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2008 Season Retrospective: Kelly Jennings

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Outlook: Seattle drafted Kelly Jennings in the first round of the 2006 NFL Draft, because he was polished, had precocious cover skills and could start right away. In two seasons starting at Miami, Jennings recorded 72 tackles and 39 solo tackles. Roughly, what that means is that opponents were not targeting the receiver Jennings was covering. Jennings had three interceptions his senior season, and six overall. Kelly Jennings was a sound second cornerback in 2007, because he was polished and had precocious cover skills. Lost to many, Jennings was an integral part of Seattle's hustle pass rush: Covering his man and keeping the quarterback clutching. Jennings does not have NFL caliber ball skills. That's a weakness that defined his 2008.

Had Jennings mixed in an interception at any point in 2008, at any point in 2007, his 2008 season would not have been so disastrous. Buffalo proved Jennings was bringing a knife to a gunfight. Jennings covered Lee Evans. Trent Edwards was incomplete on five of his first six pass attempts to Evans, but continued to gun away. Eventually, the dam broke. Evans completed his final three targets for 70 yards. Jennings could tip the pass away or shield Evans, but he couldn't punish Edwards for targeting Evans. So, despite good cover, Jennings was mercilessly targeted. He was targeted 18 times in the first two games. He was benched to start the game against Saint Louis, started against the Giants, was burned twice in the first quarter, and then relegated to playing right corner in nickel packages.

Jennings' outlook is easy: develop ball skills or fail.

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NFL level ball skills?

The guy doesn’t have human level “stay on your feet” skills.

by djafrot on Mar 26, 2009 2:36 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

what does it mean if he doesn't develop them?

assuming he gets better pass rush and safety help, what is his value without those ball skills?

servicable starter? decent third corner? out of the league?

by cro-mag! on Mar 27, 2009 9:15 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Bring back Mike Rumph to the NFL!

"Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?" - Dr. Venture

by Eegah on Mar 27, 2009 11:14 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

On the plus side he doesn't actually need to develop them

If he can get a lucky streak, and he puts himself in the right place most of the time, then teams will start to respect him again.

by Nate Dogg on Mar 27, 2009 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

How likely is it that we can take Kelly Jennings and merge him with Josh Wilson

Thus we would get one complete cornerback with both great cover skills and great ball hawking skills. Cloning’s going out of style anyway, let’s get these scientists to work on the next big thing: molecular merging.

by B.B.Finnegan on Mar 26, 2009 11:29 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

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