The real problem with A.J. Jenkins (Draft Relevant)

Should have drafter Coby Fleener he was right there!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by NickSh49:
Only relevance with AJ is that the 49ers took a player that no one was touting. This was a guy that was WAY under the radar, and the 49ers got it wrong.

The contrast is that if the 49ers move up in the first round and take a player that generally is regarded as a highly-graded talent, that would be safer and make sense.

That's why these people who want us to sit at #30 or take a receiver in the second round make no sense to me. You want us to look for a franchise receiver in the second round after the more talented players are gone? We have the ammo to move up. Why take chances on players that are generally regarded as worse prospects? Doesn't make sense.

Just because they are rated as 1st round talent doesn't mean they are better players. The best QB of all time wasn't considered a 1st round talent, he wasn't even considered a 3rd round talent but Walsh didn't want to chance Montana being taken before our 4th round pick. Many experts were calling for the 49ers to go after a franchise QB in round 1.

In 86 the best pass rusher was in the 4th round, Charles Haley.

This story goes on and on. Kap was a 2nd round pick. Many were surprised we passed on a QB in the 1st round. We drafted Aldon Smith instead and ended up with the 5th QB taken I believe. Now the QB many thought we should have drafted is his back up.

There are some great WR's available in rounds 2 and 3. Some may outshine the WR's drafted in round 1.

The prevailing logic in a draft is there is more value trading up in a weak draft to aquire talent before it is all gone and trading back in a deep draft to take advantage of the extra value the later picks have. This is a very deep draft and especially deep at WR.

1 year we traded up wasting 2, 1st round picks on JJ Stokes. The next year we draft Terrel Owens in the 3rd round.

We drafted AJ Jenkins in the 1st rd. We could have traded back, got an extra pick and drafted a better receiver. We could have gotten Alshon Jeffry in the 2nd or TY Hilton in the 3rd round

It really all depends on the scouts and coaches and GM to decide what is best. Whatever they decide I just hope they get it right and draft talented players.

Originally posted by CWin4949:

Originally posted by GorefullBore:
I see where I errored with this thread. Insead of using Jenkins as the subject title and first paragrap made him seem far more prominent than I intended to. I should have deemphasized him by placeing him later in the post making him more of the supporting point he was meant to be. I'd consider rewriting it, but honestly it was a royal pain to write.

Yeah dude, you lost me (and most others in the Zone) with de emphasized and your educated structuring of your paragraph. Education and knowledge of what you're saying is a sure way to not get your point across here.....

I get what your point is.

lol.

Originally posted by GorefullBore:

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:

Turn the page! This situation has nothing to do with what will happen on Thursday. Different type of draft, boatload of prospects, and plenty of ammunition to do it right this time.

I'm not fixating on A.J. at all, that is done and gone. I was just trying to prove a point.

It was a very good point. I don't think it was that cut and dry, but, it's better than the Baalke can't draft WR's rhetoric.

Originally posted by Raul98:

Should have drafter Coby Fleener he was right there!!!!!!!!

We were trying to get more explosive plays on offense with the AJJ and LMJ picks. Turns out we found that explosiveness at QB with Kap!

Originally posted by Wisconsin49erfan:

Originally posted by GorefullBore:

Originally posted by m_brockalexander:
Turn the page! This situation has nothing to do with what will happen on Thursday. Different type of draft, boatload of prospects, and plenty of ammunition to do it right this time.

I'm not fixating on A.J. at all, that is done and gone. I was just trying to prove a point.

It was a very good point. I don't think it was that cut and dry, but, it's better than the Baalke can't draft WR's rhetoric.

Well said, but still irrelevant.

didn't read

Not worried about the heart or desire of Beckham Jr. or Cooks, I think those guys get it and will be pumped if we land either. I'm just not sold they're worth a huge trade up for with so many good prospects out there. Now AJ Jenkins, I think HarBaalke tried to be a little cute with that one, tried to prove to the league how smart they were, how much outside of the box they could think, They failed.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:

Just because they are rated as 1st round talent doesn't mean they are better players. The best QB of all time wasn't considered a 1st round talent, he wasn't even considered a 3rd round talent but Walsh didn't want to chance Montana being taken before our 4th round pick. Many experts were calling for the 49ers to go after a franchise QB in round 1.

