And just like that, Michael Crabtree is a starter

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October 21, 2009

Michael
Crabtree (notes), the 49ers rookie wide receiver who held out through training camp,
preseason and the first month of the regular season, is
being handed a starting job this Sunday against the Texans. Said head coach
Mike Singletary:

"I don’t think that it’s going to be too big for him," Singletary said. "To me, even though he’s come in late, he looks like he’s ready."

To accommodate Crabtree, Josh Morgan (notes), who sweat through two-a-days, training
camp, preseason and the first month of the regular season, is being fed some
bench. His starting job is now Crabtree’s, even though Morgan’s been the one
helping him get up to speed in the 49ers offense.

I’m not rallying for Morgan, offering him sympathy or implying that any of
this is unfair. It’s just the way things go. The NFL is a show-me business.
Morgan hasn’t met expectations, so a more talented guy — even if that guy
hasn’t been a model citizen so far in his extremely young career — takes his
spot.

So what can we expect from the first game of the Crabtree era?

Well, production, for one thing. If Coach Singletary high enough on Crabtree
this early, I don’t think there’s any question that they’re expecting him to
produce right this second. In fact, it’s probably fair to say that they’re
expecting him to immediately become the top-producing wide receiver drafted in
the top ten of this year’s draft. Of course, he only needs to top two receptions
and 36 yards to snatch that honor from the not-at-all prolific Darrius
Heyward-Bey (notes). That might take him about a half.

What else can we expect? Some boos, probably, from fans who didn’t appreciate
his holdout, and I’d expect that anger will last right up until about the first
time he makes a catch. One touchdown, one big catch, one tiny little
contribution, and all will be forgiven. That’s the way it goes with holdouts.
They’re easily forgotten, if they’re followed by production.

It definitely adds a little interest to the 49ers/Texans game this weekend.
If it goes like most Texans games have so far, the Texans will put up some
points, and it’ll be up to the 49ers to score with them. Crabtree could be a
factor.