When the 49ers used a 1^st round pick on AJ Jenkins in the 2012 NFL Draft, it caught a lot of people by surprise as no one had him going in the 1^st round. Even Mel Kiper, who was seemingly higher on Jenkins than anyone was, didn’t have him in the 1^st round. Kiper also had bigger name receivers Stephen Hill and Rueben Randle going ahead of him.

49ers fans still had plenty of reason to be confident. The dynamic duo of Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke made similarly surprising picks of Aldon Smith and Chris Culliver in the 1^st and 3^rd round respectively last year and both exceeded expectations, Smith doing so drastically. Besides, Harbaugh has done no wrong since being hired last offseason, taking the team from 6-10 to 13-3 and the NFC Championship game, turning former #1 pick bust Alex Smith into a legitimate starting quarterback, and coaching breakout years out of Ray McDonald, Ahmad Brooks, Navorro Bowman, Dashon Goldson, and Carlos Rogers defensively.

However, 49ers fans can’t be encouraged by reports out of 49ers’ camp about Jenkins so far. First, it was reported that he showed up out of shape and was really struggling and now a report from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat is saying that Jenkins “looked like one of the worst receivers” at minicamp. The Santa Rose Press Democrat also mentions that Jenkins barely saw any work with the 2^nd team, which puts him at best 5^th on the depth chart.

Jenkins will start the season 4^th on the depth chart at best, behind Michael Crabtree, Randy Moss, and Mario Manningham and may be even lower if this continues. Kyle Williams, who the same report said looked like the 49ers’ 3^rd best receiver, might end up 4^th on the depth chart if Jenkins can’t leapfrog him, leaving Jenkins in a position to make essentially zero impact as a rookie.

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