I know the 49ers are thin at wide receiver, especially after releasing Antonio Bryant, but signing Ashley Lelie to a two-year deal won't fix anything. In fact, it might make it worse.
Lelie whined his way out of Denver last summer after the Broncos traded for Javon Walker. Under the impression he is a No. 1 wideout, Lelie decided he wanted to play elsewhere. He landed in Atlanta where he promptly went from average to awful. According to Football Outsiders, in 2005, Lelie ranked 49th in overall value among wide receivers. Last season, he ranked 73rd ... 15 spots worse than Bryant. Lelie also followed up an embarrassing 48 percent catch rate in his last year in Denver with a 41 percent catch rate in Atlanta. That was third-worst in the NFL.
I understand why San Francisco cut ties with Bryant -- the guy was a monumental headache -- but signing Lelie is a head-scratcher. With a deep wide receivers draft class, maybe team will look for a long-term solution via a first-day pick.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-07-2007 @ 1:57PM
Scott R. said...
I am nto to sure myself why we signed Lelie, but maybe he can turn out to be a good catch wiht his deep threat ablity and pass catching skills, he is a good receiver, so maybe he cna turn out to be a good sign after all. we can only hope. but maybe we will draft a WR in the first day of the draft to have for the furture. eihter way, Lelie is not all that bad, lets give him a chance. he never had a starting role in either Denver or Atlanta he will with us, and maybe that will be a benafit for us as wel as him and he will have a breakout year. lets with and see. but we still need to draft a WR this year and maybe start using Brandon Williams and see waht eh can do for us or teh other WR's we have on our roster. lets not just ahve them use roster space. we have Walker as well lest use them and see how it goes. we need to start to focous on getting a star WR for Alex and work towards the future.
Reply
3-09-2007 @ 1:08PM
Steviecool said...
Lelie is a gutless whiner and has a VERY overinflated ego about his abilities. He didn't have the balls to try to compete for a #1 slot in Denver against an aging Rod Smith or Javon Walker coming off major knee reconstruction. He just pouted like the little bitch that he is and demanded a trade. Fortunately for Denver, Atlanta took this cancer off our hands for us. Now SF can deal with this primadonna.
Reply
3-09-2007 @ 11:01PM
rlelie said...
Ashley Lelie is a dynamic receiver, One of the fastest in the league. Throughout his career he has averaged over 15 yards per catch, and this was with mediocre Quarterbacks. Ashley continually had to make mid-air adjustments due to poorly thrown passes. Watch him this year as the #1 receiver, and you will agree that he is truly a talented and gifted receiver. P.S. He is not a bitch!!!!
Reply