Rogers lauds 49ers front office for adding speed, power

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For the first time in his seven-year NFL career, cornerback Carlos Rogers returns to a team that brings back every starter on defense.And the 49ers did not stop there. Rogers was equally impressed that the 49ers' front office, led by general manager Trent Baalke, added Randy Moss and Mario Manningham to the receiving corps.Those wideouts bring some much-needed speed to go along with top receiver Michael Crabtree, who caught just one pass for 3 yards in the season-ending loss in the NFC Championship game.
"Speed is a big thing," Rogers said. "But Crabtree don't got much speed but he makes unbelievable catches and he does so much stuff for this team.""So I wouldn't say speed was missing. Them guys (New York Giants) just made a few more plays than us. It came down to a few plays. It wasn't about speed or a certain guy didn't do this or didn't do that. They made more plays than us to win it."Rogers on Thursday made his first public comments Thursday since signing a four-year, 29.3 million contract to remain with the 49ers.In addition to Moss and Manningham, the 49ers on Wednesday agreed to terms with former Giants running back Brandon Jacobs. That was another move that caught Rogers' attention.
The Moss signing came before Rogers re-upped with the 49ers. Then, less than a week after Rogers agreed to return to the 49ers, the club reached contract terms with Manningham."I was happy, just to get more weapons on the offensive side, receivers, and get depth at that position," Rogers said. "I'm pretty sure with them signing all of those guys, that's a position they felt we needed depth at."I wasn't happy about losing Josh (Morgan), I thought he was a pretty good receiver and then he got hurt. But just to add those guys -- guys that just got off a Super Bowl team and we faced twice last year . . . adding some more help for Crabtree and getting Ted (Ginn) back. Getting Moss back -- I just hope we get half of his ability. And just his name is a threat out there. That's a guy you're not going to single-cover. You got a double out there for him, and that's going to open up space for a lot more guys."
Rogers faced Manningham twice a year the past four seasons. They played twice as NFC East rivals when Rogers was with the Washington Redskins. And last season, the 49ers and Giants also met twice."I know what type of receiver he is," Rogers said. "No. 1, he's got speed. You can't coach that. . . . I always thought he was fast. He's a guy who's quick out of his breaks. He can make real good catches. He's proved that day-in and day-out. He's a guy who grew up a lot since he first came in, from learning that system and got it down. If it weren't for that catch he made in the Super Bowl, you may be looking at New England holding up that trophy again."Rogers also has plenty of experience against Jacobs, a 6-foot-4, 264-pounder."I'm glad he's on our team," Rogers said. "I went to college with Brandon before he transferred (to Southern Illinois). He was at Auburn with us. I faced him in Washington. The area where I was tackling him weights 20 or 30 pounds because I'm going from his knees on down. . . . I'm pretty sure a lot of teams don't want to face him in our conference and the teams we got to play next year."Here's how Manningham and Jacobs fared against the 49ers last season:Regular season: Week 10
49ers 27, Giants 20
Jacobs: 18 rushes, 55 yards (3.1 average); 2 receptions, 17 yards.
Manningham: 10 targets, 6 receptions, 77 yards, 13-yard TD in third quarter.NFC Championship
Giants 20, 49ers 17, OT
Jacobs: 5 rushes, 13 yards (2.6 average); 2 receptions, 8 yards.
Manningham: 5 targets, 1 receptions, 17 yards, 17-yard TD in fourth quarter.

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