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BY CIAN FAHEY
@QBDataMine
Because of the Fields trade, the Bears only had one other value draft pick in the 2021 draft. Thankfully they did at least spend that pick on a position of need.
Teven Jenkins will immediately start for the Bears after they released former starting left tackle Charles Leno. They gave up a third-round pick and sixth-round pick to draft him 39th overall.
So was this a value move or is it just another desperate decision by a head coach and GM on the hot seat?
Not surprisingly considering the style of offence that Nagy runs, Jenkins immediately shows as a plus athlete. He's not a great athlete by any means, if he was he likely could have gone in the top 20 of the draft, but he moves laterally with ease, can advance downfield to execute blocks and was trusted to reach outside on screens.
Here you can see him release inside from his starting position at right tackle. He redirects with one sharp plant to get outside and account for the cornerback trailing the wide receiver. This is a perfectly executed and well-designed play. It relies on Jenkins' ability to reach that spot in time with the throw and the route.
Although he never actually touches the defender, he accounted for him and forced him to stop tracking the ball carrier. That allowed the play to extend to the first down line. You would assume the Bears would ask him to make this type of play on a regular basis.
His plus athleticism combined with extreme intelligence made many of his games in college easy.
Jenkins was incredibly consistent in different facets of the game. His pass protection was very good as he matched the first step of his outside rushers and positioned himself with the requisite depth to engage in blocks. Many of those plays look like nothing happened because of how quickly he got the defensive end to submit.
In the NFL, he'll face tougher competition every single week because there will be better athletes and edge rushers who understand how to react if he reaches his spot first. Most college defensive ends don't have a second phase rush if they're relying on their speed off the edge.
The big concern for Jenkins is his strength. He wound up on the ground as a pass blocker more than you'd like and he was susceptible to bull rushes or well placed strong arms on occasion. The quality of opposition didn't appear to be high so if the NFL standard of power is too much for him, then it could derail every single positive he offers elsewhere.
Furthermore, although being a left tackle isn't as significant now as it once was, you're still more likely to face tougher rushers on that side of the field. The Bears are asking him to be the blindside blocker for a rookie starter (or for Andy Dalton who has no pocket awareness). There's risk for disaster if he's not good from the first day.
Where his greatest strength lies is in run blocking.
I've never seen a lineman who was so consistent at executing a first phase block on one defender then leaking onto a second defender to execute a perfect second phase block. Regardless of whether he was at right tackle or left tackle, his leverage, angles and hand placement were always perfect.
At right tackle here he shoves the defensive end out of the way before closing off the angle on the linebacker in the hole.
Here at left tackle, you can see him bump the initial defender inside with good power before resetting to absorb the arriving hit from the linebacker. His posture here is outstanding. He knows he's going to concede some ground but he moves his feet to maintain the integrity of the running lane.
The ball carrier goes all the way to the endzone because he didn't have to slow through the hole.
For this play, you can see him check the first linebacker before creating leverage with a perfect angle against the second linebacker. This play goes nowhere but Jenkins' block puts the linebacker completely out of position. Everything else around him failed but that doesn't mean his block wasn't perfect.
Advancing past the line of scrimmage can be an adventure for a lot of linemen but Jenkins shows comfort. He's particularly good at cutting defenders off in space.
This ball is ultimately thrown to the opposite side of the field but you can see the explosiveness and control of Jenkins from right tackle. He advances at an angle, meets the defender aggressively, hitting him square so he doesn't slide off and can control his momentum.
He uses his feet to corkscrew around the defender while engaged, showing his back to where the ball carrier would be if the ball had been handed off. That's a perfect block.
Offensive linemen are notoriously unpredictable. One single weakness can destroy every other positive that they offer in the NFL. Having excess athleticism isn't enough, look at Jonathan Cooper. Ticking every single box possible at the college level isn't enough, look at Chance Warmack.
The unpredictability of linemen means that it's possible that Jenkins is Andrew Whitworth. It's also possible his career is over within two years.
It's a cruel aspect of drafting linemen. Every team is so desperate to find them that they can't overpay for them in free agency. So that leads to taking bigger swings in the draft. Jenkins may not have been one of the best linemen in this class but as a second-round pick, he offers value. He was selected about where he should have been selected in a generic draft year.
Whether he was worth the three-pick investment is another question. If the Bears are going to be relevant with Fields, they'll need Jenkins to be what they hope him to be.
@QBDataMine
Because of the Fields trade, the Bears only had one other value draft pick in the 2021 draft. Thankfully they did at least spend that pick on a position of need.
