I heart Chud: 49ers’ Vernon Davis has a favorite for offensive coordinator
All Vernon Davis wants for Christmas, the 49ers tight end wrote on his Instagram account today, is to meet Colts assistant coach Rob Chudzinski.
It's not difficult to understand why. Davis just went through the worst season of his career. He scored two touchdowns in Week 1. After that? Crickets.
He finished the year with 245 receiving yards. That was worse than his rookie season (265 yards) when he missed 6 ½ games with a broken leg and worse than his 2008 season (358 yards) during which Mike Martz made him into a de factor third offensive tackle.
Enter Chudzinski, 46, who is a former tight ends coach whose teams typically get excellent production from their tight ends. To wit:
2005
Chargers TE coach
Antonio Gates: 89 catches, 1,101 yards, 10 TDs
2006
Chargers TE coach
Gates: 71 catches, 924 yards, nine TDs
2007
Browns offensive coordinator
Kellen Winslow: 82 catches, 1,106 yards, 5 Tds
2008
Browns offensive coordinator
Winslow: 43 catches, 428 yards, 3 TDs (10 games).
2009
Chargers TE coach
Gates: 79 catches, 1,157 yards , 8 TDs
2010
Chargers coach
Gates: 50 catches, 782 yards, 10 TDs (10 games)
2011
Panthers offensive coordinator
Greg Olsen: 45 catches, 540 yards, 5 TDs
Jeremy Shockey: 37, 455 yards, 4 TDs
2012
Panthers offensive coordinator
Olsen: 69 catches, 843 yards, 5TDs
2013
Brown head coach
Jordan Cameron: 80 catches, 917 yards, 7 TDs
2014
Colts special assistant
Coby Fleener: 51 catches, 774 yards, 8 TDs
Dwayne Allen: 29 catches, 395 yards, 8 TDs
Davis' best season from a statistical standpoint came in 2009 when he caught 78 passes for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns. Though Davis' salary far outstripped his production in 2014, the 49ers appear resigned to hold onto him in 2015, and he likely would be intriguing for someone like Chudzinski, whom the 49ers want to run their offense. The Colts have blocked all interview requests to this point, but Chudzinski’s contract reportedly expires today.
Chudzinski also has drawn interest from the Rams, and the Colts would like to retain him as well. Indianapolis, however, already has an offensive coordinator, Pep Hamilton, and there likely would have to be some reshuffling in Indianapolis to get Chudzinski to stay. The Rams, meanwhile, will have a second interview with Nathaniel Hackett for their offensive coordinator spot.
Read Matt Barrows’ blogs and archives at www.sacbee.com/sf49ers.
This story was originally published January 26, 2015 at 11:28 AM with the headline "I heart Chud: 49ers’ Vernon Davis has a favorite for offensive coordinator."