Although the 49ers are in the thick of the playoff chase (who knew I'd be rooting for Brett Favre and the Vikings?), I'm always looking ahead for the purposes of site content. Whether the 49ers make the playoffs or not, there are a variety of issues that will need to be addressed in the offseason. In order to be better prepared for the offseason, every so often I'll roll out a "Preparing for the Offseason" post. It will be something to give me a better idea of what kind of information folks will be looking for. I want Niners Nation to be your first stop for any 49ers related information, so I want to make sure I know what that information is.
Earlier this season, as the Michael Crabtree holdout saga dragged on, one of the many frustrations came from the fact that the 49ers might need to spend another high pick on a wide receiver. The 49ers do have the spare first round pick, but most of us probably felt even without Crabtree, wide receiver was still a little lower on the needs chart than both offensive linemen and potential pass rushers. Fortunately though, the 49ers and Crabtree came to an agreement and the 49ers are obviously better for it.
The question I raise here is where wide receiver now ranks in the grand scheme of things. The team has Crabtree and Josh Morgan, as well as a great receiving tight end in Vernon Davis. They've started to get Jason Hill back in the mix and there's always potentially Brandon Jones and Dominique Zeigler out there to consider as well. So now I wonder if wide receiver is even something that will be addressed in the draft? Maybe the 49ers snag a body in the 6th or 7th round, but barring that or some insane player drop, does anybody see the 49ers grabbing a wide receiver in the draft?
Accordingly, how much research do we need to be doing on the wide receiver front? I'd like to be able to focus my efforts on areas of significance and I just don't know if wide receiver will be such a position either in free agency or the draft. Maybe a player or two will be added to the roster, but any sort of impact player? I don't think so, but if you disagree let me know in the comments.