Teven Jenkins will immediately start for the Bears after they released former starting left tackle Charles Leno. They gave up a third-round pick and sixth-round pick to draft him 39th overall.
So was this a value move or is it just another desperate decision by a head coach and GM on the hot seat?
Not surprisingly considering the style of offence that Nagy runs, Jenkins immediately shows as a plus athlete. He's not a great athlete by any means, if he was he likely could have gone in the top 20 of the draft, but he moves laterally with ease, can advance downfield to execute blocks and was trusted to reach outside on screens.
Here you can see him release inside from his starting position at right tackle. He redirects with one sharp plant to get outside and account for the cornerback trailing the wide receiver. This is a perfectly executed and well-designed play. It relies on Jenkins' ability to reach that spot in time with the throw and the route.
Although he never actually touches the defender, he accounted for him and forced him to stop tracking the ball carrier. That allowed the play to extend to the first down line. You would assume the Bears would ask him to make this type of play on a regular basis.
His plus athleticism combined with extreme intelligence made many of his games in college easy.
Jenkins was incredibly consistent in different facets of the game. His pass protection was very good as he matched the first step of his outside rushers and positioned himself with the requisite depth to engage in blocks. Many of those plays look like nothing happened because of how quickly he got the defensive end to submit.
In the NFL, he'll face tougher competition every single week because there will be better athletes and edge rushers who understand how to react if he reaches his spot first. Most college defensive ends don't have a second phase rush if they're relying on their speed off the edge.
The big concern for Jenkins is his strength. He wound up on the ground as a pass blocker more than you'd like and he was susceptible to bull rushes or well placed strong arms on occasion. The quality of opposition didn't appear to be high so if the NFL standard of power is too much for him, then it could derail every single positive he offers elsewhere.
Furthermore, although being a left tackle isn't as significant now as it once was, you're still more likely to face tougher rushers on that side of the field. The Bears are asking him to be the blindside blocker for a rookie starter (or for Andy Dalton who has no pocket awareness). There's risk for disaster if he's not good from the first day.
Where his greatest strength lies is in run blocking.
I've never seen a lineman who was so consistent at executing a first phase block on one defender then leaking onto a second defender to execute a perfect second phase block. Regardless of whether he was at right tackle or left tackle, his leverage, angles and hand placement were always perfect.
At right tackle here he shoves the defensive end out of the way before closing off the angle on the linebacker in the hole.
Here at left tackle, you can see him bump the initial defender inside with good power before resetting to absorb the arriving hit from the linebacker. His posture here is outstanding. He knows he's going to concede some ground but he moves his feet to maintain the integrity of the running lane.
The ball carrier goes all the way to the endzone because he didn't have to slow through the hole.
For this play, you can see him check the first linebacker before creating leverage with a perfect angle against the second linebacker. This play goes nowhere but Jenkins' block puts the linebacker completely out of position. Everything else around him failed but that doesn't mean his block wasn't perfect.
Advancing past the line of scrimmage can be an adventure for a lot of linemen but Jenkins shows comfort. He's particularly good at cutting defenders off in space.
This ball is ultimately thrown to the opposite side of the field but you can see the explosiveness and control of Jenkins from right tackle. He advances at an angle, meets the defender aggressively, hitting him square so he doesn't slide off and can control his momentum.
He uses his feet to corkscrew around the defender while engaged, showing his back to where the ball carrier would be if the ball had been handed off. That's a perfect block.
Offensive linemen are notoriously unpredictable. One single weakness can destroy every other positive that they offer in the NFL. Having excess athleticism isn't enough, look at Jonathan Cooper. Ticking every single box possible at the college level isn't enough, look at Chance Warmack.
The unpredictability of linemen means that it's possible that Jenkins is Andrew Whitworth. It's also possible his career is over within two years.
It's a cruel aspect of drafting linemen. Every team is so desperate to find them that they can't overpay for them in free agency. So that leads to taking bigger swings in the draft. Jenkins may not have been one of the best linemen in this class but as a second-round pick, he offers value. He was selected about where he should have been selected in a generic draft year.
Whether he was worth the three-pick investment is another question. If the Bears are going to be relevant with Fields, they'll need Jenkins to be what they hope him to be.
so no brag but when I read that in a thread here, I said he was absolutely wrong about Mitch's feet. I think the term I used is lazy feet. Now I'm not into rebuilding 1st round QBs and think this staff fucked him up more than he would have on his own but he did need work on his steps and weight transfer. Not the full on dance routine they tried but just some mental notes to stay in balance. Just wait, somebody is going to make Trask step into throws instead of rotating his back hip to noticeably increase his velocity and likely screw up his natural motion too.
