What lies in store for Vernon Davis?

Vernon Davis had some recent comments indicating that he wants to have a more prominent role in the San Francisco 49ers offense. He wants his role to be "Not just as someone who's blocking." Even though Davis said that he enjoys blocking, he also said that "I would love to be involved a little bit more [in the offense]. I would love that. That would be amazing. But like I said, it's out of my control. All I can do is come here, show up and take care of my responsibilities."

Davis is a bit of an enigma right now; his drop off has been sudden, and I wonder how connected to other problems this team is suffering on offense. By and large, Davis has been a solid contributor for the offense, even when it hasn't been that good (see Singletary days). Yet, this year, Davis has become pedestrian. That sort of drop off is a bit odd.

It's why, I think, most people attributed his lack of production to injuries. And that might have been what put him on the path of no production. That's totally conceivable. But, these comments suggest that injuries might not be the main factor, or even a major factor. Davis seems to think that he could be used a bit differently and that this might lead to him being a bigger part of the offense.

How right is he? Well, I don't know. Probably the only people who could answer that are on the team; and despite Colin Kaepernick's new loquaciousness, I doubt the team is too interested in divulging that information. And, given the fact that everybody on the offense is playing at about a high school level, it seems pretty likely that the drop off is related to the team issues. And, thus, Davis becomes confusing all over again. His lack of production seems much worse than we would think, but so does the offense as a whole.

So, I wonder how important these last three weeks will be for evaluating Davis' future with the team. So much is up in the air, what with the coaching staff being who the hell knows, that Davis' place on the team is likewise confusing to pin down. But, if he really does not play well for the remainder of the season, he could absolutely be a cap casualty.

So, what would be enough for Davis to be a guy worth keeping around? Is he just automatically that type of guy? I don't think it's outrageous to grant him the down season and hope that he comes back more like himself next year. But, it's also totally reasonable to worry about his future abilities after a season like this. While we all would like to see him catch 14 passes for 400 yards and 3 TDs over the next three games, that probably isn't going to happen. Instead, I'd really like to see him start being a threat in the middle; I'd like to see him adjust his routes to a ball in the air; I'd like to see him catch the ball with his hands and without jump (lol, yeah right); and, I'd like to see him be the deep threat this team needs.