considered to be a steal at that point. He was supposed to be their #1 receiver, but has yet to surpass 1000 yards in a season and caught just 1 pass in the NFC Championship game last year, two things that aren’t characteristics of #1 receivers.
The 49ers would obviously love Crabtree to break out and live up to his potential, after a season in which he caught 72 passes for 874 yards and 4 touchdowns on 107 targets with 9 drops. If reports by the San Francisco Chronicle out of 49ers OTAs are to believed, Crabtree is really impressing so far. Alex Smith called him the star of OTAs and cited the fact that he was finally fully healthy as the reason. We’ll have to see how this translates into the season. My money would be on Crabtree having a very similar season to last year in 2012, especially on a conservative offense with now more targets around him. Tight end Vernon Davis could easily lead the team in receiving again.
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