USA Today: Jelani Jenkins, one of eight players who have been NFL's biggest suprises | FinHeaven - Miami Dolphins Forums

USA Today: Jelani Jenkins, one of eight players who have been NFL's biggest suprises

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In the course of every season, the NFL’s stars are expected to perform at a certain level.

But part of what makes some teams so successful is when lesser-known players step up, produce and surprise the rest of the league. Sometimes these players emerge because of injury or suspension. Other times it’s simply because they have earned their way onto the field.

We take a look at eight players who made the biggest impact for their teams when they weren’t necessarily expected to do so.
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Miami Dolphins linebacker
105 tackles, 31/2 sacks, two forced fumbles in 14 games

For a large chunk of the season, the Dolphins stressed stopping the run and were one of the league’s best teams at doing it, too. Jenkins was a big part of why.

After tallying 17 tackles in his rookie season last year, Jenkins has emerged as a key piece of the defense. Known for being a sure tackler and having good instincts for where a play will develop, Jenkins has started 13 games after not starting one last year.

He has a lot of room to develop in pass coverage, but Jenkins showed he has potential and can continue to improve.
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http://q.usatoday.com/2014/12/24/nf...rolando-mcclain-cj-anderson-brandon-marshall/
 
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Hell yeah. But I disagree with the article; hes pretty good in pass coverage
 
he was a surprise to philbin only he's another young player who showed talent in preseason this team don't give playing time to
 
nate said:
he was a surprise to philbin only he's another young player who showed talent in preseason this team don't give playing time to
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Joe appears to believe in not rushing rookie development, unless the player is ready/needed eg Tannehill, Jarvis Landry and Juwuan James. It is a different philosophy to Bill Parcells who likes to throw the rookies in the deep end. Green Bay doesn't rush rookies and they have the highest percentage of drafted players on their roster in the NFL. Joe appears to believe strongly in this concept and Jelani Jenkins is a good example of a player doing well after waiting for his opportunity. Dion Sims and Lamar Miller are other examples of players to have shown steady improvement and are contributing well after modest rookie seasons.
I happen to believe that player development is one of Coach Philbin's strengths. I strongly support his approach and believe that it will generate long term results.
Where you see Jelani Jenkins as a terrible decision in not playing his rookie year, I see as a great decision in getting him better prepared when given the opportunity year 2. I expect Jordan Tripp will get his opportunity next year and fans will be surprised how good he is, too. Billy Turner and Walt Aikens are development projects too.
 
nate said:
he was a surprise to philbin only he's another young player who showed talent in preseason this team don't give playing time to
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You're completely making that up. Jelani Jenkins showed nothing in preseason and Omar Kelly (I know, not the greatest source) said he had regressed and looked awful in training camp.
 
datruth55 said:
You're completely making that up. Jelani Jenkins showed nothing in preseason and Omar Kelly (I know, not the greatest source) said he had regressed and looked awful in training camp.
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Yeah. I think everyone here was really down on Jenkins in the preseason. It looked like he might even be in danger of being cut.
 
spiketex said:
Joe appears to believe in not rushing rookie development, unless the player is ready/needed eg Tannehill, Jarvis Landry and Juwuan James. It is a different philosophy to Bill Parcells who likes to throw the rookies in the deep end. Green Bay doesn't rush rookies and they have the highest percentage of drafted players on their roster in the NFL. Joe appears to believe strongly in this concept and Jelani Jenkins is a good example of a player doing well after waiting for his opportunity. Dion Sims and Lamar Miller are other examples of players to have shown steady improvement and are contributing well after modest rookie seasons.
I happen to believe that player development is one of Coach Philbin's strengths. I strongly support his approach and believe that it will generate long term results.
Where you see Jelani Jenkins as a terrible decision in not playing his rookie year, I see as a great decision in getting him better prepared when given the opportunity year 2. I expect Jordan Tripp will get his opportunity next year and fans will be surprised how good he is, too. Billy Turner and Walt Aikens are development projects too.
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Very insightful Spiketex....thanks for posting!
 
Apparently he was such a big surprise even our coaches didn't know about him and were willing to trot out the likes of Ellerbe and Wheeler. That happened. Yuck!
 
Jenkins sure as hell didn't look to be 100% for the Vikings game, either that or he was just having a bad day.
 
Now it's time to get some decent linebackers in there with him instead of pairing Jenkins with dumb and dumber every week.
 
Travis34 said:
Hell yeah. But I disagree with the article; hes pretty good in pass coverage
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He never gets his around. When you do that, you have to be lucky to stop a play and are likely to get called for PI if you have ANY contact with the receiver at all or even wave your hands in his face. However, I think for a LB he's very good at being where he should be in coverage, so I think he's quite capable of getting the rest fixed during the off season.
 
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