Malcolm Jenkins is the kind of wart-free first-round draft pick that could appeal to a general manager of Ted Thompsons tastes.
Holding the No. 9 pick overall in a draft that appears short on elite talent, the Green Bay Packers GM has shown an inclination for making the safe pick and could feel a strong inclination again this year with Ohio States Jenkins, who might be the safest player available at No. 9 overall, though he wont be the most talented or dynamic.
The question is whether taking him at No. 9 is too high. Jenkins is the best defensive-back prospect in this draft, a big (6-foot-1, 204 pounds), athletic and instinctive player who could line up at cornerback or safety. But he lacks top-end straight-line speed, and scouts are decidedly mixed on whether No. 9 overall is too high, or whether he should go somewhere in the middle of the first round.
With the way he runs, (No. 9) might be a little bit of a reach, said a personnel director for an AFC team. But hes kind of got the (Wake Forest linebacker) Aaron Curry safeness, solidness about him. The guys going to be a good player that youll get enough value out of the pick. Even if you have to reach two, three, four spots I think its worth doing. It Seems like Green Bay is always drafting big corners. Hes a good, well rounded player. Hed fit pretty well with what they do. Hes kind of a poorer version of Charles Woodson back in his day, a guy that could play the corner and eventually move inside (to safety), or start as a safety if you really wanted him to.
The Packers have far more pressing needs than the secondary, namely at nose tackle and outside linebacker. But Thompson has proven that in the first round hell bypass his greatest roster needs for another position for what he considers better value.
Still, drafting Jenkins wouldnt be overkill in the defensive backfield, either. Woodson is 32 years old at one starting corner, and Al Harris is 34 and a potentially shaky fit for the more zone-oriented coverages of the new 3-4 defense at the other corner. The need, if not imminent, is just around the corner, especially in an NFL where three and four cornerbacks are on the field for as many as two-thirds of the defensive snaps a game.
Jenkins has good size plus long arms (34 inches, second-longest of all defensive backs at the combine) that help him play even taller. Thats no small matter in a league where the receivers keep getting taller and taller. Just as importantly, hes a good all-around athlete and has both instincts and skill.
But it comes back to the speed factor, and whether a team thinks hes fast enough to take in the top 10. He ran the 40-yard dash in an electronically timed 4.59 seconds, which ranked 18th among the 36 cornerbacks who ran at the combine. According to NFL.com, he ran it about the same at Ohio States Pro Day, in 4.55 and 4.58 seconds.
Everybodys getting off him because of the speed factor, but hes a good football player, said the scouting director for another team. If you take out all the gymnastics stuff (in testing) everybody wants those guys in the first round to be a blazer, but a lot of those (blazer) guys dont pan out either because theyre not good football players. Hes played some safety, corner, hes got a lot of production on the ball. Somebodys going to get a good football player whoever drafts him.