AJ Jenkins continues to struggle

[threelittleturds]

What? A rookie needs to get stronger? That never happens.

 

[deep9er]

What are people's expectations for a LATE 1st round pick. Especially at the WR position. He was not a top 10 so called "elite talent" pick. He needs at least one year to develop and make a difference. This was one if of the main reasons why I kept saying that we drafted the “wrong Jenkins”. Had we drafted Janoris 1st, the Rams would have opted for AJ Jenkins in the early 2nd. This means that the Jets would have settled for either Brian Quick or Stephen Hill - and which ever of the two was left, we would have drafted. So our options for targeting a receiver in the 2nd round would have been Brian Quick / Stephen Hill / Ruben Randle. Still I would not have drafted a WR in the 2nd round. Just like they did, I would have kept the LaMichael James pick. In the 3rd round I would have selected the best guard available or traded it like they did. 4th Round is when I would have selected a WR (knowing that I got Crab, Moss, Williams, Manningham) - and targeted someone like Juron Criner or Marvin Jones. Criner preferably!

it depends on who's already on the roster? since reports of Moss and Crabtree are looking great, lean on these two guys first. next, i wouldn't forget about Manningham and KW if he makes the team.

so to start this season i wouldn't expect much from Jenkins, but would expect him to play? if he's entirely on the bench, then thats below expectations.

 

[numone9er]

What are people's expectations for a LATE 1st round pick. Especially at the WR position. He was not a top 10 so called "elite talent" pick. He needs at least one year to develop and make a difference. This was one if of the main reasons why I kept saying that we drafted the “wrong Jenkins”. Had we drafted Janoris 1st, the Rams would have opted for AJ Jenkins in the early 2nd. This means that the Jets would have settled for either Brian Quick or Stephen Hill - and which ever of the two was left, we would have drafted. So our options for targeting a receiver in the 2nd round would have been Brian Quick / Stephen Hill / Ruben Randle. Still I would not have drafted a WR in the 2nd round. Just like they did, I would have kept the LaMichael James pick. In the 3rd round I would have selected the best guard available or traded it like they did. 4th Round is when I would have selected a WR (knowing that I got Crab, Moss, Williams, Manningham) - and targeted someone like Juron Criner or Marvin Jones. Criner preferably!

I wasn't a fan of the pick from the get go. I thought he was a reach and for a late first round pick i would hope he could at least show up in shape. Granted it is still very early, but i want to see more dedication from this guy.

Plenty of late first round picks have done well enough to at least contribute their rookie year.

Hakeem Nicks (47 rec, 790 yards, 6 TD's)
Dez Bryant (45 rec, 561 yards, 6 TD's)
Percy Harvin (60 rec, 790 Yards, 6 Td's)
Kenny Britt (702 yards, 3 TD's)
Jeremy Maclin (56 rec, 773 yards, 4 TD's)

This isn't including numbers for guys like Mike Wallace and DeSean Jackson who had great rookie years and were drafted later.

If he can reach anything close to any of those guys numbers i will be happy. Those are my expectations.

 

[EaseUrStorm]

I wasn't a huge fan of that pick either initially. This was a weaker draft though after the first few picks, and that's important to keep in mind. I look at this like Baalke sacrificed that pick to the draft Gods after pulling off the Aldon and Culliver picks. We definitely Acould have gone Stephen Hill there. Problem is he's got a much better chance of totally, completely and utterly busting than Jenkins. He put up very limited film vs. Jenkins who the scouts can at least get their heads around and project into the system.

He's got to get a lot stronger and won't be fully up and running year one, but should contribute and be able to step in if injuries strike again. How much does Moss have left in the tank? Then we're one injury away from being right back to square one. So I think that also played a major factor in the pick because we are ready to win right now.

It's just a tough call between Hill and Jenkins. Think the scouts ended up tearing apart Hill and defaulting back to Jenkins.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I wasn't a fan of the pick from the get go. I thought he was a reach and for a late first round pick i would hope he could at least show up in shape. Granted it is still very early, but i want to see more dedication from this guy.

Plenty of late first round picks have done well enough to at least contribute their rookie year.

Hakeem Nicks (47 rec, 790 yards, 6 TD's)
Dez Bryant (45 rec, 561 yards, 6 TD's)
Percy Harvin (60 rec, 790 Yards, 6 Td's)
Kenny Britt (702 yards, 3 TD's)
Jeremy Maclin (56 rec, 773 yards, 4 TD's)

This isn't including numbers for guys like Mike Wallace and DeSean Jackson who had great rookie years and were drafted later.

If he can reach anything close to any of those guys numbers i will be happy. Those are my expectations.

