Mike Jenkins under the microscope

[Stash]

Mike Jenkins under the microscope

June, 3, 2011 Jun 3
4:21
PM ET

By Dan Graziano


Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. offers up his latest : "Pressure Points" analysis, and the focus this week is on Cowboys' cornerback Mike Jenkins. Matt thinks one of the keys to improvement for the Dallas defense in 2011 will be whether Jenkins can play the way he played in 2009, not repeat the disappointment of 2010:

"He is still a very young man -- 26 years old -- and he is not declining physically. His movement skills were not as strong last season. Maybe there were injuries that not everyone was aware of. Jenkins was too aggressive, gave up too many big plays and ended up taking too many pass interference calls when he guessed wrong. Jenkins needs to pay much more attention to every nuance of the position. New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan might be able to help."​

The Cowboys were a mess on defense all year, which is why Wade Phillips is out and Ryan is in. Jenkins wasn't the only key 2009 contributor who took a step backward in 2010. Anthony Spencer leaps to mind. Matt's analysis raises the point that, no matter what the Cowboys do in free agency, their 2011 prospects rest largely on their ability to get more out of the defensive pieces they already have in place than they got last year. Even if they get Nnamdi Asomugha, Jenkins will still be under pressure to perform on the opposite side of the field.

Matt believes the Cowboys will get a free-agent safety, which will help, and that their pass rush will help, too. Basically, the point seems to be that Jenkins finds himself in a perfect position from which to recover and succeed, and that it's on him (and, to some extent, Ryan) to make sure he does it.



http://espn.go.com/blog/nfceast/post/_/id/27336/mike-jenkins-under-the-microscope

 

[Ashwynn]

My greatest hope is that Jenkins rebounds to 09 form.

 

[Stash]

My greatest hope is that Jenkins rebounds to 09 form.

I hear ya.

It might not be first on my list, but it's up there.

For all of the great coaching moves I feel the Cowboys have made this offseason, keeping Campo and Maxie to coach the secondary has me concerned.

I'm hoping that Ryan's presence will be enough to overcome it.

That and signing Huff at Free Safety and Asomugha at corner!

 

[Ashwynn]

I hear ya.

It might not be first on my list, but it's up there.

For all of the great coaching moves I feel the Cowboys have made this offseason, keeping Campo and Maxie to coach the secondary has me concerned.

I'm hoping that Ryan's presence will be enough to overcome it.

That and signing Huff at Free Safety and Asomugha at corner!

Dang, you reading my mind or what. Thats exactly how I feel about Campo and Ryan, Huff and I am secretly desiring Nnamdi, though I realize that might be a fiscally risky move depending on CBA and dollar amounts involved. I can live without Nnamdi, but the Huff and 09 Jenkins are what I desire for next season. With Ryan all over Jenkins motivation button and a really good safty, can you imagine what the secondary will look like, If we have any kind of pass rush, the secondary could be scary good.

 

[kmp77]

He made the pro bowl..he doesn't have to work as hard now! Everyone get off his back!!!!!

:bang2: :bang2: :bang2: :bang2:

Strike 1 - That *** move by jumping out of the way.
Strike 2 - That *** comment about not having to work as hard.
Strike 3 - ??

 

[dmq]

Jenkins will get better from our pass rush alone.

 

[xwalker]

I think that Campo and Maxie will be better with a head coach and defensive coordinator that will NOT allow the players to bully the assistant coaches.

The game where Newman and Campo got into a physical confrontation comes to mind. Wade said that it was no big deal. Do you think Jimmy or Parcells would have let a player get by with that type of behavior?

 

[sonnyboy]

I hear ya.

It might not be first on my list, but it's up there.

For all of the great coaching moves I feel the Cowboys have made this offseason, keeping Campo and Maxie to coach the secondary has me concerned.

I'm hoping that Ryan's presence will be enough to overcome it.

That and signing Huff at Free Safety and Asomugha at corner!

It shouldn't for a few reasons.

1) If they were half the liability so many here are convinced they are, they'd be out of football.
2) This is Garrett's staff and more specifically, Ryan's defensive staff. If either thought their was a better alternative out there, they'd be here.

 

[sonnyboy]

I can't remember the last time I saw a 26yr old player regress in a single season, with no injury to point to, the way I saw Jenkins regress.

Its easy to forget just how well he played in 2009. He wasn't just good, he was close to All-Pro good.

It was no fluke. You can't be that good by accident. Anyone who says he can't or won't be an excellent player in 2011, doesn't know the game.

It's all up to him.

 

[jobberone]

There is no way to predict which Jenkins shows up this year.

 

[Stautner]

My greatest hope is that Jenkins rebounds to 09 form.

I'll go woth World peace.

 

[Stautner]

Jenkins will get better from our pass rush alone.

What did we do to improve our pass rush?

 

[tyke1doe]

What did we do to improve our pass rush?

Rob Ryan?

 

[BlueStar3398]

I'm hoping the '09 Jenkins is back too! With Ryan in there, I think he will change things up and it will happen

 

[Stautner]

Rob Ryan?

I like that we have Rob Ryan and I expect him to be more agressive, which should help the pass rush, but I still don't know that we have the personnel to truly get after the QB the way we would like. Spencer has had 5 years to prove how soft he is rushing the QB, and if we have to blitz everyone to get pressure the secondary is going to have a lot of added pressure. I guess we will get the chance to see how much a coaching change can help.

 

[Doomsay]

There is no way to predict which Jenkins shows up this year.

I think that this is true - when someone displays the variability he did over 2 seasons with a downward trend, it would be almost optimistic to assume that he could regress to the mean.

 

[baj1dallas]

I can't remember the last time I saw a 26yr old player regress in a single season, with no injury to point to, the way I saw Jenkins regress.

Its easy to forget just how well he played in 2009. He wasn't just good, he was close to All-Pro good.

It was no fluke. You can't be that good by accident. Anyone who says he can't or won't be an excellent player in 2011, doesn't know the game.

It's all up to him.

Well the way I remember 09 was a little weak for CB play when it came to pro bowl voting. Jenkins was pretty good, because he was finally starting to learn the position. I think his regression was a culmination of a few small technique missteps and a pretty significant loss of confidence. It's possible that he can't be as good as he was in '09 because QBs know how to attack him. OTOH imo he still had room to improve from his pro bowl year, so who knows.

 

[firehawk350]

Well the way I remember 09 was a little weak for CB play when it came to pro bowl voting. Jenkins was pretty good, because he was finally starting to learn the position. I think his regression was a culmination of a few small technique missteps and a pretty significant loss of confidence. It's possible that he can't be as good as he was in '09 because QBs know how to attack him. OTOH imo he still had room to improve from his pro bowl year, so who knows.

It really is all up to him. This is the season to see what Mike Jenkins is truly made of, there is no incentive or anybody nagging him to get out there and work thanks to the lockout. So he can chill and play Madden 2011 all he wants and nobody is going to say a word to him about it OR he can go out there and watch film, workout and hook up with the best in the game to make his game better. So I think 2011 will show us whether Jenkins is going to be good/great or just another guy with physical tools and no drive.

In that vein, did Jenkins show up to any of the offseason workouts?

 

[jobberone]

He has got to have broken his confidence. And Ryan's system relies heavily on the CB. Jenkins better bring his A game this year.

 

[Doomsday101]

My greatest hope is that Jenkins rebounds to 09 form.

I think that is the major key to the defense turning around this season. I have no doubts teams will test Jenkins early and often at the start of the season he has to be up to the task for this defense to have success.