Scott Pioli discusses former Chiefs draft pick Jon Baldwin

On Tuesday afternoon, Cam Inman and Matt Barrows were able to talk with former Kansas City Chiefs' general manager Scott Piolo to get some insight from the man who originally drafted new 49ers wide receiver Jon Baldwin. Head over to the Mercury News and Sacramento Bee to check out the various quotations they got from Piolo.

Piolo discussed his natural gifts, and described him as the kind of guy who could help fill the red zone void the 49ers dealt with at times:

He has the tools and the skills to be that player, but again a player's ability in the red zone really plays to the chemistry thing and the trust that a quarterback needs to develop with that receiver.

Pioli had a couple of comments about chemistry between wide receiver and quarterback, both as it applied in the red zone, and also on the deep ball. It would seem Colin Kaepernick and A.J. Jenkins could never quite get on the same page for whatever reason. Baldwin and Kap have only a limited amount of time to get on the same page.

It seems likely that Baldwin is making the roster, given the trade and his salary. It's certainly not a lock, but it seems likely. One of the beat writers (I can't find the article now) suggested that we could see Baldwin inactive the first two or three games, giving him time to get acclimated before throwing him into the fire. Greg Roman was asked about the team's plans to get Baldwin into the evaluation process:

We certainly don't want to ask any of the players to do anything we haven't prepared them adequately for. But, at the same time I'm sure we'll challenge them with what we present to them.

The 49ers won't say what the plan is for Baldwin this weekend, but if he is not playing on Sunday, even in just the fourth quarter, I would be a bit disappointed. I suppose if he's a lock to make the team, then practice would be as good a time as any to see what he has with Colin Kaepernick. That being said, it would be nice to see him going at regular game speed.

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• Jenkins-for-Baldwin story stream