Posts tagged IsaacBruce at FanHouse

You've got questions. I've got answers. If not, I'll make them up. Each Thursday at 1 p.m. EST, I answer your queries on all things related to the NFL. If you have a question, send it over to NFLMailbag@aol.com. Don't forget to include your name and location. Click here for the archives. Rock'n'roll.

I know that this feature is slated to run on Thursdays, thus making this a day late. The Thursday season opener threw things off this week, but the mailbag will be running every Thursday from here on out. I wasn't hung over and I didn't forget. OK, I was a little hung over. Anyways ...

Was it a good move for the Carolina Panthers to dump Brett Basanez, a QB who'd been with the team for some time, knew the offense, and was relatively young with some upside, and instead bring in Josh McCown, who very well may be a decent backup but shouldn't be starting in this league, whereas Basanez possibly could have one day been a starter?
- SoulCitySigma1914, Greensboro, NC

Basanez did make a solid impression entering this year after two years mostly on the Panthers' practice squad, enough that a few teams gave him a look when the Panthers released him. That being said, the Panthers have a "project" quarterback that they like in Matt Moore, and they want to win now. Jake Delhomme is no sure thing, performance- or health-wise, so the Panthers probably wanted a backup with game experience who could come in if needed without disturbing too much. Basanez isn't that guy. Neither is Moore. Plus, I have to say, I've always liked McCown. Though four teams disagree. But what do they know? One of them was the Raiders ...

A lot of names -- Bryant Johnson, Isaac Bruce, Mike Martz, etc -- have been brought in to revive a moribund 49ers offense that has ranked 32nd, 26th, and 32nd in the league in Mike Nolan's first three years. So how's that turning out?

The thing that struck me about this practice was, "Man, this is really, really bad."
...
The 49ers' pass game looked just as Martz described it the other day -- "organized chaos" -- though I'm not sure about the organized part.

It's OK, Matt Maiocco. Don't be shy.

... the play was extremely sloppy -- perhaps the worst I've ever seen.
...
It's difficult to believe they'll be able to function in a game setting on Aug. 8 against the Raiders.

So ... yeah. This is your 2007 49ers, v2.0. Of course, it's still far too early to start judging the team by these practices, especially given the fact that the players are trying to learn a very complex offense and no single quarterback is getting the reps necessary to build a rapport with the pass-catchers.

But that's just the problem. A lot of jobs are riding on this season in San Francisco. Yet while Martz's offense will be better than last year's, that's not necessarily saying much. It takes one full season just to begin comprehending his system fully, but that's a season many people can't spare. And so the onus gets put on Alex Smith or Shaun Hill to be a hero. But, a question: when has either proven he can thrive under pressure in the NFL?

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, Fantasy FanHouse is here to preview each and every team. Listen closely, you're almost guaranteed to win your FREE fantasy football league, only over at Fleaflicker.

Meet The ...
New home of Mike Martz, and his Martzian offense! Just ask anyone, right when he gets to town he makes every single offensive player a fantasy stud. Just ask Tatum Bell. Look, I understand Martz runs a high octane offense that has made fantasy stars out of Jon Kitna and Marc Bulger. I also don't believe you can just assume an offensive coordinator polishes dung into gold.

The Breakout
We're going to dig deep here. In deep leagues (14-16 team leagues) with longer benches you might give Josh Morgan a look. The sixth round pick out of West Virginia has impressed Niners brass thus far, and has a shot at seeing real time in the slot. In front of him you'll find five guys, but one of them has failed in two different cities, another is an octogenarian. If Martz can inject any life at all into the passing attack, Morgan has a shot to come from out of nowhere and be usable in fantasy leagues.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, Fantasy FanHouse is here to preview each and every team. Listen closely, you're almost guaranteed to win your FREE fantasy football league, only over at Fleaflicker.

Meet The ...
New home of Mike Martz, and his Martzian offense! Just ask anyone, right when he gets to town he makes every single offensive player a fantasy stud. Just ask Tatum Bell. Look, I understand Martz runs a high octane offense that has made fantasy stars out of Jon Kitna and Marc Bulger. I also don't believe you can just assume an offensive coordinator polishes dung into gold.

The Breakout
We're going to dig deep here. In deep leagues (14-16 team leagues) with longer benches you might give Josh Morgan a look. The sixth round pick out of West Virginia has impressed Niners brass thus far, and has a shot at seeing real time in the slot. In front of him you'll find five guys, but one of them has failed in two different cities, another is an octogenarian. If Martz can inject any life at all into the passing attack, Morgan has a shot to come from out of nowhere and be usable in fantasy leagues.

Any news is good news when you're talking about the 49ers offense. And even though the team signed Isaac Bruce to help improve the "pass offense," the Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrows thinks another 2008 free agent wideout might have a bigger impact.

I'm sticking to my guns on this one ... I think that Bryant Johnson will do more damage this season than Bruce, who benefited from A.) playing most of his games on artificial surfaces and B.) playing opposite Holt. Johnson, meanwhile, is trying to parlay one year in SF into a huge payday in March. That is, he has a lot of motivation to go along with his considerable talent.

Johnson was never considered anything more than the third receiver during his five-year career in Arizona. He was the team's 2003 first-round pick, but was immediately overshadowed by Anquan Boldin (taken in the second round), and the Cardinals' 2004 first-rounder, Larry Fitzgerald.

Still, he averaged more than 40 receptions a season, although he scored just nine career touchdowns and occasionally struggled with drop passes (for example, last season, he had a 52% catch rate).

