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For a player with just nine catches all season, Delanie Walker has remarkable sway over Sunday's game.

When Walker is on the field with fellow tight end Vernon Davis, the Seattle Sea- hawks might treat him as a run blocker and play a base defense, as Jacksonville did.

Or they might decide to treat Walker as a pass threat and play a nickel defense, as Tennessee did a week earlier.

"It plays a huge role as we plan the matchups," offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye said Thursday.

With the Jaguars in their base defense Sunday, the 49ers knew that a linebacker would have difficulty covering the speedy Walker. That's why the No. 2 tight end had a season-high four catches for 52 yards, as well as an 11-yard rush.

But Walker, listed at 6-foot, 242 pounds, is also a solid blocker. Teams that play five defensive backs often take a risk by removing a run-stopping lineman or linebacker from the field.

"He's big a part of what we do because he is a run-blocking tight end that has wide receiver skills," Raye said.

The mismatch equation is something Walker and Davis have talked about since they came into the league together with the 49ers' 2006 draft class. The two long dreamed of being used at the same time.

Now they are both happy to be involved in the 49ers' new-look offense.

"We've always talked about being the best tight end group in the NFL," Davis said. "He's just as fast as I am."

  • Raye rankled when asked about the 49ers' spread offense.


    "I really don't like the term 'spread,' " he said. "That's a total misnomer to what we do."

    So what do you call it? Aren't the 49ers spreading receivers across the field?

    "I guess it's the spread, I don't know," Raye said. "What we do is what we've been doing since I've been here. It's a shotgun formation for us.

    "We don't have a quarterback running the spread offense in college like Tim Tebow. To me, that's what spread is, and I'm not going to debate the merits of what it's called. If that's the name that's been given to it by the media, then it's the spread."

  • Former 49ers quarterback Steve Young told KNBR recently that running back Frank Gore is so miscast in the 49ers' new offense that he ought to be traded. He told the station that Gore "is not the guy who is going to catch the ball like Marshall Faulk and slash and burn like Joseph Addai and different guys who have thrived in the spread."

    Raye offered his response Thursday. He noted that Gore had a team-high 10 passes thrown his way against Jacksonville.

    "Gore will be very successful, in my opinion, in the offense that we're running that is being referred to as spread because it won't really change what he does," Raye said. "The only thing that basically is changed is he's not running into the line with a lead-blocking fullback in front of him. The runs are basically the same, but they come out of a non-lead fullback arrangement."

  • These players were held out of practice for injury related reasons: cornerback Nate Clements (shoulder), defensive tackle Kentwan Balmer (shoulder), receiver Isaac Bruce (ankle), safety Michael Lewis (quadricep), linebacker Takeo Spikes (hamstring) and tackle Joe Staley (knee) .
