Now that the 49ers and Chiefs have swapped a pair of underachieving first-round receivers, the question becomes whether either or both will achieve in their new cities.
For new Chiefs receiver A.J. Jenkins, the stat sheet says that he’s not one of the 14 players who caught passes against the Chiefs. But coach Andy Reid says that Jenkins showed something on Saturday night.
“He actually picked up more than I thought he knew,” Reid told reporters on Sunday. “You don’t want to put the kid in a bad position, putting them out there when they don’t know the plays, that’s a tough thing to do. But we were able to get him in on a few things that he felt comfortable with. The pass plays actually kind of rolled in his direction. He had one nice block when he had to come and hit a safety which is a nice adjustment. I’m excited to get him in there when he has it all down. He’s only been with us for a short period of time, but he’s picking it up quicker than I thought he would.”
Quick is the key word for Jenkins. He needs to do enough quickly to show that he deserves a roster spot.
Currently, Jenkins shows up as a third-stringer on the online depth chart, which puts him at No. 5 or No. 6. Which even if it puts him on the roster puts him in line for fairly extensive special-teams duties.