Janoris Jenkins Was Still Smoking at North Alabama

[duesouth]

In terms of talent, I could make a strong argument that he's better than Claiborne. A little smaller than Mo, but otherwise just as good or better. When a kid is that good he doesn't fall that far - someone always takes a chance and looking at the lack of depth at CB this year, I doubt he gets out of the second round. He should be a top 15 pick on pure talent.

[Asteinebach]

Seriously though, I can't see anyone taking the leap on Jenkins. Remember Pac Man Jones was a top 10 pick. That's with everyone knowing that he was a screw-up and degenerate. And that was in a year full of extremely talented DB's, I can name a dozen off my head that've been more successful than Jones. If Jenkins' talent was so undeniable, it wouldn't be an obstacle for him being a first round pick. The truth is, the guys personality just so greatly outweighs the fact that he's a decent cover corner.

Anyone picking this guy in the 1st round gets exactly what they deserve. Maybe a year, maybe two years of uninterrupted starter caliber football, followed by a slew of legal, marital, financial, and emotional issues. The guy is poison.

[CDCB14]

People forget the simple solution to this problem.... his contact. Just put a ton of fine/suspension clauses, revoke guaranteed money, etc. if he gets caught with weed.

With the rookie wage scale now he won't be making as close to as much as he would have before, and he has 4 kids who he needs to pay child support.

If he doesn't behave with all of that, then there are problems, but I would bet he does.

[Asteinebach]

I'm not taking that bet, personally. And as I pointed out in another thread, even though the financial burden is no longer a factor, there's still the fact that by taking him you're passing on a number of other very solid candidates many of whom will be successful at the next level.

[eaglesalltheway]

Originally Posted by Asteinebach

While everyone keeps talking about who's going to pull the trigger on Jenkins...I'm more concerned about who Jenkins is gonna pull the trigger on.

Are you from ******* castefootball? Or what is the deal here? He smokes pot and ***** bitches without a condom. He may be dumb as a rock but what have you seen or heard that automatically makes you jump to that conclusion?

[tjsunstein]

He's the second best corner in the draft to me. I would pass up on Claiborne for a different need if I knew Jenkins would be there at my next pick.

[jojo]

Originally Posted by duesouth

In terms of talent, I could make a strong argument that he's better than Claiborne. A little smaller than Mo, but otherwise just as good or better. When a kid is that good he doesn't fall that far - someone always takes a chance and looking at the lack of depth at CB this year, I doubt he gets out of the second round. He should be a top 15 pick on pure talent.

Agree, he has tremendous ball skills, doesn't miss tackles. Is it a "risk" to take a player with his risky reputation in the 2nd? For most, yeah, but with the skillset he brings to the table he could be exceptional.

[stlouisfan37]

Originally Posted by CDCB14

People forget the simple solution to this problem.... his contact. Just put a ton of fine/suspension clauses, revoke guaranteed money, etc. if he gets caught with weed.

With the rookie wage scale now he won't be making as close to as much as he would have before, and he has 4 kids who he needs to pay child support.

If he doesn't behave with all of that, then there are problems, but I would bet he does.

This is a valid argument that is made by a lot of well-rounded people. Almost all of us in this world have a sense of appreciation for our behavior and the rewards or consequences that go along with it.

But in cases like this we aren't talking about a well-rounded individual. We are talking about a young man who has some serious entitlement issues, who doesn't necessarily think rationally. We look at this guy and say, "He has responsibilities. He better stay straight, he has a career and babies to take care of." But the mere fact that we think this way is why we aren't in the position he is in in the first place. Will he change? Maybe. Can he change? Almost certainly. But if you ask any therapist what type of person is least likely to change their behavior on a deep level they will tell you a young man with entitlement issues.

[JoeJoeBrown]

BTW, I'm hoping the Browns take him with their second 1st rounder.

He and Haden together would be the bomb.

[villagewarrior]

I may have missed something, but I didn't see any specific issues at North Alabama, so what are these Execs talking about? I agree with the assessment that Jenkins is borderline draft able based on his idiocy, just wondering if there are specifics about his time at North Alabama.

[YAYareaRB]

[stlouisfan37]

I believe that someone here suggested that he admitted he still smoked pot during his time at UNA while being interviewed at the Combine.

[Asteinebach]

Originally Posted by eaglesalltheway

Are you from ******* castefootball? Or what is the deal here? He smokes pot and ***** bitches without a condom. He may be dumb as a rock but what have you seen or heard that automatically makes you jump to that conclusion?

Holy lack of a sense of humor Batman!

[Caulibflower]

Originally Posted by Chargerfn909

Why waste a valuable draft pick on someone who is almost certainly going to struggle to stay in the league.

