
Bawahahahaha! Some of you guys crack me up! A lot guys sure don't know about football or more important developing a team. Nor do some take history into account. As one poster said "AJ and Patton are apples and oranges." Although you may look at their stats and think they are the similar, they are different. Patton catches short passes and picks up a lot of his yardage after the catch. AJ is a burner that has the ability to take the top off, however, he needed to get stronger. He was young and didn't know what to expect or realize how much he had to work and showed up out of shape, but so did LMJ-the reason in case some of you forgot the two of them belonge to schools that had late graduations, per NFL rules they couldn't participate in a lot of the camps and missed a lot of valuable time. If you think that matters for a rookie, then consider yourself ignorant, especially the wr position. He needed to get stronger so that he can escape the jams and use that speed. However, for all the experience, strength and speed that Randy Moss still had, they still hardly went to him, how many games did you see him open but did not get the ball? It was because of Alex being safe, then even with Kaep in there, the problem was chemistry or the design of the play. In the preseason they did pretty good (Kaep & AJ) in their short stint. Roman has to find a way to get him open and on the field. AJ was luxury pick, that had to beat out the likes of many veterans. We all know when it comes to crunch, the coaching staff will go with season vets first.
As another said, we may not be able to resign Crabtree, do some of you even remember how he held out into almost the middle of the season? A rookie! The niners are looking at the future one and two years down the line. Look at the examples that another poster provided who had slow starts, especially if you have veterans in front taking up practice snaps.
Plus some of you are forgetting that Manningham may not make it back in time to get his reps with Kaep. He may end up being on the PUP or injured reserve. The niners may use that move just in case one of the receivers gets injured, then move him to the 53 man roster later. Plus any praise given to a guy like Locketter needs to be taken with a grain of salt, look at how many have been praised and then let go.
As for the TE that wasn't, is it not evident that JH and Baalke, knew the stanford tight ends very well (includes Reuland), but still did not take/keep them because they felt others had more potential/upside or fit what they wanted to do better? Ertz for example is taller yet has shorter arm length, also was not that strong (we needed a blocking te first more than a receiving te.
I think AJ will be fine, it is up to Roman to find a way to utilize his talents. Kaeps to get him the ball if Roman does. Does not mean AJ will get a lot of catches just important ones. maybe like 28 catches/ 476 yards and 4/5 TDs.