The San Francisco 49ers tried to find solutions to their terribly passing game which ranked 32nd in the league for the 2007 season. The only notable receiver the team had was Arnaz Battle who had 50 receptions for 600 yards and 5 touchdowns. They started by adding Mike Martz as offensive coordinator which should open up the teams passing attack. They also added wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson to bolster the terrible receiving corps but released Darrel Jackson.
Isaac Bruce is too old to be very effective these days but he still runs precise routes and knows the Martz style. If the team can find a suitable quarterback, I like Shaun Hill’s potential over Alex Smith, Bruce can still be an efficient 3rd receiver and mentor. Bryant Johnson probably has the most upside and showed some flashes of talent when able to start in Arizona. He lived in the shadows of the two super stars there and has a chance to be a number 1 here if he can learn the Mike Martz offensive.
Battle’s numbers would probably improve with the addition of these two receivers and only one quarterback throwing to him in the season. What was interesting is the 49ers releasing Darrell Jackson, even after a bad season for the receiver. The 49ers had three different quarterbacks and you can’t really blame a lack of production on Jackson. He would be a nice fit to the current receiving corp under the Martz pass attack and could possibly have improved his numbers greatly.
Although they didn’t get the best available wide receivers available in free agency, the team tried to make some moves to improve the passing offensive which fans should see as a positive but don’t expect the team to go far in 2008 either.d