ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

49ers Personnel Group in Week 2 Carries Yards Per Carry Pass Attempts Yards Per Attempt Base 17 12.6 12 3.2 3WR 1 1.0 9 6.6 1RB-2TE 3 1.7 4 3.0 2RB-2TE 7 3.0 2 10.0 3TE 0 0.0 0 0.0 4WR 0 0.0 0 0.0 Totals 28 8.6 27 4.8

Months ago, before the 49ers named Shaun Hill their quarterback, I wondered whether receiver Michael Crabtree's addition might enhance Alex Smith's chances.

Perhaps the team would favor Smith's stronger arm once a receiver with first-round talent joined the roster. The odds were against it, but the thought lingered.

Two games into the season, there's no sign of Crabtree, Smith is a fading memory and Hill has improved to 9-3 as a starter while running an offense with prehistoric tendencies (and I do not necessarily mean that in a bad way).

I had to laugh when crunching the numbers on the 49ers' personnel use against the Seahawks in Week 2. Their increasingly familiar base offense -- two backs, two receivers, one tight end -- produced 214 yards on 17 carries and 38 yards on 12 pass attempts. That works out to 12.6 yards per carry and 3.2 yards per pass attempt.

• For download: Full 49ers personnel report from Week 2.

Touchdown runs covering 79 and 80 yards pumped up that rushing average nicely, but the 49ers had six rushing first downs on those 17 carries.

This was not simply a case of Frank Gore busting two long runs and doing nothing the rest of the day. Gore also had runs covering 13, 9, 6, 6, 5 and 4 yards. If we set aside Gore's two longest and two shortest runs, he had 12 carries for 48 yards on the other plays, good for a solid 4 yards per attempt.

The 49ers have so far been reluctant to use three wide receivers on first and second down. They have not used four wide receivers at a time this season, a significant departure from Mike Martz's offense last season. The passing game worked well enough within these confines to carry the winning fourth-quarter touchdown drive at Arizona. There's still a sense the team will need more from Hill and the passing game, but it's tough to argue with a 2-0 record.

I'll close by passing along a couple of related comments from coach Mike Singletary.

Singletary on modest production at wide receiver: "The only thing that I can say is that it will come. It will come. Josh (Morgan), maybe no receptions, but I thought he did an excellent job blocking, which allowed Frank to make some of those long runs. I think our perimeter blocking by our receivers certainly was very good. And, though we don’t have them here primarily to block -- we want them to catch as well -- but I'm thankful that they were unselfish and continue to be. But, they won’t be for long. For right now, they are. They’re doing their jobs. We’ll get better at that.”

On whether Hill can carry the offense to win a game if needed: "I will say this: I think, in terms of, is he capable of taking a team and putting (it on his shoulders) -- hopefully, we never have to ask him to do that. Hopefully, we don’t have to have a quarterback here in position to just take us and put us on his back and take us down the field. I believe that what he's doing right now has been good enough the first two games. Going forward, and I've said this before, to start with, we're going to run the ball. We're going to have to run the ball, and as we run the ball and Shaun Hill makes some plays here and there and as he gets more comfortable, he can open it up a bit. That’s what’s going to have to start happening. I believe he will do that."

The 49ers could help facilitate that by diversifying their personnel use. But if receiver Brandon Jones is healthy and the team sticks with its current approach, we'll know that isn't the plan for the time being (and we already know that to great extent, given that Arnaz Battle played well during the exhibition season). Perhaps that will change if Crabtree ever signs and develops as the team had hoped.