When people think of the West Coast offense, they think about short passes, slant patterns, a tough and strategic running game, and an intelligent quarterback. Ah, but they always forget one thing: a solid tight end.

When you talk about the 49ers and their tight end position, one name always pops into one's mind: Brent Jones. However, to prove my point about the importance of a good tight end, I'm going to take you all the way back to when the West Coast offense became fully functional in 1981. [Although it was implemented by Bill Walsh in 1979, it didn't work to perfection until Joe Montana played his first full season in 1981.] Of course, in 1981, the 49ers beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XVI by the score of 26-21. Joe Montana and the defense led that team. Yet, some statistics are often overlooked from that season: the output of the tight ends. Earl Cooper, who was listed as a FB but was really like a second TE on the field, caught 51 passes that year for 477 yards. The official TE was Charlie Young who grabbed 37 balls for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns. That's 877 receiving yards from the TE position, which was about 25 percent of Montana's 3565 yards passing that year.

Let's move on to 1984, the year in which the 49ers went 15-1 and beat Dan Marino and the Dolphins in Super Bowl XIX 38-16. During that season, Earl Cooper became the full-time TE and caught 41 passes for 459 yards and 4 TD's. Russ Francis and John Frank (two other tight ends) combined for 30 more receptions, 290 yards, and 3 touchdowns. All of that adds up to 71 receptions for 749 yards (20 percent of Montana's passing yards that year) and 7 TD's from the integral tight end position. Are you beginning to see a pattern between tight end output and success, yet? If not, let's move on to 1988, the next Super Bowl campaign.

In 1988, the 49ers once again beat the Bengals in Super Bowl XXIII by the tune of 20-16 on a memorable throw by a pretty good quarterback. What was his name? Ah, it doesn't matter in this discussion. That season was an off year for the tight ends of the 49ers. The trio of John Frank, Ron Heller, and Brent Jones (only his second season with the Niners) combined for 38 receptions, 392 yards, and 5 touchdowns. The inconsistent play from this set of tight ends can be explained by the fact that this was a transition year. Both Frank and Heller were in their last year with the 49ers while Brent Jones was only in his second of eleven seasons with San Francisco. Therefore, the 49ers didn't have one clear-cut starter at tight end. Plus, with Jerry Rice becoming a superstar every game, not too many catches were needed from other people.

The downfall of the tight ends only lasted one year though, as Brent Jones returned in 1989 as the starter and caught 40 passes for 500 yards and 4 TD's. It was no coincidence, in my mind, that the 49ers went 14-2 that year and won Super Bowl XXIV 55-10 over the Denver Broncos. This was only the tip of the iceberg for Jones, though, as he would go on to have, what I believe to be, a Hall of Fame career at tight end for the 49ers. Just read through some of these numbers: 1990 - 56 receptions for 747 yards and 5 TD's; 1993 (arguably his best season ever) - 68 catches for 735 yards and 3 touchdowns; 1994 (another Super Bowl year) - 49 for 670 yards and a career high 9 touchdowns. This man was the prototypical tight end for the West Coast offense. Jones was 6'4" and 230 pounds, quick on his feet, a solid blocker, and intelligent football player, and a good route runner. After his retirement in 1997, the San Francisco 49ers not only lost a great player, but a key to their ! offense.

In 1998, the first year without Jones, the 49ers survived with Irv Smith and Greg Clark at tight end. Those two players combined for 37 receptions, 390 yards, and 6 touchdowns (numbers very similar to the 1988 output by the 49ers' tight ends). Not surprisingly, we made the playoffs again and actually beat the Packers before losing Garrison Hearst and the game in the divisional round to the Atlanta Falcons. After looking through all of these stats, one could make a new slogan for the 49ers: So goes the tight end, so go the 49ers.

That's about it for the original article. There was a conclusion about how the above applied to the woes of the 1999 squad, but that is not necessary for the here and now. Simply put, during San Francisco's double decade of dominance, they got production from the tight end. In 1999 and 2000, the 49ers went a combined 10-22, their worst two-year record since 1979-1980 (when they went 8-24). Not surprisingly, those were the last two seasons before the Super Bowl run - and Dynasty - began. Put it all together folks - the west coast offense needs a quality tight end to be successful. Sure, the subpar 1999 and 2000 campaigns can be blamed, without argument, on a change at quarterback, the salary cap, or a horrendous defense. Still, do not overlook the tight end. If you combine Greg Clark's stats from those two years, he caught 72 balls for 689 yards and 2 touchdowns. That would have been a good SEASON for Brent Jones. Now, don't let that statement rub you the wrong way.! I am not trying to compare Greg Clark to Brent Jones. Clark, when healthy, is one of the best blocking tight ends in the NFL and has shown flashes of being a receiving threat. However, when just considering the production of the tight end position, the 49ers have not gotten great numbers since Jones retired.

That is, until Yale's Eric Johnson showed up. With Clark once again injured, the 7th-round selection of Johnson has reaped immediate benefits. Bill Walsh and the staff knew that the kid could catch the ball - he proved that as a wide receiver at Yale. As the season has progressed, though, the 6'3", 256-pound specimen has gained experience as a blocker. In my opinion, Johnson is the future of the 49ers at tight end (and, to go along with the premise of this article, the future of the 49ers offense). Don't get me wrong - Clark is one of my favorite players. But we cannot hold Johnson back. Otherwise, it will turn into another Wesley Walls debacle. Just look at Eric's numbers through 10 games: 27 receptions, 234 yards, and 2 TD's. That means that he is on pace to catch 43 balls for 374 yards and 3 touchdowns. And considering that Garcia has been looking too him more recently, those numbers might be a low estimate. Hell, Justin Swift has even added 8 receptions for 4! 9 yards and a touchdown as the second tight end.