49ers QB Troy Smith Loves Him Some Delanie Walker

Over the last two games I've noticed 49ers QB Troy Smith connecting with TE Delanie Walker at a fairly regular rate. I took a look at the last two box scores and who knew that Walker was the team's leading receiver against the Broncos AND against the Rams? Against the Rams Walker hauled in four receptions for 80 yards and against the Broncos he hauled in five receptions for 85 yards. And don't forget the huge pass interference penalty in overtime this afternoon.

Prior to Troy Smith taking over as QB, Walker had seven receptions for 65 yards. Against Seattle it looked like the team was figuring out ways to mix Walker into the offense a bit more and then it stopped all of a sudden. He missed some time due to injury, but when healthy in the regular season we just weren't seeing much. There's never been any question that he's a mismatch given his combination of size and speed. He's basically a slightly smaller and a bit slower version of Vernon Davis. He's not quite as physically gifted, but he's shown a lot over the years in limited action.

And then over the last two games, we suddenly see an emergence. Walker had the two best games of his career and I have to imagine it's not entirely a coincidence that they happened with Troy Smith at the helm. My question is why has this emergence occurred at this point? Is there any kind of explanation for Walker's sudden development into just a beast of a receiver? I suppose it just so happens that he and Troy have established some kind of chemistry for no apparent reason.

Now, I'm certainly not going to complain about this because the Walker's continued development can only be a good thing for this offense. It's simply amazing when something just starts clicking like we've seen with the Troy Smith-Delanie Walker connection.