© Jeff Blake | 2019 Sep 14
When you get a blue-chip talent later on in the first round, it usually comes with some risk. That was certainly when the 49ers selected Reuben Foster, and that didn’t exactly turn out well.
So, how worried should 49ers fans be about the knee tendinitis that saw Kinlaw, who many believed was the best defensive line prospect in the draft, fall into San Francisco’s lap at 14? That’s exactly what Brian Murphy asked 49ers beat writer Eric Branch on Monday morning.
“I had this question: Is this a big deal or is it not?” Branch said.
“His knee tendinitis flared up at the Senior Bowl in January, so he had to cut it short, he only had two practices. A month later at the Combine, he sat it out because his knee tendinitis was an ongoing issue. He planned to participate at his Pro Day which was canceled in March. And knee tendinitis is just inflammation — easy for us to say, but you probably don’t want it — and it’s largely very treatable with pretty basic rehab stuff you can manage it.
“A report before the draft was that several teams when he was checked medically at the Combine flagged him for at risk for arthritic knees. That’s maybe troubling since he’s 22 years old and you shouldn’t have arthritic knees at that age.
“I was able to get in touch with a gentleman who was a team physician with the Rams and the Dodgers…People that are at risk for arthritic knees, it’s damage to the knee cartilage. Healthy knee cartilage manages friction and the impact a football player undergoes. If you have wear and tear of your knee cartilage then there’s more friction there which leads to arthritis.
“He said ‘this is not uncommon. 22-year old football players we see at the Combine, they’ve been playing football for 8-10 years, and you’ll begin to see this.’ Does that mean they’re okay? No. Generally they are flagged and they get lower grades because they are going to probably be in the training room more, they’ll require more treatment, but the upshot to that was ‘If you have a guy like that, you weigh the talent to the medical file and you’re apt to take risk with a more talented guy.’
“I’d say they’re taking some sort of risk with Javon Kinlaw. But when you talk to people he’s a freakish athlete and defensive tackle. So you do take a little bit of a chance of ‘Hey, maybe he’s going to have some health issues but we think he can be such a good player, let’s roll the dice a little bit.’”
Listen to the full interview below.