1st Rd. Prospect: Justin Hunter - WR (Ten)

6'4" 200lbs 4.42 timed 40 (http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/story/18992316)

To me, this kid looks very similar to AJ Green. Nobody is on Green's level, but he has similar body control, and catching style. Very big fan of this kid.

stats
http://www.cfbstats.com/2012/player/694/1034144/index.html


entire Cin. game
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T90LUDD4LpQ

amazing ball skills
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PRcPreQbzRw

tremendous atheltecism and body control
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls4g5n_PjAs

feature
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNYxkiuo3sg

I like him, but I also like his teammate, Cordarrelle Patterson a lot. They're both big, fast receivers but Patterson might be a little more raw..

I don't know much about Patterson, but this kid I like a lot. If he breaks a 4.4, we stand no chance, but with his good/not great production, concern of a recent major injury, and label as an athlete not football player (or more athlete than football player, to be more accurate), he could fall into the 20s, which would make a trade-up feasible.

Both receivers are beast. Like hunters size.

WR in the first round (unless Goldson walks). Book it.

Originally posted by nickbradley:
WR in the first round (unless Goldson walks). Book it.

I don't know, I could see us going several different directions. I think defensive depth will be assessed as the main issue on the team, but it all comes down to the team falling in love with a prospect, regardless of position. Having said that, I don't expect a RB, ILB, QB or OL, in the first 2 rounds.

Most likely for top 2 rounds:

DL(NT/JS's eventual successor)
Secondary (S/CB)
Pass rusher (situational)

Next tier:

WR
TE
PR specialist

Originally posted by nickbradley:
WR in the first round (unless Goldson walks). Book it.

The chances of us taking another WR in the first round are on par with the chances of us taking a kicker in the first round... Not going to happen, BOOK IT!

Originally posted by nickbradley:
WR in the first round (unless Goldson walks). Book it.

Yeah, how about no. For next year they're guaranteed to have Crabtree, Manningham and Jenkins. That doesn't require a 1st round pick to improve, especially if Crabtree continues his excellent play. The biggest strength on this team is its defense, the biggest weakness on this team is defensive depth. A long-term injury to Justin Smith, Aldon Smith, Goldson or Willis and this team is f**ked. They need to upgrade, particularly at DT and 3-4 DE. Free safety, OLB and CB are also needs that supersede WR.

Originally posted by 49er4life:

Originally posted by nickbradley:
WR in the first round (unless Goldson walks). Book it.

The chances of us taking another WR in the first round are on par with the chances of us taking a kicker in the first round... Not going to happen, BOOK IT!

What if the guy who is available to them, the scouts and Baalke see as the next Randy Moss/TO, and the best defensive player, they see as topping-out as a Ray McDonald type player. You still think so? Its funny to me how people make absolutes about positions.

Our WR

-Moss: likely gone after this year
-AJ Jenkins: yet to have a single catch (not saying he's a bust, but you don't change your plans for a guy who can't get on the field)
-Manningham: 2 years left on contract
-Crabtree: Will be in last year of contract, and could demand major money.
-Ginn: Gone
-Williams: coming off of a major surgery (huge for a player that relies on speed and quickness)

Once Moss is gone, we have noone to take the top off the D. Only the hope that AJ will do so

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
What if the guy who is available to them, the scouts and Baalke see as the next Randy Moss/TO, and the best defensive player, they see as topping-out as a Ray McDonald type player. You still think so? Its funny to me how people make absolutes about positions.

Our WR

-Moss: likely gone after this year
-AJ Jenkins: yet to have a single catch (not saying he's a bust, but you don't change your plans for a guy who can't get on the field)
-Manningham: 2 years left on contract
-Crabtree: Will be in last year of contract, and could demand major money.
-Ginn: Gone
-Williams: coming off of a major surgery (huge for a player that relies on speed and quickness)

Once Moss is gone, we have noone to take the top off the D. Only the hope that AJ will do so

There's not even a Blackmon type in this draft, a WR likely won't be taken until 15-20 unless something crazy happens at the Combine. Hunter's a nice player, he's not going to make it to the 49ers pick, so why even bother discussing him, especially with his injury issues. Allen is more along the lines of a Crabtree, if that. You can get basically the same type of talent in further rounds, such as with guys likeBailey and Matthews while being able to pick a premier defensive player early on. Additionally, I think that Patton, who is still somewhat of a sleeper, could turn out to be the best WR in this draft.

Crabtree was never supposed to make it to number ten yet he did. Da'Quan Bowers was a top 5 pick at one point in time yet he fell out of the first round. Saying it's pointless to talk about a prospect doesn't make much sense.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
What if the guy who is available to them, the scouts and Baalke see as the next Randy Moss/TO, and the best defensive player, they see as topping-out as a Ray McDonald type player. You still think so? Its funny to me how people make absolutes about positions.

