Well the 1st round is under our belts...and we drafted AJ Jenkins. Now I know what you're thinking... no I have no clue. You're probably as confused as I am. Did we just find a player that was not slated to go to us on any single mock in the world? Maybe. But, given the results from last years draft and Baalke's track record at drafting, we're all going to give him the benefit of the doubt, so let's see what this kid has to offer.
There are a lot of links from yesterday that have predicted 1st round picks. Unless I find one that successfully tabbed AJ Jenkins instead of Janoris Jenkins, I'll skip them. And sorry if I repeat a bunch of stuff here...I'm filling in for James who is completely overloaded with draft related work. So it'll be heavy on the linkage and short on the verbage. Any complaints, please hand deliver them to Preston, VIC, 3072, Australia... I should watch out before someone takes me up on that offer. Here we go!
Our James Brady explains just exactly who this AJ Jenkins character is. Quite a few people have asked that question so it needs to be answered. | Who is AJ Jenkins? (Bay Area SB Nation)
2 articles from Sam Lam. He had an earlier one predicting we would take Jenkins, Janoris Jenkins that is, so I won't link that one. 1st article is about the selection of Jenkins, noting that his campaign last year was epic. | Lam on selection of Jenkins. (Lam)
Lam gives a few quotes from Jenkins on how happy he is to be Niner. The front office thinks he has great intangibles. | Jenkins happy to be a 49er. (Lam)
A 7 round mock from BASG published before the selection was made. It had us taking Janoris Jenkins as well. We'll see if the other 6 rounds play out well for them. | BASG 7 round mock. (Bay Area Sports Guy)
Matt Barrows asks if the 49ers jumped the gun on AJ Jenkins? Baalke seems to think he was the right guy at the right spot. | Did 49ers jump the gun. (Barrows)
Here's the SI profile for AJ Jenkins. It has him projected to go in the 2nd or 3rd round. | SI player profile for AJ Jenkins. (SI.com)
SI.com's first round analysis. (SI.com)
Cam Inman doing his usual great work. This is a link to the Trent Baalke transcript from his interview with Inman after the first round. | Baalke interview transcript. (Mercury News)
Inman reviews the first round. He notes that everyone was stunned with the Aldon Smith selection last year. We are assuming the front office has scouted this years crop of WR more than we have. So, while there are a lot of questions about why we didn't draft Stephen Hill or Coby Fleener, well...Harbaalke knows best! | Inman reviews the first round. (Mercury News)
Transcripts from a Q&A session with Harbaugh, moments after the first round pick. (Mercury News)
Ray Ratto explains how the 49ers got exactly what they wanted. He notes that the first round went fast and there was little wasted motion. Most teams knew what they wanted, who wanted who, and how to get there. | Ratto on 49ers pick, first round. (CSN Bay Area)
CSN Bay Area's player page for AJ Jenkins. It's got his complete stats, game logs and a bio. He is from Jacksonville, where I lived for the better half of a year, although I don't remember seeing him. | CSN Bay Area player profile for AJ Jenkins. (CSN Bay Area)
Video to Harbaugh interview regarding Jenkins. (CSN Bay Area)
Video to Baalke interview regarding the first round selection. (CSN Bay Area)
Audio from an interview with AJ Jenkins. He's more or less stunned. I like that. He's blessed and honored to be a 49er. He also had no idea he would be going in the first round and was in the bathroom when his phone rang. | Audio from an interview with AJ Jenkins. (CSN Bay Area)
Eric Branch thinks it's a surprise move, but then again, so was last years first round pick. | Surprise move to draft Jenkins. (Branch)
What? A non-draft related item? | Rookie reflections: Kendall Hunter. (49ers.com)
Here's the official websites announcing of the first pick with some background. | 49ers select AJ Jenkins. (49ers.com)
Trent Baalke discusses day one of the draft. (49ers.com)
Coach's notebook. Harbaugh answers a ton of questions regarding the draft selection and the team in general. | Harbaugh answers questions. (49ers.com)
Grant Cohn gives the 49ers an F for their first round selection. I couldn't disagree with him more. I have no idea about how AJ Jenkins will pan out, I haven't heard or seen too much on him to know. But he thinks the 49ers have not addressed the need to be better on 3rd down and in the red zone. Every move they made this offseason (aside from resigning the defense) was made to improve those two areas, including Brandon Jacobs and Randy Moss. The comments at the bottom are also hilarious. | Cohn gives 49ers an F. (Cohn)
A 2nd round mock draft that's come out after the 1st round has been completed. It's got Coby Fleener going to the the Colts, Stephen Hill to the Rams, and we get Amini Silatolu. That would be fine with me. | 2nd round mock with us taking Silatolu. (NFL.com)
Here's Matt Maiacco's take on the 49ers selection. He notes that he probably won't be expected to contribute much this year, but his speed is what the 49ers have sorely lacked. | Maiacco on Jenkins selection. (CSN Bay Area)
The selection of Jenkins shocked everyone, even him. He is a first round sleeper if ever there was one. | Jenkins a first round sleeper. (Scout.com)
What do people think? Judging from the comments on some of these articles there a few of you out there who wish we'd taken Hill or Fleener?
Being a Sheep
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