NFL Draft: Ted Ginn, Jr. trade not the answer for Niners

The NFL Draft is next week, but one trade has some bloggers thinking that what will happen in the 1st round of the 2010 NFL Draft will be altered by it. Here's a tip: don't believe anything an NFL team rep tells the media before the NFL Draft because it's a clear sign that media person's being used to send a false signal. Translation: the San Francisco 49ers still need a speed running back; Ted Ginn, Jr. does not solve their problems.

The Niners trades their 5th round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft for Ted Ginn, Jr., the Dolphins Wide Receiver / Returner, who was their answer to Wide Receiver / Returner Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears.

The year Ginn was drafted, 2007, was the same time NFL personnel execs were on the lookout for someone, anyone, who could be the next Devin Hester, the speedster from The University of Miami.

Hester came in and shook-up the NFL with his shocking straight-ahead speed. The one player tagged by many to be the next Devin Hester was Ted Ginn, Jr. from Ohio State. But when the Dolphins took him as the 9th pick in the first round, there were many in the room at Radio City Music Hall who believed they grabbed him too high.

They were right, sort of.

It's not to say Ted Ginn Jr.'s not the deep threat the 49ers need; he is. The main question is can he catch the ball when it gets there?  He was two caught for eight thrown to him against the New Orleans Saints last year. It's just that Ginn's not the only answer for the speed the Niners need; Clemson Running Back C.J. Spiller's still a player the 49ers should work to get. Spiller's 4.27 speed in the back field combined with Ginn, second-year player Michael Crabtree, and fast tight-end Vernon Davis, will on paper give the 49ers the most dangerous offense they've had since the Bill Walsh years.

But Ginn's not the answer.

From the perspective of Miami Dolphins bloggers, Ted Ginn, Jr. did not have a happy time in Miami. The Phinsider reports that Ginn's high selection in the 1st round of The NFL Draft translated to great expectations as a return guy and a wide receiver.

In fairness, while Ginn didn't meet them as a receiver, he did set return records with the Dolphins. Last year, Ginn became the first NFL player since 1967 to score two return touchdowns in the same quarter against the New York Jets. But Ginn's toughness has been roundly questioned, with Dolphins legends like former offensive guard Bob Kuechenberg calling Ginn a "coward."

Ted Ginn for all the world looks like a Vernon Davis project for San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Mike Singletary. If Coach Singletary can have the same impact on Ginn he's had on Davis, Ginn's NFL Draft promise may well be met.

Stay tuned.