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Hard work and determination are important. So are goals.
But unfortunately, natural gifts also are a factor, and you don’t have certain elements to your skillset, it’s hard to do certain things.
A big story out of Jets’ camp on Tuesday was about Jordan Jenkins desire to become a more dominant pass rusher.
Jenkins told the Jets website the key is to get around the edge first and then it’s about closing speed.
That is a great point. Two of the most important aspects of great edge-rushing are those two things – first step quickness to beat the tackle off the snap, and then the closing speed to get to the quarterback. Most NFL quarterbacks gets rid of the ball so fast, that, so often, in order to get sacks, you need these two things happening on a high level. That is what a guy like Von Miller is all about.
Unfortunately for Jenkins, he’s not the kind of athlete. He doesn’t have great first step quickness or a great closing burst.
This isn’t a shot at him, it’s a dose of reality.
“He’s a better football player than athlete,” said NFL Network’s Mike Mayock after the Jets picked Jenkins in the third round.
“[He’s] not a dynamic pass rusher,” wrote NFL.com draft analyst Lance Zeirlien about Jenkins before the draft. [He] has some knee stiffness in his rush and won’t out-¬athlete many NFL offensive tackles tackles. Average upfield explosion off the snap.”
Jenkins is a solid football player. He is good against the run, good at setting the edge and a good leader, but he just doesn’t have the foot quickness and closing speed to be a top-shelf pass rusher. It’s not his fault and not a lack of effort.
Jets outside linebacker coach Kevin Greene can coach the hell out of him, but that isn’t going to create short-area quickness and a burst. Jenkins just isn’t a quick twitch athlete. Once again, not his fault.
He had a three sacks as a rookie and 2.5 his second season.
As a four-year player at Georgia, he had a total 19 sacks total, an average of less than five a season.
So after getting those totals the last six years, it’s a long-shot that all of sudden, he’s going to become a dynamic edge-rusher putting up big sack numbers.
To his credit, what I noticed about him, was he’s much-improved as a bull-rusher. On a few occasions, he pushed an offensive tackle back on skates to disrupt the quarterback. To Jenkins credit, he worked hard on this, and we saw an improvement in this area.
And there should be a role in the Jets’ defense for Jenkins with his run-stuffing ability, toughness and leadership ability.
But he doesn’t the tools to he panacea of the Jets pass rush.
So you can write these stories until the cows come home, but you aren’t doing the audience any favors if you don’t provide context.
The context here is that in football, there are some things you just can’t improve because of athletic limitations.
June 7, 2018
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