Better days for JenkinsAfter turning in 40 times in the mid 4.5-range and then failing to register in any of the other drills, the pre-Combine rumors of Malcolm Jenkins winding up as a safety in the NFL have picked up some considerable steam.
With NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock saying "the damage had been done" thanks to his less-than-stellar 40 time, the writing does appear to be on the wall for Jenkins.
Though he's been adamant about playing corner at the next level, a move to free safety may not exactly be a bad thing for Jenkins. There's prior precedent -- in fact you don't have to look any further than former Boilermaker Rod Woodson. Both have similar size and though Woodson is a little bit faster than Jenkins (okay, maybe considerably faster) and started his career at corner, he would end up having his best seasons as a safety in the NFL.
Sure, he may slide a little in the draft and thus cost himself some money, but getting drafted is just the first step of a long journey. Because he may move down the board a bit, there's also the bonus of going to a stable team where he'll have the opportunity to compete at corner instead of being pressed into an immediate role and forced to produce right away.
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not he's a playmaker and I think we all know the answer to that question. At any rate, he'll get another chance to perform in front of GMs and scouts at the Buckeye Pro Day on March 13.
Comments
I watched the combine and everybody who they analyst's liked not from Ohio State said "well we all know about him" just "put in the tape" or "Just go to the senior film",these times and work outs wont hurt him.So for all the doubters and nay-sayers about Beanie Wells, James Laurinaitis, Marcus Freeman, Malcolm Jenkins I say '' Just Go To The Tape" nuff said !!!!!!!!
P.S. To Espn (Everyone) and the Nfl Network (Mike Mayock) quit hating on Ohio State, We are good and we have great players just accept it and move on
When watching the defense this year, it became clear who the best defensive player was. Jenkins is not only a great cover guy but a sure tackler. A move to safety would allow him to help out over the top and stack the box. If he happens to move to safety, I think the Rod Woodson comparison will turn out to be more accurate than anyone thought.
I find it interesting that most analyst are down playing Jenkin's ability and say he has to move to safety. Chris Gamble is doing just fine at corner and no one will argue who the better corner in college was.
Also, of the 7 different drills at the combine, 4 of them were topped by Buckeyes, not just at their respective position, but of the entire combine.
...Jenkins in the 3-cone drill
...Hartline in the 60 yard shuttle
...Washington in the vertical and broad jumps
http://www.thewizofodds.com/th...
Wonder if those big game losses are coming back to bite them in the rear?
The 3 cone drill is much more important than the 40 yard dash... Hip Speed and being able to turn on a dime with a receiver is what makes Jenkins a true "cover corner".. The idiots are Espin and everywhere else just love to create controversy around us.... Bottom line is any smart Manager or GM knows Jenkins is a top 5 player in the draft this year.. His tape outweighs any stupid 40 yard sprint ... The guy just makes plays
http://www.nfl.com/videos?vide...
Jenkins said it best in the above interview: no one is going to get in a 3-point stance in football. Some guys just aren't track guys.
It seemed like it was a slow track too. Vontae Davis only posted a 4.49, which compared to Jenkins' 4.52, isn't that much faster.
I still have Green Bay taking him at the 9th spot.
The rod woodson comparison is dead on-how did I not think of that before....this kid will be good wherever he plays safety or corner...he makes plays simple as that....the only worry I have though is that heacock didn't play his corners as aggressive as NFL coordinators do
not as big as him but i'd love to see a similar type hit as this one
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
also, doesn't the fight song the high school band play sound familar?
http://deadspin.com/5160247/ho...
Green Bay at 9 would be an awesome pick for him. I know they didn't have a great team this year, but they had virtually the same team as the year before where they almost made the Super Bowl. He would get immediate action too.
I am a huge fan of a player getting picked later in the first round anyway. If you end up on a team like Detroit or Cincinnati, it seems like bad karma just follows you. I mean, I live near Cincy and they have had an endless parade of 1rst round picks or good rookies who just kind of fade away, or have some horrible injury, or end up in jail lol.
I would rather see Beanie, Jenkins, and JL end up player for the Eagles, Packers, and Giants, than Oakland, Cincy, and Detroit, or other bottom feeder teams with no hope in sight.
Green Bay has traditionally been a Buckeye-friendly organization: Hawk, Pickett are two of their first round draft picks. Debatable whether it's worked out for them, but you really can't go wrong with Malcolm Jenkins.
If I needed a DB I would take Jenkins in a heartbeat. Some kids are just pure football players and have that intangible quality you can't put a metric to, and Jenkins is that kind of guy. He'll have a long and successful NFL career.
I'm so tired of the constant verbal diarrhea spewed by the so-called "experts" in Bristol, Connecticut. Put any asshole on camera then all of a sudden said asshole thinks he has the chops to evaluate others. Did you play? Did you coach? Didn't think so.
I don't know why it would be debateble, They are making money and playing. They haven't ended up in a disfunctional organization. Maybe they aren't "showcase" type of players but at least you have an organization in Green Bay that has a goal of making the playoffs and often they do. You get stuck in Detroit, Cincy, Oakland, where there is never anyhope of making the post season.
