With a talented tight end, Martz plans to use him

By Chris Cluff  |   Tuesday, February 12, 2008  |  Comments( 5 )

San Francisco 49ers
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In the wake of Mike Martz's arrival in the Bay Area to try to revive the San Francisco 49ers' offense, the biggest question is: Who will be his quarterback?

Fine. That will be determined later, when Alex Smith is healthy and Martz can see Smith and Shaun Hill throw the ball in person.

Meanwhile, the second-biggest question is: What will Martz do with Vernon Davis? The answer: He's going to try to use him.

Martz is notorious for omitting tight ends from his game plans, so his hire naturally raised questions about Davis, whom the 49ers were giddy to acquire with the sixth overall selection in the 2006 draft. But Martz has never had a tight end as talented as Davis, a 6-foot-3, 253-pound player with 4.4-second speed.

Martz has said the 49ers have more talent than the Detroit Lions had when he arrived there in 2006, and Davis certainly is one of the Niners' top offensive weapons. In the discombobulated offense last season, Davis caught 52 passes for 509 yards and four touchdowns. He should be good for twice that, but it all depends on how Martz plans to use him and whether Davis can pick up the coach's complicated offense.

Martz knows one of his biggest challenges will be creating specific packages for Davis so he can get the ball to the tight end.

"In this system, you have so much flexibility within the numbers that you can be creative with a guy like him," Martz told the Sacramento Bee late last month, indicating that the coach does indeed have a plan -- at least the beginnings of one -- for Davis.

Martz said he could envision lining Davis up in the slot and in the backfield, although it's apparent that Martz understands the need to give Davis time to learn the offense.

Davis had enough trouble finding his way in offenses directed by Norv Turner and Jim Hostler, so it could be an even slower learning curve in Martz's complex scheme. Davis is a fantastic athlete, but he has been criticized for dropping passes and not running his routes properly, for being out of position or getting called for illegal procedure too often. It's obvious that he will need to be more disciplined if he wants Martz to use him.

Davis also will have to lose the "I am the greatest" attitude and start paying more attention to the details and less to what others are saying about him. But if Davis can grasp the offense, Martz seems interested in utilizing Davis' immense, raw talent.

"You've got to be careful not to put too much on him," Martz said, "but it's a great opportunity to use him in different venues, so to speak. The system allows that kind of flexibility."

So what will Martz do with Vernon Davis? For now, it looks like he'll try to use him.
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About Chris Cluff

Chris Cluff spent 10 years as an editor and sportswriter for The Seattle Times. He was a key figure in the newspaper's coverage of the Seahawks, particularly during their Super Bowl run in 2005. He also has written two books on the Seahawks: "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Heart-Pounding,...
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