Our WR

-Moss: likely gone after this year
-AJ Jenkins: yet to have a single catch (not saying he's a bust, but you don't change your plans for a guy who can't get on the field)
-Manningham: 2 years left on contract
-Crabtree: Will be in last year of contract, and could demand major money.
-Ginn: Gone
-Williams: coming off of a major surgery (huge for a player that relies on speed and quickness)

Once Moss is gone, we have noone to take the top off the D. Only the hope that AJ will do so

There's not even a Blackmon type in this draft, a WR likely won't be taken until 15-20 unless something crazy happens at the Combine. Hunter's a nice player, he's not going to make it to the 49ers pick, so why even bother discussing him, especially with his injury issues. Allen is more along the lines of a Crabtree, if that. You can get basically the same type of talent in further rounds, such as with guys likeBailey and Matthews while being able to pick a premier defensive player early on. Additionally, I think that Patton, who is still somewhat of a sleeper, could turn out to be the best WR in this draft.

Won't make it to our pick? Let me address that. First, you never know when a prospect will fall. Second, the team could easily trade up, and likely will, given the number of picks we have. Also, Hunter is actually expected in that range. Late first round, to early 2nd. Finally, how does it make sense that you're saying that he's not that good, and has an injury history, and won't make it to our pick. You're either saying he isn't worth the 32nd(hopefully) overall pick, or that he's not going to make it to it. Sounds like you're saying both. A contradiction if you ask me. Now if you don't like him, that's fine. But I'm not sure I would go as far as to guarantee that we won't draft him, or to say that talking about him is pointless.

Originally posted by DVDA:
Crabtree was never supposed to make it to number ten yet he did. Da'Quan Bowers was a top 5 pick at one point in time yet he fell out of the first round. Saying it's pointless to talk about a prospect doesn't make much sense.

Of course there's always exceptions to the rule, but generally by this time, people have an idea where the top prospects at least fall in. Other than guys who end up having off-the-field issues between now and the draft or bomb the interviews at the Combine, they generally end up in a certain area. Right now Hunter and Allen are the top two WR's, they could go 15-25, but they could also go earlier if some WR needy team decides to jump on them. Miami has WR at the very top of their list in terms of needs, if Allen is around when they pick, I don't see them passing up on him at all.

Originally posted by RollinWith21n52:
Won't make it to our pick? Let me address that. First, you never know when a prospect will fall. Second, the team could easily trade up, and likely will, given the number of picks we have. Also, Hunter is actually expected in that range. Late first round, to early 2nd. Finally, how does it make sense that you're saying that he's not that good, and has an injury history, and won't make it to our pick. You're either saying he isn't worth the 32nd(hopefully) overall pick, or that he's not going to make it to it. Sounds like you're saying both. A contradiction if you ask me. Now if you don't like him, that's fine. But I'm not sure I would go as far as to guarantee that we won't draft him, or to say that talking about him is pointless.

It is pointless, he'll go higher because of his size and speed combination, somebody will deem it worth the risk, even considering his inconsistency and the torn ACL that he suffered. I just hope that someone is not the 49ers. With Fisher, the Rams will use on their two first rounds on a WR, regardless of who it is, especially after they missed out on Blackmon last year. I see the Dolphins taking whoever the likely consensus top WR is, after that, it'll come down to guys like Hunter, Austin and Patterson depending on combine results etc.


Secondly, I'm not all that fond of Hunter, he's prone to drops far too often for my liking, doesn't use his considerable size well when blocking and is generally inconsistent. Its not a good thing when people go Al Davis style and say "wow, this guy's so big and he's fast" with the inference being that he obviously must be awesome and I don't see that with Hunter at all. I'd much rather take his teammate Patterson, Patton as mentioned, or Matthews in the late 3rd round. Right now he's inconsistent as all hell and you don't know what you're going to get with this guy, his potential is tremendous, but his bust potential is probably higher than others based on the fact that you just don't know what the heck he's going to do or whether or not he's willing to put in the work required to be great.


If the 49ers go out and draft a WR in the first round next year, you can come back here and rant about it and I'll accept that I was wrong, but with Crabtree, Manningham, Jenkins and Williams coming back from injury, with the team running 2 TE sets as often as they do, I don't see them dropping a second consecutive first rounder on a position where the team is more relatively set than some others.

Originally posted by Phoenix49ers:

Yeah, how about no. For next year they're guaranteed to have Crabtree, Manningham and Jenkins. That doesn't require a 1st round pick to improve, especially if Crabtree continues his excellent play. The biggest strength on this team is its defense, the biggest weakness on this team is defensive depth. A long-term injury to Justin Smith, Aldon Smith, Goldson or Willis and this team is f**ked. They need to upgrade, particularly at DT and 3-4 DE. Free safety, OLB and CB are also needs that supersede WR.

What?

we only have 4 WRs under contract for 2013, and Manningham will be in the final year of his contract, and Kdub will be coming off a torn ACL (and is in a contract year).

Jenkins has zero career catches.

its a a huge need