I guess it just depends on what kind of player you want to be in the NFL. Do you want to be a paycheck guy who makes a couple million more on a crappy team, or do you want to be a guy who still makes millions and wants to win something.
Well, Ryan Pickett, while good, hasn't exactly been the dominant DT they thought they drafted. That was all I was saying. I've heard mostly good things about AJ
Is there a drill where you back-pedal for 10 yards, turn 180 degrees, then sprint off a 40? That seems to be a better gauge as to a cornerback's speed. Jenkins is fast, 4.5 is fast. But what makes corners so valuable is their ability to read their man and react, and stay with their man while going backwards a ways. You're also reading the QB at the same time, too.
Whatever, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about. But these are flat tests, with no pads, indoors, and don't mimic what happens in a football game. So it's stupid. If Jenkins slides because he's 1 tenth of a second slower after 40 yards, I say they're not doing him due justice.
Ryan Pickett was drafted by the Rams. He was a first rounder you were right on that.
The Pack has only drafted 3 OSU players in the first round in their team history.
Other than first rounders, I'll agree at least in the last 15 years or so GB has shown some affinity for OSU players, especially on defense.
Given their needs Jenkins seems like a no-brainer, unless they are swayed by combine results, which is stupid considering Vontae's roided up brother has so far burned San Fran on that.
Beanie could go to Jacksonville at 8 to compliment Jones-Drew, releasing Fred Taylor backs up that theory, although they probably need help elsewhere.
And if JL goes first round (wehich he will) that gives OSU 11 first round Draft picks in the last 5 years. All Tressell recruits, Cooper cant touch that. Can you say Lifetime Contract??
From Mel Kiper's thing yesterday on espn:
"Malcolm Jenkins, DB, Ohio State: Kiper has him at No. 12 on his Big Board, but that's a very fluid ranking. "There's not a player in this draft that the 40 time matters as much as Malcolm Jenkins," Kiper said before the combine. If Jenkins doesn't run a good 40, he'll become a late first-rounder because he'll be moved to safety in the NFL. But, Kiper said, "if he runs a good 40, he'll be a shutdown corner"
So the .06 jenkins was over the recommended 40 time is the difference between being a "shutdown corner" and late round safety?...................
Ahh the NFL.......where Charlie Frye and Dan Orlovsky start games.....and not as a joke..........well done.............somebody get usain bolt a tryout with a team.......that always works out well.........
Its like this in all sports now. How about a drill that's called..."The dude can flat out play the game". Everybody said Spiel was too slow and too small to play in the NFL. RIGHT. Maybe the scouts should take out their tape measures and measure the size of a players heart. The NFL sucks anyway. It's boring as shit.
yea, the nfl sucks ass, it looks like every team is identical except for a few players here and there, besides , its fixed.
You know its bad when you go to a NFL game and when the offense is on the field, the defense is sitting on their ass shootin the shit. Nobody cares. Its total bullshit. I OD on college football on Saturdays and by the time Sunday rolls around I'm done.
What kills me about our society I guess, is that a guy like Mel Kiper is making millions to guess where someone is going to get drafted. Do you think anyone outside of ESPN and message board really cares what Mel Kiper thinks? He's not a scout or anything important
He's also got that goofy ass hair. Our society is so focused on what the media thinks. When it comes right down to it, does it really matter if Jenkins is going to go 9th or 16th? He's going to be making ass loads of money.
how do you know about his ass hair?
Wonder no more :(
I am a Bengals fan so not having anything to root for in the last 20 years may play into how i fell about the NFL. I guess I could sell out like all the Steeler fans in Ohio, but that aint me.
How about that douche bag Pogue not responding to the fact he said Ryan Pickett was drafted by the Packers. This guy is callin people out left and right daily, and the next thing you know he's throwin around misinformation about players from his favorite team. I realize he was probably still watchin Ninja Turtles and eatin PB&J when that all went down, but if you're gonna talk it, then walk it.
And whats with his obsession about how "white" somebody is?? i read an article he wrote and he spent a whole paragraph talkin about Reid Fragel and how he's the whitest guy in Michigan, then he used it to slam me about a comment I posted.
Totally off-topic, but has anyone checked out the uproar over on mgoblog about the Makers Mark ad downtown? Holy crap, you'd think it said that all M*ch*g*n fans fornicate with their siblings or something.
Hey, how about that probable pederast "hard working father of three" throwing out the lamest arguments this side of Mark May daily, only to turn around and insult someone for getting a minor detail wrong about a player who played when said person wasn't even watching football?
hey, how about me fucking up my own name?
I don't correct factual errors because I recognize the ability of people to make the occasional honest mistake, I call out people, like our friend iball, for saying Hartline is wrong to leave early while the one-and-dones are somehow not. I don't think either are in the wrong, FWIW, because I don't criticize players for making the best decisions for themselves, even if it hurts my team.