Janoris Jenkins Will Transfer to North Alabama

by Danny Kelly on May 12, 2011 11:09 AM PDT

KNOXVILLE TN - SEPTEMBER 18: Janoris Jenkins #1 of the Florida Gators fights to bring down Tauren Poole #28 of the Tennessee Volunteers at Neyland Stadium on September 18 2010 in Knoxville Tennessee. Florida won 31-17. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

We had talked about Janoris Jenkins being claimed in the supplemental draft by the Seahawks, if there is one, and debated on how much the Hawks might be willing to give up to acquire the standout corner. However, that now appears to be moot as he's decided to transfer to North Alabama to play corner for his final season pending NCAA approval. Josh Buchanan of JB Scouting, who is very plugged in to the small school system and it's prospects, announced this on his twitter account yesterday.

Jenkins was recently kicked off of Florida's football program after being arrested for marijuana possession. He is (was?) a top-tier first round caliber cornerback that some people had rated in the same range as Jimmy Smith and Prince Amukamara had he decided to declare for the draft. He'll be a player to watch in 2011 if you can find a channel that is showing North Alabama play.

Until then go check out Rob Staton's excellent breakdown on Jenkins, including some game tape to watch and a good overall summary of the whole situation - also prior links where Rob scouted Jenkins and a piece by Matthew Elder that points out some interesting matchups to watch for in 2011. Rob had this to say about Jenkins: "He's very much a competitive playmaker with eight career interceptions. Despite not being the biggest or most physical cornerback (5-11, 190lbs) he plays above those limitations as witnessed against the likes of Jones, Green and Jeffery. In terms of coverage, he's as good as it gets and has fluid hips, excellent recovery speed, a competitive streak to challenge for the ball and instinct. He could return kicks at North Alabama and put points on the board regularly."

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Probably the right decision for him

Will be very interesting to see where he goes next year. Hope for him he can keep his nose clean for a year.

by Thomas Beekers on May 12, 2011 11:30 AM PDT reply actions

This whole episode makes me wonder why he didn't just declare eligibility for the draft at season's end.

I hadn’t seen anything about a poor report from the draft advisory board or anything. If he was on such thin ice in Florida it would have made sense to just go pro.

Proactive-like-Nonstop

by Danny Kelly on May 12, 2011 3:11 PM PDT up reply actions

Probably caught off guard by the dismissal

Can’t remember when the actual mary-jane charges happened, but pretty sure he wasn’t kicked off after the deadline to declare. He must not have seen it coming, and figured he’d just have a 1-2 game suspension or something. His only option at that point was the supplemental draft, in a crazy lock-out year, and red-flags about character. Probably in his best interests to rehab his stock before trying again.

"I'm tired of chasing after my dreams. I'll just find out where they're going, and catch up later." - Hedberg

by jteckmann on May 12, 2011 3:34 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah, the third arrest happened after the deadline

But he’d had 2 arrests/problems prior to that and had gotten into the doghouse there. I guess it doesn’t make a difference really – he’d have probably been suspended by the NFL or dropped a bunch in draft stock if he had declared; but if youre pushing your luck as bad as he was at Florida, he might have been better off leaving on his own before it got to this. Too late now though.

Proactive-like-Nonstop

by Danny Kelly on May 12, 2011 3:41 PM PDT up reply actions

Go Lions

Went to high school in Florence and later attended UNA part-time back in the mid-90’s when UNA won their 3 straight DII championships. Their conference (Gulf South) has basically crumbled around them, and they’re mulling the move up to Div I – Ohio Valley or Sun Belt. They’ve always invested a lot in the football program, and Terry Bowden is the current HC.

So he’ll be working with a decent coaching staff, and the Shoals area is the definition of a sleepy college town – the cops aren’t going to be cutting him any favors. If he can’t keep his nose clean there, bad sign.

Not really important info, I guess … but the more you know ….

"I'm tired of chasing after my dreams. I'll just find out where they're going, and catch up later." - Hedberg

by jteckmann on May 12, 2011 3:28 PM PDT reply actions

Indeed.

Proactive-like-Nonstop

by Danny Kelly on May 12, 2011 3:32 PM PDT up reply actions

Man Can This Guy Play Or What?

He’s got the skills.(referencing the draftblog video) Even when those receivers looked open, the closing speed caught my eye. There are times where you can see the QB wants to throw it to those receivers, but doesn’t, because they are blanketed. Sometimes I feel he “baits”

He doesn’t seem to be too afraid of run support either.

It was also cool to see other draft picks, Durham, Carpenter and such, they didn’t look half bad either.

That grab at the 5:00 minute mark by Green was amazing though. Gotta give him props for that.

Win Forever: Live, Work and Play Like a Champion

by JRock419 on May 12, 2011 5:23 PM PDT reply actions