Jenkins Measures Up To NFL
Published: Oct 26, 2007
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TAMPA - During a recent University of South Florida practice, an NFL scout was looking for additional information about USF senior Mike Jenkins.
A reporter asked the scout if he heard about Jenkins' game at Miami in 2005. He hadn't.
Then a sophomore, Jenkins caught Miami tight end Greg Olsen, who had at least a 10-yard lead, from behind at about the 6 on what would have been a 63-yard touchdown reception. Jenkins not only caught Olsen, who was a first-round pick of the Chicago Bears last season, but also poked the ball out of Olsen's right arm. It went through the end zone for a touchback.
The scout shook his head. "And Olsen runs a 4.4," he said.
That play is one example why Jenkins is projected to be USF's first first-round NFL draft pick in April.
USF safeties coach Troy Douglas, who coached future Bucs All-Pro cornerback Donnie Abraham at East Tennessee State in the mid-1990s, said there is no comparison.
"Mike's bigger, stronger and faster," Douglas said.
Jenkins, who is rated as the top senior cornerback NFL prospect by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr., said he welcomes the added attention.
"It feels good that my name is out there and knowing the NFL is watching me," Jenkins said.
Last year, though, Jenkins was more lonely than the Maytag repairman. Most of USF's opponents wouldn't throw his way and instead decided to test cornerback Trae Williams. All Williams did was intercept a school record-tying seven passes and earn All-Big East honors.
"It wasn't frustrating because Trae was having a great year," Jenkins said. "I was happy for him."
This year opponents have had to pick their poison. Jenkins and Williams each have two interceptions and nine passes broken up. USF's cornerbacks are in man-to-man coverage about 80-90 percent of the time, Jenkins said.
"I've had more action coming at me this year than last year," Jenkins said. "They're gunning for me. They want to test me to see what all the hype is about.
"I felt like in a few games they would test me and then they never came back to me."
Scouts love Jenkins' size (6-foot, 200 pounds) and speed (sub 4.4 seconds in the 40).
"It's not far fetched that he's the best senior corner out there," said an NFL head scout who has seen Jenkins several times this season. "He has really improved on his technique and cleaned up some [technique] stuff since last year.
"There are not any weaknesses. It's very tough to find corners with his combination of size and speed. He's an outstanding prospect."
During his freshman year, Jenkins also received a great deal of attention, but for all the wrong reasons.
In a game against Tennessee Tech, Jenkins made a tackle on Tech wide receiver Drew Hixon. The hit, which was clean, knocked Hixon unconscious and he had to be placed in a medically induced coma. Hixon has since fully recovered.
"That weighed on him a whole lot," said Kathy Gray, Jenkins' mother. "He talked about that throughout his freshman year. He's still not over it. He'll talk to me about it and say 'I wonder how he's doing?' "
Jenkins said that made him realize "football can be over for anybody at any given time on one play."
Jenkins said he hasn't had a chance to talk to Dixon, but Dixon's father, Stan, told Douglas that his son is doing well and thinks highly of Jenkins.
Jenkins then had a scare of his own before this season when his mother, who has diabetes, was hospitalized with high blood pressure. At the same time, his grandmother, Ida Jenkins, also was hospitalized because of bone cancer, Jenkins said.
"At first, it was a lot of stress on him," Gray said. "But he handled it very well."
Jenkins said helping his family has been a big motivation.
"It motivates me a lot to help them out," Jenkins said. "If I get to the next level I can take care of them."
Reporter Brett McMurphy can be reached at (813) 259-7928 or bmcmurphy@tampatrib.com.