That said, I think Barrows is right: Bryant's on a one-year deal and looking to make some dough come next offseason. Plus, he's seven years younger than Bruce, and perhaps more importantly, Mike Martz is running the offense (although that last nugget might not impress the Lions).

This may seem a bit, you know, obvious, but it's never good when a player doesn't show up for organized team activities. It's even worse when the team has no idea where that player is or why they're not present. Arnaz Battle was nowhere to be found today, and Mike Nolan was at a loss for explanations.

This may not seem like a big deal to casual fans or people unfamiliar with the 49ers, but Battle was their best receiver and most reliable player on offense last year (which isn't saying a lot, I'm aware). He's an underrated player and would be coming off a much better season if the team had anything resembling competent quarterbacking last year. He's currently projected as the team's third receiver behind Isaac Bruce and Bryant Johnson, but the 49ers undoubtedly have a big role for him planned.

The most common reason a player misses offseason activity is because of contract problems, but a 600-yard season and subsequent drop on the depth chart isn't really time to ask for more money. Besides, Battle has already attended other team activities this offseason.

I guess we'll know soon what the deal is, but it's important for Battle to get to work learning the new offense -- it's sort of complex.

There was some nervous laughter surrounding Torry Holt's recent comments about him becoming a Carolina Panther (see the video above ... the comments below). Holt was at a golf outing in North Carolina just after his brother Terrence signed with the Carolina Panthers.

"I wanted to send in my resignation to the the Rams and see if I could join him," the elder Holt joked. "I'm excited, but I'm also a little jealous because I've always wanted an opportunity to come back home."

Holt is from Greensboro, NC and was a star at NC State. There was some joking there, especially when the word "resignation" was thrown in.

However, it has to be a bit concerning to the Rams that Holt said this, especially as he enters the final two years of his contract. He's had a rocky relationship with head coach Scott Linehan and just witnessed the unceremonial exodus of fellow receiver Isaac Bruce this offseason.

Recent comments threw some more fuel on the fire ... especially since he name dropped the Panthers again.

Lots of mock drafts and pundits have the 49ers taking a receiver in the first round. Based on the fact that mock drafts and pundits usually do their work on the previous season, that seems fair -- the receivers offered Alex Smith just about as much help as his offensive line did (which is to say, not very much).

But there's a problem with this way of draft prognostication -- it ignores player development and, uh, a little thing called free agency.

By adding Bryant Johnson and Isaac Bruce in free agency, the team has already improved drastically. Johnson is sort of anonymous to a lot of fans, because he played understudy to Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald thus far, but the former first-rounder has a ton of big-play ability. Bruce is ancient but can still offer a lot in the intangibles department and is a reliable target.

And then there's Jason Hill, a project receiver the 49ers took last year who has skills comparable to DeSean Jackson (one of the incoming rookies most linked to the 49ers). Hill had a rough rookie year (as do most projects) but has reportedly made tremendous strides. With the aforementioned duo and Arnaz Battle locked into the team's top three spots, Hill wouldn't be relied on for much and if he proves capable of doing that drafting a receiver early would be totally unnecessary.

Now Vernon Davis ... who knows what's up with that dude.

Wide receiver Isaac Bruce, who signed this month as a free agent with the San Francisco 49ers, has changed his mind and will not wear the No. 80 jersey that he has worn throughout his career -- and that Jerry Rice immortalized in San Francisco.

Bruce, who had Rice's blessing to wear No. 80 in San Francisco, was criticized by some who thought it was disrespectful to the man who is widely considered the greatest receiver of all time.

"Isaac Bruce will not be wearing No. 80," team spokesman Aaron Salkin said. "We are leaving it in honor of Jerry Rice's legacy."

Now the question is, when will the 49ers retire Rice's jersey? It's surprising that they haven't already, but the fact that the subject of another player wearing his jersey number has been in the news this week should spur them to do so.

Previously on FanHouse:
Why Would Isaac Bruce Even Want to Wear Jerry Rice's #80?
Does Isaac Bruce Dare To Wear Jerry Rice's No. 80?

It's great that Jerry Rice has given Isaac Bruce permission to wear #80 (even though it's not retired, meaning Bruce should be subject to no judgments if he decided to wear it anyway, but whatevs). It's a touch of class and dignity from a man who's pawned some off lately, though Rice probably just consulted his WWRMD (What Wouldn't Randy Moss Do?) wristband on the matter.

But our former brother MJD brings up an interesting point -- why would Bruce even want the number? The gist being that any receiver wearing #80 for the 49ers is going to remind everyone of Rice, and how said current receiver fails to live up to Rice, and how that will breed contempt and result in large objects being hurled.

But that discredits the intelligence of a lot of people, this is coming from someone who's made a life out of discrediting the intelligence of others. The 49ers' fanbase is one of the more logical, informed, and rational groups in the NFL (they got all the good NoCal genes). None of them are expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. The media isn't expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. The 49ers aren't expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. Jerry Rice isn't expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. Isaac Bruce isn't expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. Isaac Bruce's mom isn't expecting Isaac Bruce to be Jerry Rice. You get the point.

MJD is assuming that Bruce has large expectations to meet, and that's simply not the case. I think most are aware that he's going to give about 700-800 yards, a handful of touchdowns, and much more in intangibles. Isaac Bruce doesn't have to be Jerry Rice. He just has to not be Ashley Lelie.