In 86 the best pass rusher was in the 4th round, Charles Haley.

This story goes on and on. Kap was a 2nd round pick. Many were surprised we passed on a QB in the 1st round. We drafted Aldon Smith instead and ended up with the 5th QB taken I believe. Now the QB many thought we should have drafted is his back up.

There are some great WR's available in rounds 2 and 3. Some may outshine the WR's drafted in round 1.

The prevailing logic in a draft is there is more value trading up in a weak draft to aquire talent before it is all gone and trading back in a deep draft to take advantage of the extra value the later picks have. This is a very deep draft and especially deep at WR.

1 year we traded up wasting 2, 1st round picks on JJ Stokes. The next year we draft Terrel Owens in the 3rd round.

We drafted AJ Jenkins in the 1st rd. We could have traded back, got an extra pick and drafted a better receiver. We could have gotten Alshon Jeffry in the 2nd or TY Hilton in the 3rd round

It really all depends on the scouts and coaches and GM to decide what is best. Whatever they decide I just hope they get it right and draft talented players.

Personally, other than rice - I don't recall Walsh trading up. I'm sure somebody can correct me on that though. Anyway, I agree with your post.

Swagger + confidence = Mike Evans.


When the ball is in the air it's his. He would fight even Richard Sherman for the ball. And at 6'5" 231 lbs with 4.5 speed he may even win.

It was 95 and the 49ers had the #30 pick. Sound familiar? We gave up the #30 pick plus our 3rd and 4th round picks and our 1st pick in the 96 draft as well. We moved up to #10 and drafted JJ Stokes.

Originally posted by MC9BEAT:
It was 95 and the 49ers had the #30 pick. Sound familiar? We gave up the #30 pick plus our 3rd and 4th round picks and our 1st pick in the 96 draft as well. We moved up to #10 and drafted JJ Stokes.

Yeah? And Stokes ran a 4.7 and wasn't as big as Evans nor as motivated. He was lazy and slow.

i saw and commented on the same thing.
in aj's interviews, he projected as a wimp with no confidence or desire. it was glaringly obvious.
baalke, and any other gm, are required to be able to pick up on psychological ques and traits in order to interpret a player's psych makeup.
you have to draft alpha males for this game; guys with extraordinary toughness and hatred of losing.

baalke completely whiffed on aj, and that says something about his prowess as an evaluator of talent.

Originally posted by GorefullBore:
I know a lot of people attribute his failure as a 49er to either his weak upper body strength leading to an inability to get off of press coverage or John Morton not being capable of coaching our WR's. However, I think there is something else at the root of his short comings. To me the problem was with his desire. Every interview I ever saw with him he seemed very aloof and apathetic. I never saw the fire in him and the drive to be great. We all remember his never following up with JR and running "the Hill" do you think Quinton Patton (who didn't have great numbers on the bench by the way 8 reps) would have turned that offer down? The kid showed drive and dedication by buying his own ticket in order to show up at the facility to work out. That is drive and dedication if I ever saw it. How good he becomes remains to be seen, but he is the type of guy who will constantly strive to get better.

Here is where this argument becomes relevant. I have seen a lot of people question Odell Beckham's viability as a pick due to his low bench reps (7). I have seen this used to compare Odell to A.J. Yes this is something he will have to improve on, but my point is that the mental makeup of the player is far more important. Instead of getting hung up on the bench we should make sure the guy is a competitor. As Trent has said he's looking for a guy with swagger. I have not heard anything saying Odell and I'll throw Brandin Cooks in here as well are anything but competitors. I think we should be fairly optimistic should we draft one of these guys and not necessarily expect history to repeat itself.

Sorry guys, I didn't expect this to get so wordy. I was trying to prove my case. If you took the time to read it thanks I hope you enjoyed.

Hey Mods, if I posted this in the wrong forum please move it, the subject matter seemed to potentially be relevant to both Niner Talk and Draft War Room so I wasn't sure. Thanks

I agree completely. I saw no fire with this guy. He just went through the motions and never strive for greatness. Looking back at it now I am kind of disappointed that Baalke and Harbaugh didn't see through that. But that's over now and it's time to focus on the now.