Bad at Scouting/Evaluating WR's?

Originally posted by LifelongNiner:
I deliberately left out Patton because he doesn't have any seasons under his belt, so there is litereally nothing for us to judge.

OK. But, I do think, although I could be wrong, that some people are forgetting Kyle Williams.

WR is a hit or miss position. There are a ton of guys picked throughout the draft each year that don't make it. We have had some hits and misses, nothing unusual.

It seems to me if you look back to 2112, we'd spent several years focusing on the o-line and the defensive front 7. Then Harbaugh came in and the signed some free agent db's that at least stop-gaped that area of need, so what was left? Lack of team speed. With that as the background it makes some sense that they drafted Jenkins and James 1-2. Was it a mistake? Almost for sure. But it usually is a mistake when you let yourself get boxed into a corner in the draft.

I also suspect that they made a mistake not bring Jenkins in for a visit. I seem to recall somewhere reading that they purposely didn't bring him in because they didn't want to tip their intentions. But maybe if they'd had a one-on-one sit down with him, they would have had a better picture of his mental make-up - toughness, confidence, work ethic, etc.

Crabtree and Kyle Williams haven't been bad; the Ronald Johnson pick was campaigned for by the receivers coach who worked with him in college. A sixth rounder who doesn't work out is not that big a deal anyway.

Fire Baalke I guess

dude cant evaluate WRs...get a GM that can

it is not very professional and i have nothing to back it up but i just hate picking wide outs with a first round pick. not sure if it woods made me go down this road but it never works out for us, even with crabs I had my doubts and even now, i am ok if he is not on the team next year

Originally posted by HERN:
I guess since Alex Smith is gone, time to find someone to pick on. A.J Jenkins come on down

its his own fault., what did he ever do to make you feel so sorry for him. he had a chance to step up last year when we had injuries and could not get on the field,, he had a chance to step up with injuries this year but even when he got on the field he fell down. i am glad we just did not cut him and actually got something for him. jenkins never pushed any of our wide outs to be better

Originally posted by cciowa:
it is not very professional and i have nothing to back it up but i just hate picking wide outs with a first round pick. not sure if it woods made me go down this road but it never works out for us, even with crabs I had my doubts and even now, i am ok if he is not on the team next year

We picked the wrong year to draft a WR in the 1st. Weak class overall, and people knew that going in. I appreciate Baalke aggressively attacking what was a huge weakness for us in 2011, WR depth, but he fudged the pick.

The 2009 class was pretty darn good, and everyone knew it. Crabtree, Harvin, Maclin, Nicks. We need to wait for one of these classes. Funny enough, Heyward-Bey was picked before all of them lol.

I kind of wonder if Tom Gamble pounded the table for Jenkins.

Gamble was under contract and seemed to be one of Baalkes
right hand men, when he was able to leave to a team without
it being a promotion.

Originally posted by SofaKing:
We picked the wrong year to draft a WR in the 1st. Weak class overall, and people knew that going in. I appreciate Baalke aggressively attacking what was a huge weakness for us in 2011, WR depth, but he fudged the pick.

The 2009 class was pretty darn good, and everyone knew it. Crabtree, Harvin, Maclin, Nicks. We need to wait for one of these classes. Funny enough, Heyward-Bey was picked before all of them lol.

That 2009 class was pretty solid. Don't forget, Mike Wallace was in that class, too (3rd round). Hopefully the Niners will be able to find an underappreciated mid-round WR in the near future.


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The idea of us being bad at evaluating WRs is incorrect. Williams has been good for a 5th rounder, Crabtree is good, and Patton is unknown. Our biggest problem with WRs is that they always get injured. Imagine our WRs if Crabs was still here.

Baakle missed on a first rounder. It was bound to happen eventually and I doubt it'll happen this way again. Like I said, we need to figure out how to keep them healthy.

Originally posted by mtminer:
I kind of wonder if Tom Gamble pounded the table for Jenkins.

Gamble was under contract and seemed to be one of Baalkes
right hand men, when he was able to leave to a team without
it being a promotion.

We will almost never know who pounds the table for whom.

If Baalke is in charge of the draft, he is responsible for the draft, and he gets credit and blame for the draft.

If we look at it that way, we can simply avoid the murky world of speculation.

Originally posted by Antix:
The idea of us being bad at evaluating WRs is incorrect. Williams has been good for a 5th rounder, Crabtree is good, and Patton is unknown. Our biggest problem with WRs is that they always get injured. Imagine our WRs if Crabs was still here.

Baakle missed on a first rounder. It was bound to happen eventually and I doubt it'll happen this way again. Like I said, we need to figure out how to keep them healthy.

Yup. Even the best GMs wiff on 1st rounders from time to time. A few examples:

Packers GM Ted Thompson (Ahmad Carroll, Justin Harrell, Derek Sherrod)
Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome (Travis Taylor, Kyle Boller, Mark Clayton)

It happens.

There is no such thing as a sure thing at WR pick 30 year in year out. We reached for him and he didn't fit for whatever reason and I hope Baldwin does

Originally posted by bret:
It seems to me if you look back to 2112

I'd only be able to look back at 2112 if I lived to be in my 140s!

If the draft is done "right" the team can draft the BPA every time early in the draft because they don't have a desperate need to reach for a player. The best WRs in history have generally been 1st round picks, but it's a small number of WRs who perform at a pro-bowl level regardless of round.

Originally posted by doc_brown_:
Are Baalke and Co. bad at scouting and evaluating college WR's?

In the 2011 draft, The Niners selected Ronald Johnson in the 6th round, who no longer is in the NFL

In the 2012 draft, The Niners selected A.J. Jenkins in the 1st round. Jenkins is probably the 7th best WR currently on the Niners roster and has looked terrible in games.

Notable WR's taken after Jenkins are:
- Alshon Jeffery
- Ryan Broyles
- Reuben Randle
- T.J. Graham
- Mohamed Sanu
- T.Y. Hilton
- Chris Givens
- Josh Gordon

Baalke and Co. stared these guys in the faces and still decided to pull the trigger on Jenkins. For me, this begs the question; Is Baalke bad at evaluating college WR's? It remains to be seen if Quinton Patton succeeds in the NFL, or if Jenkins can salvage his young career.

The Niners have drafted players with character concerns before, so for me, that is not an excuse for passing on guys like Alshon Jeffery and Josh Gordon.

Tell me what you guys think.

I think you have perfect 20/20 hind sight.