This weekend an interesting report came out of Santa Clara via Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area. The 49ers beat reporter suggests that come Week 1, San Francisco rookie wide receiver A.J. Jenkins will not be among the active 46 on game day.
While we know Jenkins will make the final 53-man roster, the 49ers admittedly have five wide receivers ahead of him on the depth chart: Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Mario Manningham, Kyle Williams and Ted Ginn Jr.
This is not necessarily bad news or unexpected. The wide receiver group is a very deep one for San Francisco this year, and Maiocco does not suggest this will be season-long. There is the possibility that in matches against teams like Miami or St. Louis that Jenkins could be active in place of a veteran.
San Francisco finds themselves lucky enough to be in a position to sit their first round choice and allow him to advance mentally before being thrown into the fire. Normally, this option comes more with incoming quarterbacks who sit and learn, and it's an effective methodology.
A lot of skill players like wide receivers and running backs are often asked to transition right away.
This could have been Jim Harbaugh's plan all along; to acquire high-ceiling talent, allow him to develop and yield optimum long-term results. If this proves true, Jenkins will have a quite a learning opportunity.