San Diego general manager A.J. Smith is one of the toughest personnel men to figure out when it comes to his picks on draft day. It's probably safe to say there weren't many, if any, who thought he was going use last year's first- and second-round picks on defensive lineman Corey Liuget, cornerback Marcus Gilchrist, and inside linebacker Jonas Mouton. Liuget, now a starting defensive end in the Chargers' 3-4 scheme, was the only one of the three who filled a primary need. Mouton, meanwhile, was considered a third-day prospect by most experts, and he was picked ahead of Justin Houston, a pass-rusher from Georgia who would have made more sense at the time. Smith was expected to select a pass-rushing outside linebacker and offensive tackle early, but he didn't take anyone at either position in the entire draft.
On this blog I've made it clear that, of all the realistic possibilities for San Diego's first-round pick, my favorite prospect is Stanford offensive guard David DeCastro. If he's not there, I want Smith to grab USC defensive end Nick Perry, a pass-rusher I believe will develop into an impact player. Smith works in mysterious ways, however, and I'm beginning to think he may grab a cornerback in Round 1.
With Quentin Jammer turning 33 in June, the struggling Antoine Cason heading into the last season of his rookie contract, and Shareece Wright and Gilchrist about to begin the sophomore years of their NFL careers, one could make the argument that the cornerback position is a bigger area of concern for the Chargers than most believe. In a league that enforces rules which totally favor the aerial attacks, an argument can also be made that San Diego cannot expect to be a serious contender in 2012 with the secondary it has in place right now.
Taking all of this into consideration, there's one very intriguing prospect who just may turn out to be the latest shocking selection that will make Chargers fans shake their heads and scream, "What the #@&*, A.J.!" The player who fits that profile perfectly is North Alabama cornerback Janoris Jenkins.
One of the most talented players in this year's draft, if not for a checkered past Jenkins probably would be competing with LSU's Morris Claiborne to be the first cornerback selected. The 5-10, 192-pound Jenkins is a dynamic talent who has the ability to shut down the opposing offense's best receiver and be a big-time threat on punt returns. Originally a student-athlete at the University of Florida, after three arrests--two of them drug-related--over a two-year period Jenkins was dismissed from the Gators' football team by just-hired head coach Will Muschamp in April of 2011. Prior to that point, Jenkins was considered the best cornerback in the country, as he had just come off a dominant 2010 season in which he held Georgia's A.J. Green and Alabama's Julio Jones, both of whom were taken in the top six picks of the 2011 draft, to an average of 38 yards over two games.
A three-year starter at Florida, Jenkins had eight interceptions and broke up 25 passes. After joining North Alabama last fall, he picked off two passes and returned three punts for touchdowns. Clearly, he has the goods to be a success in the NFL, but there's just so much baggage.
In addition to his arrests, Jenkins is the father of four children with three different women, and NFL executives are afraid he may struggle to manage his money intelligently after he signs his first pro contract. Chargers fans know all about this, what with the struggles former San Diego cornerback Antonio Cromartie has experienced while fathering nine kids with eight different women. The fact that Cromartie was traded unceremoniously to the New York Jets in 2010 alone has some Chargers fans hoping A.J. Smith will cross Jenkins off San Diego's draft board.
"He's definitely a player," one AFC general manager said of Jenkins in an article written by ESPN's Jeffri Chadiha. "He can run, and you could start him at the nickel [cornerback] from day one. The thing that somebody will have to decide is whether he's accountable. You don't know if what he's been through will rear its head again."
In that article Jenkins was very adamant that his troubles are behind him and he's ready to move forward. North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden agrees wholeheartedly.
"Janoris isn't a risk of being a problem off the field in the NFL," Bowden said. "He's a tough kid and a hard worker. People talk about him having four kids, and I didn't even know that because he never talked about it. Usually, guys that have issues with that are late for practice or always dealing with stuff. I always felt like Janoris was handling his business."
Bowden also made it clear that he doesn't believe Jenkins has a drug problem. While that's nice to hear, Jenkins will have to prove that himself. There have been many times in which a prospect with a checkered past has had a coach speak up for him, letting the world know all of that junk was behind the young man. Then a few months later that same prospect ended up in a jail cell once again.
"The toughest thing is what are the issues?" former Baltimore Ravens coach and current Fox analyst Brian Billick told Chadiha when asked about drafting players with character questions. "Young people tend to do stupid things. Do you have a sense he understands he has to change his behavior? … Going forward, is this an ingrained part of his character, or did he just do some stupid thing? If it's the latter, you can be optimistic about the NFL and what's at stake for him will help sort that out. If it's an innate part of the character, that's where you don't want to make that mistake."
As of late A.J. Smith has shied away from taking chances on players such as Jenkins, but there's no doubt the young cornerback could help the Chargers tremendously. Cason, Gilchrist, Jammer, and Wright combined to produce four interceptions last year. Clearly, that isn't nearly enough for a defense wanting to put its offense in better scoring position by creating turnovers. If free safety Eric Weddle hadn't had a career year with seven interceptions in 2011, the Chargers cornerbacks' ineptitude would have been much more noticeable.
Keeping this all in mind, Jenkins may not be the player I want the Chargers to select in the first round, but I definitely won't scream "What the #@&*, A.J.!" if it does end up happening.
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