Archive for the ‘Ponderings’ Category

The 49ers lost Michael Crabtree for most of the 2013 season when he ripped apart his Achilles while running around in shorts. That will suck for so many obvious reasons, most notably his absurd yards after the catch. Of Crabtree’s 1,105 overall receiving yards this past season, 536 of them came after he caught a football.

But there’s a more specific reason for spirit crushing following Crabtree’s tear: his relationship with Colin Kaepernick, which is second only to the sophomore quarterback’s undying affection for giant turtles. Including the playoffs, Kaepernick started 10 games for the 49ers in 2012, and Crabtree was often the subject of his throwing gaze. He averaged 102.3 receiving yards per game while scoring nine of his 12 touchdowns with Kaep as his quarterback.

The potential for haunting nothingness goes far beyond that surface layer, though, and please avert your eyes if you don’t want this quick refresher of the numbing numers we posted in the hours after Crabtree’s injury:

In the playoffs Kaepernick had a QB rating of 139.7 when throwing at Crabtree.

— Pro Football Focus (@PFF) May 22, 2013

Colin Kaepernick targeted Michael Crabtree 27 times on 3rd down and 13 times in the red zone, both more than 3x as much as the next guy.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 22, 2013

#49ers Crabtree was targeted on 39.6% of his routes w/Kaepernick as starter LY (Wks 11-17) only #bears Brandon Marshall was targeted more

— Cecil Lammey (@cecillammey) May 22, 2013

Alright then, so here’s what’s becoming clear: Kaepernick needs to not only find a new favorite target, but also a guy who can stretch the field vertically while vacuuming up those high volume throws. Enter Vernon Davis…maybe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe Ahmad Bradshaw just needed a little convincing, and there’s nothing more compelling than an upside down old guy offering large sums of cash while he’s loaded on some form of obscure drug following hip replacement surgery. So, here we are.

After a week of courting and negotiating, Bradshaw has officially found a new team, signing a one-year deal worth $1.1 million with the Indianapolis Colts. And with that, we wave a solemn good-bye to Vick Ballard’s 2013 fantasy value. Well, most of it at least.

Read the rest of this entry »

Chip Kelly has created curiosity this offseason, and he’s mostly done that by existing. Descriptions of the new offense he’ll roll out with the Eagles range from vague, to there’s no way in hell it’ll work so let’s just give the Eagles 16 losses now because they’re the worst.

Drawing equal attention has been the quarterbacks, with Michael Vick the sort of presumed starter, while a mid-round pick was just spent on Matt Barkley, and Nick Foles has sometimes been getting the most first-team reps in OTAs. Whatever, you guys can have your quarterback quandary. Because I’m so hipster, I’m wondering about the tight ends.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not sure what, exactly, we expected from Coby Fleener last year. He was a rookie at a position where first-year players can certainly produce, but only the truly elite go boom immediately. That’s because, you know, they’re elite.

Fleener didn’t fall into that category right away, though he could quickly develop into something pretty awesome soon. There was a reason for hoping high, though, because of the ready-made connection he had with Andrew Luck, his quarterback at Stanford. Those who believed firmly in that connection and saw fun late-round fantasy value in Fleener were rewarded when that rosy relationship led to 10 targets in Week 1 that Fleener turned into six catches for 82 yards. Included among those grabs was one of Fleener’s five +20 yard catches on the season.

But alas, that quick breakout hope was fleeting. Such is the life of the rookie in an offense filled with rookies, with targets inconsistent. Missing a quarter of the season with an injury didn’t help matters, and Fleener finished with an average of just 23.4 receiving yards per game. Over his last five games after returning from that shoulder injury he recorded just 59 total yards on only one catch per game.

Now Chuck Pagano thinks Fleener’s production is about to spike quickly in 2013. That’s pretty important, because Pagano has a say in such matters.

Read the rest of this entry »