Quinton Patton

SF: San Francisco 49ers: Who Will Be the Number Three Receiver?
Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington (10) celebrates with 49ers wide receiver Quinton Patton (11) after Ellington scored on a 8 yard pass during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers USA; at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 20, 2014; Santa Clara, CA, San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Bruce Ellington (10) celebrates with 49ers wide receiver Quinton Patton (11) after Ellington scored on a 8 yard pass during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers USA; at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports

The San Francisco 49ers will start training camp for this upcoming season with 12 wide receivers on their roster: Anquan Boldin, Torrey Smith, Jerome Simpson, Quinton Patton, Bruce Ellington, DeAndre Smelter, Isaac Blakeney, DeAndrew White, Dres Anderson, DiAndre Campbell, Chuck Jacobs, and Mario Hull.

Boldin and Smith will be the two starting receivers, but after that, playing time is up in the air. It still remains unclear who the 49ers’ third receiver will be. The most likely candidates are Simpson, Ellington, and Patton, since the other players are long shots to make the roster (such as White, Anderson, and Jacobs) or have little to no chance at making the roster and could just be added to the 49ers’ practice squad (Blakeney, Campbell, and Hull)

Click here to read the rest of the story at Golden Gate Sports.

San Francisco 49ers: Examining the Depth at the Wide Receiver Position
Dec 15, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 15, 2013; Tampa, FL, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter of the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

One of the San Francisco 49ers’ biggest weaknesses in 2013 was their lack of depth at the wide receiver position. With Michael Crabtree sidelined for much of the season and Quinton Patton also missing time due to injury, the 49ers had to rely on Anquan Boldin and Kyle Williams, which proved to be not enough for the 49ers’ offense.

Read the full story at Golden Gate Sports.

San Francisco 49ers: Biggest Offseason Needs

Jan 19, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh (left) looks on with quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) against the Seattle Seahawks during the first half of the 2013 NFC Championship football game at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

This article was originally published on Golden Gate Sports.

The San Francisco 49ers have come painfully close to winning a Super Bowl title for the past three seasons. Unfortunately for them, the Seattle Seahawks will be representing the NFC in the Super Bowl instead of the 49ers this season.

The 49ers are certainly an elite team in the NFL, especially given the fact that they’ve made it to the NFC Championship three seasons in a row now. However, there’s always room for improvement, especially if they want to beat Seattle next season.

The 49ers are now officially into the offseason. They can now focus on what moves they need to make to improve next season.

The 49ers have star players at many different positions, but here are three positions where they must improve or where they need to gain more depth at:

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Projecting Colin Kaepernick’s Stats For The San Francisco 49ers In 2013

Aug 8, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) attempts to throw a pass against the Denver Broncos at Candlestick Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

This article was originally published on Golden Gate Sports.

In just 10 starts for the San Francisco 49ers last season, Colin Kaepernick proved to be one of the most intriguing, electrifying quarterbacks in the NFL. Last season, Kaepernick had 1,814 yards, 415 rush yards, 10 pass touchdowns, five rush touchdowns, three interceptions, a 62.4 completion percentage, and a 72.2 QB rating. His prorated stats for last season would’ve been 3,675 pass yards, 544 rush yards, 23 pass touchdowns, and five rush touchdowns.

Kaepernick has enormous potential. He’s become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC because of his incredible speed, his strong, accurate arm, his great instincts, his athleticism, and his high football IQ. Will Kaepernick be able to convert his tremendous run last season into a full season of stellar play, though?

Kaepernick is an extremely hard worker, and he will prove that his dominance last season wasn’t a fluke. He’ll keep improving, and he’ll have a solid 2013 season.

This season, Kaepernick will pass for about 3,750 yards and rush for about 610 yards. One of Kaepernick’s favorite targets last season, Michael Crabtree, is out for the majority of the season after having surgery on a torn Achilles. In addition to Crabtree’s injury, Mario Manningham is also out rehabbing an ACL and PCL injury. Because of this, Kaepernick will have to rely more on his feet than his arm at times. He will increase his rushing yards this year, despite the belief that defenses will now know how to stop him. He is just too agile and too quick to stop at times, so he will have plenty of opportunities to show off his running ability.

Kaepernick will still have a solid passing year though. He has started to build some chemistry with Vernon Davis, and Anquan Boldin will certainly be a significant contributor with Crabtree out. Kaepernick also appeared to be developing some chemistry with Quinton Patton in the preseason. Although Patton is just a rookie, he had an impressive preseason, so he could potentially become another reliable target for Kaepernick this season.

This season, Kaepernick will throw 22 touchdowns and rush for eight touchdowns. He will also throw 10 interceptions too. As mentioned before, Kaepernick’s options for receivers will be slightly more limited this season than last season. Because of this, the number of passing touchdowns he has this season will most likely be lower than his pro-rated stats last season. In addition, defenses will do more to disrupt Kaepernick in the read-option, since he’s proven to be strong in that type of offense. Despite his accurate arm, this could lead to more interceptions.

Also mentioned before, Kaepernick will have to rely on his rushing more this season. Although this is potentially more dangerous for a quarterback, Kaepernick is explosive and will be able to adjust to whatever a defense throws at him. As he said recently, he’s seen just about every type of defense that attempts to limit his running. He’s ready for physical defense and brutal hits.

“It’s football. You’re going to get hit,” Kaepernick said when asked about hits on quaterbacks on read-option plays.

This season, Kaepernick will have a 61.6 completion percentage and a 74 QB rating. He flourishes in the read-option, and he has an accurate and powerful arm. However, his completion percentage might decrease slightly with Crabtree out.

The QB rating measures a quarterback’s throws and what their performance means to the team’s win or loss on a scale of 0-to-100. It considers what a certain play means to a team and what the quarterback did to contribute to that play. Kaepernick’s QB rating of 72.2 last season ranked sixth in the NFL. This season, his QB rating will improve to 74 because he will have an even larger impact on wins than last season. With several receiving weapons around him last season, he can rely on his receivers more for first downs. This season, expect Kaepernick to take the ball himself more and impact the result of the game more.

Projected stat line for Colin Kaepernick this season: 3,750 yards, 610 rush yards, 22 touchdowns, eight rush touchdowns, 10 interceptions, a 61.6 completion percentage, and a 74 QB rating.