Somebody pinch me because I must be dreaming, April has come at last! Are you guys as excited as I am?
For the next few weeks leading up to draft day I am going to breakdown a player a day that I believe the Ravens should/will target. For the next few days I will be looking at second round targets. Next up, North Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins.
Today lets talk about the headache that is Janoris Jenkins. Jenkins might be the best cover corner in the 2012 draft. he is immensly talented and had a standout career at Florida. So why isnt he a top 10 pick? mostly because he was kicked out of Florida for off field issues(drug use being the biggest issue) and finished his college career at N. Alabama.
What He Does Well
Jenkins is a machine on the field. he has better man cover skills than any player in this years draft. Jenkins is a ball hawking player, he jumps a lot of routes and usually makes the play on the ball. His press man coverage is incredible for a player his size(just 5’10”) and as i stated above, his off man is the best ive seen from a college player in years. He plays very well in zone coverage as well, he rarely gets caught out of assignment and almost never falls for pump fakes or play action fakes.
Where He Needs To Improve
Jenkins would be a top 10 pick, and maybe the top overall CB taken if it werent for a litany of off field troubles. Jenkins has repeated issues with marijuana use. He was kicked out of Florida for it and there were reports that Jenkins admitted to continuing to use it at N. Alabama(Jenkins has since disputed those reports. the timing would seem to indicate that Jenkins is telling the truth and a team leaked the false information in an attempt to make Jenkins slide deeper in the draft. Jenkins never failed a drug test at N. Alabama.). Jenkins has also demonstrated repeatedly that his decision making ability is not good as he has made numerous bad choices over the past few years. Jenkins also has 4 children with 3 different women. To be honest, the Children wouldnt be a big deal(plenty of NFL players have some paternity issues of their own) if it werent for all of the other off field issues. This just becomes another in a long list of bad choices for Jenkins.
Conclusion
Jenkins is one of the most gifted players in the draft and might be available in the second round due to character concerns. Many might be afraid of players like Jenkins, but to be honest, Ravens fans two favorite words in the draft should be “Character Concerns”. Those two words enable the Ravens to find talented players way later than they should be able to get them(Jimmy Smith and Terrell Suggs come to mind). Do not confuse Jenkins problems, with the problems that Jimmy Smith had though. Jenkins has much more serious issues to contend with. Comparing Jenkins issues to Smiths problems is like comparing Ebola to the Common cold. That said, you cant take away the talent that Jenkins has. The next issue is would the Ravens draft a CB in a high round this year with Webb and Smith under contract already. I think they would just simply because Cary Williams is not under contract past this season(though the Ravens are in negotiations with him) and you can never have to many CBs. Adding Jenkins would lock up the fact that the Ravens have the best secondary in all football. In an increasingly passing centric league the value of Corners just keeps going up and up and up.
Pro Player Comparison: Carlos Rodgers(2011), CB, San Francisco 49ers
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