Michael Crabtree of the San Francisco 49ers has suffered a torn achilles and already has had surgery to repair it, according to Chris Mortensen. Although it’s tough luck for Crabtree, there are several people benefitting from this nasty injury, including A.J. Jenkins. The 49ers drafted Jenkins with their 1st round pick of the 2012 draft, but he barely even dressed last year. With an impressive camp, Jenkins could be looked to in order to split some of the workload Crabtree leaves behind. Anquan Boldin, acquired from the Baltimore Ravens before the 2013 NFL Draft, will be thrown to more often now with Crabtree absent. Boldin had a nice year last year, and looks to continue that trend as he isn’t getting any younger. Another potential replacement could be Quinton Patton, the rookie out of Louisiana Tech. Patton is a physical receiver, like Crabtree, who works for openings and is a fantastic route runner. Look for him to get significant playing time this season. Last but not least, we have the feet of Colin Kaepernick. His feet took the Niners to the Super Bowl. Why can’t the next elite QB do it again? Without a reliable, favorite target of his, he will almost certainly run more times than last season when he had No. 15 as a target. Clearly, you’re fine Niners fans. Quit worrying. San Francisco has the same shot at the Super Bowl as they did before the injury. The post 49ers WR Michael Crabtree Tears Achilles; Where Does San Fran Go From Here? appeared first on Nachmany Football.
Vernon Davis, Vance Mcdonald, Anquan Boldin, a crap load of RBs, AJ Jenkins, Quinton Patton, best Oline in the league, top 5 defense....theyll be fine. Boldin will have 90 catches
Crab was going to potentially jump in the top-tier of WRs this year. That's a lot of talent to "replace." Expecially his run-after-contact ability. Hopefully, the young guys step up. They're going to have to be more creative with spreading the ball around
Boldin is essentially the same player though, cant expect him to do it for 10 more years but he can pick up the slack for 1
I wouldn't say they are the same...maybe size wise but style wise, not so much. The last couple seasons Boldin has been more of a rip the ball away from the defender type receiver. He's not really getting open on his own. Crabtree can get open... Boldin was a beast down the stretch, but lets be honest, it's not like he was like that the whole season and the Ravens gave him up for a 6th-Round pick. I'm not saying he won't produce, but it's a big downgrade IMO from Boldin to Crabtree...
a big down grade from a guy who JUST started to produce after what? 3 years? He showed some decent chemistry with kaep but he even might have zoned in on him a bit too much because thats what he was used too. Boldin, Patton, Jenkins, Williams, Davis, Mcdonald will be just fine. Is manningham and ginn still there?
I'm not saying they won't be fine, but Crabtree is a better player than Boldin at this stage (before the injury.) Boldin is at a stage where he has problems running routes and getting open, his numbers have been pretty average and he pretty much excels more with his muscle than anything else. His numbers the last few seasons are very similar to what Crabtrees were in Crabtree's first two seasons. However, Crabtree appeared to take a step to the next level last season, which is better than anything Boldin has done in the last three years.
