Michael Crabtree becoming bigger factor for San Francisco

At this point last year, San Francisco receiver Michael Crabtree — the 10th overall pick in the 2009 draft — was just ending his contract holdout and finally joining his 49ers teammates.

Now, he could be on the verge of another important breakthrough. After four disappointing games and no touchdowns, he’s likely to be more involved in the offense Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Crabtree was already more of a factor in last Sunday’s loss at Atlanta than he was in any of the three previous games. He caught five passes against the Falcons after totaling just six against the Seahawks, Saints and Chiefs.

New offensive coordinator Mike Johnson, who replaced the fired Jimmy Raye before the Atlanta game, hinted beforehand that he intended to get Crabtree, among others, more involved.

“The way I look at that, Jimmy Raye left a great foundation,” Johnson told reporters before the Atlanta game. “I correlate it to two women wearing the same dress. You have football plays, you have an offense, but you can have two women wearing the same dress and look totally different.

“What I’m going to try to do is get the ball to the players on our offense that can make plays, to utilize the talent and the potential that we have here as an offense and get our quarterback and our skill athletes the ball in space where they can do something with it and run.”

Getting the ball in Crabtree’s hands probably will be a big part of San Francisco’s strategy against the Eagles, especially with Philadelphia’s top cornerback, Asante Samuel, out while recovering from a concussion.

Crabtree has proved he can get hot quickly. Despite missing all that time last season and starting just 11 games, he still led all rookies with an average of 56.8 yards receiving per game. Last Sunday was the first time this season he reached that number.