49ers WR Boldin says Crabtree still No. 1
The San Francisco 49ers’ receiving corps has had a rough go of it in 2013.
Mario Manningham tore ligaments in his knee last December and was forced to miss the entire postseason and most of this season while rehabbing the injury. He was placed back on injured reserve this week and will miss his second-consecutive playoff chance with the 49ers.
Michael Crabtree — the team’s 2012 leading receiver in yardage, receptions and touchdowns – has only played in five games this season due to a torn Achilles tendon he suffered last spring.
The list of the well-publicized problems goes on…
Anquan Boldin was brought in and has performed more than admirably as the 49ers’ No. 1 receiver despite the lack of options for quarterback Colin Kaepernick to target.
Boldin had another sterling performance on Sunday in San Francisco’s 23-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals with 9 catches for 149 yards and a touchdown, bringing his totals for 2013 to 85 catches for 1,179 yards and 7 TDs.
Both of those stats either tie or surpass Crabtree’s 2012 totals (85 and 1,105, respectively), although he did have more touchdown catches with 9.
Both are fantastic receivers, let’s put it that way.
Boldin, ever the consummate professional, stated that this is still Crabtree’s team, according to Taylor Price of 49ers.com.
Anquan Boldin said @KingCrab15 is #49ers top WR. "We all know he's the No. 1 receiver here. This is his team. I'm here to help him out."
— Taylor Price (@TaylorPrice) December 30, 2013
Having two 1,000-yard receivers on the same squad is a good problem to have, no matter who is No. 1. But, good on Boldin for not showing any ego in that regard.