Utilizing Braylon Edwards: Let's Get Physical?

Consider this the week for some cheesy headlines. On Sunday against the Cleveland Browns, Braylon Edwards had four receptions for 42 yards, and more importantly he made it through the game unscathed. He was targeted on seven passes and was in the game a lot more than the ten to fifteen snaps I was thinking he might see. That would seem to bode well for his use moving forward.

We'll have a bit more on Edwards fellow starting wide receiver Michael Crabtree later today. In the meantime, I was curious about how the team would look to use Edwards moving forward. He seemed to have the most success on short little slant patterns where he could use his size to basically shield away the cornerback covering him. It would seem to behoove the team to use him more in such a role. I'm sure there are reasons the team did not go to that well any more frequently. I don't know if it was concern about the defense adjusting, or what exactly, but they chose not to further use a play that was having a lot of success.

The 49ers travel to face the Washington Redskins this Sunday and Edwards will likely be covered by either Josh Wilson or DeAngelo Hall. Edwards has a solid four to five inches and twenty pounds on them. Hall and Wilson have veteran experience, but it remains to be seen if either can match the physical nature of Edwards. I suppose it is impossible to make many predictions about the 49ers offensive game plan aside from Frank Gore, but consider me hopeful we see Edwards using that size advantage as frequently as possible.