Spotlight #1: North Alabama CB Janoris Jenkins

Spotlight #2: Delta State CB Dominique Davenport 

(Note, since this was a D-II game, the telecast did not have a clock on the scoreboard, so I only knew what quarter it was and not the exact time).

1^st quarter

1- Davenport in on a run stop

1- Jenkins thrown on, tight completion for 3^rd down stop, just short.

2^nd quarter

2- Jenkins gets into the backfield, gives great chase and a tackle for a loss.

2- Jenkins with a weak effort to tackle, easily juked in the open field.

2- Davenport allows a catch

2- Jenkins can’t quite disengage from a block on 3^rd and short on an outside run.

2- Quarterback keeper, Jenkins with an excellent job to get into the backfield after a change of direction run, tackle for loss.

3^rd quarter

3- Receiver gets the ball in the flat, Davenport shakes off a block and explodes into the backfield for a 4 yard tackle for loss.

3- Davenport thrown at, could have allowed a completion, but the receiver drops it, right off his hands.

3- Davenport dives for a near interception on an underthrown in the end zone. Nice effort.

3- Jenkins can’t wrap up a ball carrier before a touchdown.

3- Jenkins ejected after the touchdown. This is not good. I haven’t seen enough from Davenport to suggest that this game is worth watching just to see Davenport so I’m done here.

0:00: If Jenkins had declared for the 2011 NFL Draft, he could have been the 2^nd cornerback off the board after Patrick Peterson and a top 15 pick. However, he returned for his to Florida senior season and was arrested twice in a span of 3 months for marijuana, bringing his lifetime total to 3 drug related arrests.

This was enough for Florida, who dismissed him, and rather than declare for the supplemental draft where he could have been a 3^rd round pick, he enrolled at Division-II North Alabama and joined their football team, trying to prove himself to pro scouts for another year. Delta State represents the toughest competition he’d have all year and scouts were very interested to watch this game to see if Jenkins could redeem himself. Obviously, the fact that he got ejected from this game is not a good thing.

Jenkins showed flashes of dominance tonight and looked like a first round pick among Division-II competition. He allowed one completion all night and it was a short completion on a 3^rd down stop. He had two explosive tackles for loss and Delta State only threw on him once all night. However, he looked lazy and disinterested against the run on several occasions, like he knew how much more talented he was than everyone else and so he wasn’t trying as hard. For a guy with character red flags, that’s not a good thing.

He’s got first round talent. I’m not denying that, but all of his drug arrests suggest at the very least this is a guy who isn’t fully committed to football, at most he’s someone that is going to have future disciplinary problems in the NFL, like Tampa Bay’s Aqib Talib, who had several drug arrests in college as well. Couple that with an ejection and he’s lack of interest in this game and you’ve got someone I wouldn’t take a chance on in the first 2 rounds of the draft. I think he’s getting a 3^rd round grade.

As for Dominique Davenport, I was looking for him to dominate. He’s a division-II player. If he wants to go to the NFL, he has to dominate. He didn’t dominate. He wasn’t bad, but he wasn’t good enough. That’s why I stopped watching this game after Jenkins was ejected. I wasn’t here to see Davenport and he didn’t give me any reason why I should stay just to see him.