Those expectations might be on the high side, given our philosophy on offense (I expect us to open it up a bit, but not top-10 in passing) and what's ahead of him on the depth chart. Something along the lines of Bryant's production is possible, but I'd be somewhat surprised if he broke 700 yards. That'd be 450 more yards than our second WR had this year, granted that was a bit of a disaster.

 

[numone9er]

Those expectations might be on the high side, given our philosophy on offense (I expect us to open it up a bit, but not top-10 in passing) and what's ahead of him on the depth chart. Something along the lines of Bryant's production is possible, but I'd be somewhat surprised if he broke 700 yards. That'd be 450 more yards than our second WR had this year, granted that was a bit of a disaster.

You bring up a good point about our style of Offense, but it was more in response to what bingo was saying about expectations for a "LATE first round pick" and compared to other WR's drafted late in the first round the past few years, the results have been basically what i listed above. Jonathan Baldwin might be the exception.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

You bring up a good point about our style of Offense, but it was more in response to what bingo was saying about expectations for a "LATE first round pick" and compared to other WR's drafted late in the first round the past few years, the results have been basically what i listed above. Jonathan Baldwin might be the exception.

If you go back a few more years, there are other examples of guys who were pretty quiet year one, but went on to become pretty effective. Roddy White, Jordy Nelson, Demaryius Thomas, and Robert Meachem (sat out year one, under 300 yards year two) are prime examples, though Nelson was a high second instead of a first. Of course, there are also a lot of guys who were pretty quiet until they disappeared from the league.

What I found surprising was the number of guys who had strong rookie seasons but never really hit their stride. Several guys like that.

 

[numone9er]

If you go back a few more years, there are other examples of guys who were pretty quiet year one, but went on to become pretty effective. Roddy White, Jordy Nelson, Demaryius Thomas, and Robert Meachem (sat out year one, under 300 yards year two) are prime examples, though Nelson was a high second instead of a first. Of course, there are also a lot of guys who were pretty quiet until they disappeared from the league.

What I found surprising was the number of guys who had strong rookie seasons but never really hit their stride. Several guys like that.

I know you said this, but Nelson was a 2nd round pick. Still, he 33 passes for 366 yards and 2 TD's. If we include him then we have to include Mike Wallace, DeSean Jackson, and Torrey Smith.

Wasn't Demaryius Thomas hurt his rookie year? I know he only played in 10 games. Roddy White caught 29 passes for 446 yards, and 3 TD's during his rookie campaign. I would be happy if Jenkins could accomplish those numbers. Lets all hope Jenkins is better than Maechem. He had Drew Brees and in his best season he only racked up 722 yards receiving.

What do you suggest are reasonable numbers for his rookie season?

 

[BINGO]

Niners disappointed in Jenkins?
3:50PM ET
A.J. Jenkins | 49ers

Though the returning Michael Crabtree and veteran free agents Randy Moss and Mario Manningham gave the San Francisco 49ers options at wide receiver, they still drafted A.J. Jenkins out of Illinois in the first round, hoping the wideout would flash enough natural talent to stick out on the depth chart. Well, he hasn't.

"He hasn't looked very good," an unnamed team observer tells Dan Arkush of Pro Football Weekly. "He displayed some flashes with a few really difficult catches, but he's also looked really bad at times, and he seems to have had problems staying on his feet.

"It's early. Maybe he'll show more in training camp."

- Vince Verhei​

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I know you said this, but Nelson was a 2nd round pick. Still, he 33 passes for 366 yards and 2 TD's. If we include him then we have to include Mike Wallace, DeSean Jackson, and Torrey Smith.

Wasn't Demaryius Thomas hurt his rookie year? I know he only played in 10 games. Roddy White caught 29 passes for 446 yards, and 3 TD's during his rookie campaign. I would be happy if Jenkins could accomplish those numbers. Lets all hope Jenkins is better than Maechem. He had Drew Brees and in his best season he only racked up 722 yards receiving.

What do you suggest are reasonable numbers for his rookie season?

Re: reasonable numbers, I don't really know. I would be content if he puts up numbers in the vicinity of 500 yards and a few TDs. Provided Moss maintains his trajectory and plays well throughout the season. If we cut Kyle Williams, my expectations might go up a bit.

 

[deep9er]

if AJ Jenkins gets better in a hurry, then no problem giving him more reps. but based on what we've read so far, i'd give the bulk of the passes to Moss, Crabtree, Manningham, and KW (if he makes the team).

as already mentioned, we're not a pass happy team to start with, so i'd like to see 2-3 reps a game, catching 1-2 passes a game. but not going to be dissapointed if he stays there all season. these vet receivers are currently better than most rookie WR's.

we should just go ahead and utilize our best WR's, not "force" our 1st round pick. develop him well even if it takes all season, cause next year he WILL be a key receiver.