Rookie WRs: Randle NFL ready, Jenkins out of shape.

[Coachnorm]

The New York Giants boasted that Rueben Randle was NFL-ready after taking the LSU receiver in the second round of draft, and the kid didn't disappoint as the Super Bowl champions opened a rookie minicamp on Friday. Randle went up high to catch a pass along the sideline and later burned third-round draft choice Jayron Hosley on a ''go'' pattern in the morning session of Friday's camp. Granted it's just a minicamp littered with free agents and players on tryouts, but Randle showed signs that he might be able to replace Super Bowl hero Mario Manningham, who left to sign with the San Francisco 49ers as a free agent.)

49ers first-round pick A.J. Jenkins reported to rookie minicamp out of shape. Beat writers Matt Barrows and Matt Maiocco both noticed it on the field, and coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed he was unimpressed with Jenkins' conditioning midway through practice.

 

[efactor]

A little disappointing that Jenkins didn't report in better shape. But if he running "the hill" with Jerry Rice, it won't take long.

Harbaugh is playing it perfectly. Like the disappointed father who makes it clear that he still loves his son, but he needs to step it up to get dads approval. Not a big deal IMO........

 

[WesDawg]

Well said, eF. From an optimistic standpoint, the Jenkins news is just a blip on the radar, and will (hopefully) right itself once he gets in with the veteran pros and feels some peer pressure to take better care of himself. Fortunately, it's also not a huge issue because he was a luxury pick at a position they added depth to in the offseason. I'm thinking his upside this season was WR4 behind Moss, Manningham, and Crabtree. They also have V. Davis and Delanie Walker at TE so he was destined to be fairly low on the pecking order in '12. Couple all that with the fact that he's in a run-first offense with a slightly above average QB, and he has a somewhat low ceiling going forward for fantasy purposes, unless he has a meteoric rise up the depth chart after Moss leaves town.
The pessimist in me, however, starts sounding the alarm that Jenkins could possibly be on his way down Crabtree Boulevard in that he may lack the work ethic to justify the first round pick they spent on him. I didn't necessarily feel he graded out as a first round talent going into the draft, but after watching him 3-4 times last year and the skills/production he displayed, I didn't view it as a huge reach. Here's hoping he latches onto Rice, Davis or Pat Willis as a mentor as opposed to Crabtree or Moss.

The Randle news is decidedly more relevant to me though, since unlike Jenkins he has an open shot at a very productive role this year. He can slot in immediately as Eli's #3 target, replacing Manningham, and possibly warrent enough targets to approach Mario's 2010 production which makes him very valuable in real-life and fantasy.