From 1981 to 1998 the San Francisco 49ers had one of the most potent offenses in the NFL. During that stretch, they finished outside of the Top 10 in PPG once and YPG just once. In that time, there was a 13-season stretch when the 49ers offense didn’t finish outside of the top 5 once. Jerry Rice led the NFL in receiving yards six different times in that stretch and also led the NFL in receiving TDs for six seasons. Even Terrell Owens, following in the steps of Jerry Rice, put up exceptional numbers.

But once T.O. is out of the picture, the 49ers offense goes from good to “I wouldn’t draft him with your pick” in a matter of two years.
 

What We Don’t Know – We don’t know what sort of conditioning Michael Crabtree is in or how well he understands the playbook. We also don’t know how well the Texans can prepare for a player that hasn’t seen the field in 2009, which is a good thing. Houston is giving up at least a passing TD per game and over 220 yards through the air with just three INTs.

What We Do Know – Michael Crabtree can catch a football. He was the best WR in college football in 2007 and 2008. The only two years he played college football, he was a unanimous two-time first-team All-American and the first two-time Belitnikoff Award winner. We know that the 49ers passing offense isn’t going to get much worse with Crabtree in the lineup and Crabtree can run. His foot injury is likely completely healed.

The Bottom Line: Crabtree looks to score every time he touches the ball. He turned down a scholarship to Texas because they wanted him to play defense. His reason was simple: "I want to score touchdowns." He also has something to prove, which always lends itself to higher performance. The whole football world will be waiting to see what he can do and he strikes me as the kind of guy that is welcoming the eyeballs. Again, I think people are going to be surprised at how good he is early. 

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