Because by the time you get to the third round, you're already dealing with guy who are about as likely to be out of the league in a couple of years as they are to start. So when you have a potentially elite player still on the board, you take him. You don't have to like him. You're not hiring him to babysit your kids, you're hiring him to defend passes and knock the **** out of people. We really don't need to turn the draft into some kind of morality play every year. Every year, there are highly talented guys with character concerns, and every year those guys get drafted high. Sure, they might've been drafted higher if they weren't known to smoke weed, but they don't fall out of the draft. At most, and of course depending on their offenses, it more or less knocks them down a tier. Top-ten talents last into the 20s. First rounders go in the second or third. Elite prospects simply don't fall through the cracks, because there are always teams willing to give them a shot at getting their **** together on account of their talent, and it doesn't take very long for the talent of these "red flag" guys to be so far beyond the talent of the prospects on the teams' draft boards that they say, "**** it, we're taking him." Everyone in the room knows there's that chance of the player flaming out, but lets be honest: there are plenty of great guys who flame out of the league without being bad people, and ultimately, NFL decision-makers are in the business of winning football games. Even a coach who thinks Janoris is a shithead at some point sees his potential outweighing his risk and takes him. People like us, who don't think it's fair that a 22 year-old kid with no impulse control has an opportunity to make millions of dollars off of a talent he was born with, want to see him fail. People think, "I don't want to give this kid a chance because he's been taking advantage of chances for years." And you'd be justified in thinking that. Thing is, that's just not how the NFL works.

[Iamcanadian]

I see no way Jenkins get picked in round 1, his character issues are just too out of control and teams drafting late won't touch him with a ten foot pole. Yes, he is an amazing talent, maybe even better than Claiborne's, but he is Pac Man Jones' clone and what good is a player who will be suspended all the time.

[Brothgar]

Originally Posted by Iamcanadian

I see no way Jenkins get picked in round 1, his character issues are just too out of control and teams drafting late won't touch him with a ten foot pole. Yes, he is an amazing talent, maybe even better than Claiborne's, but he is Pac Man Jones' clone and what good is a player who will be suspended all the time.

I forget who was the DC of the titans when Pac Man was drafted?

[Ngatachance92]

I like it when my team drafts red flag players from time to time, gives us a chance to pick up a player we normally wouldn't be in position to draft.. Except for when the player doesn't even get to see the field before cracking his skull, then not so much.

[Iamcanadian]

Originally Posted by Ngatachance92

I like it when my team drafts red flag players from time to time, gives us a chance to pick up a player we normally wouldn't be in position to draft.. Except for when the player doesn't even get to see the field before cracking his skull, then not so much.

The good teams will draft red flag players all the time because of their talent which normally they wouldn't get a shot at. However, the good teams usually limit themselves to injured players who fall because of their health issues, they rarely take a shot on character problems, they leave those to the poor drafting teams.

[Scott Wright]

Let's keep things in perspective, Jenkins isn't monkeying around with guns or assaulting people like Pacman Jones. The guy is careless when it comes to weed and sex. I'm not saying those issues should be ignored, but in the grand scheme of things there are a lot worse vices to have.

Jenkins isn't a bad kid, just immature and a bit irresponsible.

[Iamcanadian]

Originally Posted by Scott Wright

Let's keep things in perspective, Jenkins isn't monkeying around with guns or assaulting people like Pacman Jones. The guy is careless when it comes to weed and sex. I'm not saying those issues should be ignored, but in the grand scheme of things there are a lot worse vices to have.

Jenkins isn't a bad kid, just immature and a bit irresponsible.

He's still carries a high probability for suspensions which is why I compared him to Pac Man Jones, yes, it isn't guns or assaulting people but in the end, weed still gets you suspended.

[sbh15]

i would take him in the early second and not hesitate ... there is some severe overestimating of how 'clean' nfl players are going on in this thread.

edit: just saw scott pretty much hit the nail on the head before me, basically i'm echoing what he's saying here.

[WCH]

If Jenkins were 6'0" and ran a 4.3, the character stuff wouldn't be as big of an issue. His draft prospects are hurt by the fact that some teams will take him off their boards just because he's only 5'10".

[Caddy]

Originally Posted by CDCB14

People forget the simple solution to this problem.... his contact. Just put a ton of fine/suspension clauses, revoke guaranteed money, etc. if he gets caught with weed.

With the rookie wage scale now he won't be making as close to as much as he would have before, and he has 4 kids who he needs to pay child support.

If he doesn't behave with all of that, then there are problems, but I would bet he does.

This sounds great in practice, but it doesn't sound like he is smart enough to actually stick to something like that. Obviously you or I would be smart enough to realise smoking weed isn't worth losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, but it hasn't stopped players in the past and it won't stop them in the future.

[SterlingArcher]

Originally Posted by CDCB14

People forget the simple solution to this problem.... his contact. Just put a ton of fine/suspension clauses, revoke guaranteed money, etc. if he gets caught with weed.

With the rookie wage scale now he won't be making as close to as much as he would have before, and he has 4 kids who he needs to pay child support.

If he doesn't behave with all of that, then there are problems, but I would bet he does.

I would still be bummed if my team drafted him, set up his contract like you suggested and he loses money in his contract if he screws up while a player drafted a few spots lower goes on to be a productive player in the league. I'd be upset that while yes, the team didn't have to pay him all the money, they still could have had the player drafted after him that is productive.

[Abaddon]

Originally Posted by Caddy

You can be addicted to so many things, including marijuana. For a lot I'm sure it is a habit which could be broken fairly easily if the need arose, but for some I'm sure they legitimately can't stop. If I had to guess in Jenkins case, I'd say he'll be out of the league in < 4 years.*

All research to the contrary.