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Every time I've got myself convinced that the San Francisco 49ers will be fine without Michael Crabtree, I see a video of him making a great play, or a still image of him in the midst of a great catch. Crabtree hasn't yet had blow-you-away stats, but the guy made some incredibly clutch catches last year and missing that is what I'm worried about.
Colin Kaepernick will have plenty of touchdowns, some receivers will step up and we'll have the yardage that Crabtree would have brought. What I'm worried about are those really clutch catches -- who will replicate that? I'm hoping that between Mario Manningham and Anquan Boldin, we get enough clutch-ness. Most of all, tight end Vernon Davis rebounding and having a great year would just be swell, wouldn't it?
Anyway, some more rookies signed, OTAs are going, the 49ers are awesome and all that jazz. Onto your links for the day.
At the end of the day, I do think the 49ers will be fine without Crabtree. At worst, they have a top two pairing of wide receivers who we know can put up decent production and at best, we have a trio of young, explosive pass-catchers showing each other up week-in and week-out. | Michael Crabtree injury: How 49ers will respond to loss of WR (Brady)
The 49ers got to work on their second-round picks yesterday, signing both tight end Vance McDonald and defensive end Tank Carradine. I gotta say, I'm really excited for both players, though I expect McDonald to have more of an impact this season, especially following Crabtree's injury. I mean, provided these guys are all healthy, as it's getting kind of hard to remember who is and isn't hurt right now. | 49ers sign both second-round picks (Maiocco)
If you're in the mood for even more stuff that has nothing to do with Crabtree or rookies signing their EXCITING CONTRACTS, why not blame some quarterbacks? We all do it for lots of things anyway, so let's start holding them accountable for some of those sacks. | When getting sacked is the quarterback's fault (BA Sports Guy)
49ers' 90-man roster: Which receivers will step up (Maiocco)
Bowman on ESPN: 'Guys are going to have to step up, and we have that type of team' (Inman)
49ers grant 'team voice' Ted Robinson five-year extension (CSN Bay Area)
Manningham on his knee: 'I'm not rushing it but I am going hard on my knee' (Inman)
Loss of Crabtree Will Force Kaepernick to Grow (NBC Bay Area)
Crabtree's recovery route has several recent examples to follow (Inman)
McDonald Enjoys Mentorship Role (49ers)