Kris Jenkins Jr. scouting report: Exploring the Michigan interior defensive lineman's strengths and weaknesses

A three-star recruit in 2020, the son of Jets All-Pro defensive tackle Kris Jenkins, Junior appeared in just one game as a true freshman. He played in all 14 and started four games the following season, recording 22 tackles but zero sacks. In year three, his numbers jumped up to 54 total stops, 3.5 of those for loss and two sacks.

While his overall tackles were down a little bit this past season (37), he did slightly better his TFLs (4.5) and sacks (2.5), while snatching his first interception and scooping up a fumble, which he was recognized as a second-team All-Big choice for.

Profile: 6-foot-3, 285 pounds; SR.

Breaking down Kris Jenkins Jr.'s scouting report

Run defense:

• Comes out of his stance low and ready to strike with his hands against the run – Regularly you see guards take a couple of small steps backwards as contact is initiated
• When allowed to shoot his gap, he’s quick off the ball and ready to take control of plays instead of allowing blockers to dictate terms to him, shutting off the front-side frequently as a 3/4i
• Regularly is able to stay square against lateral run concepts and then fall back by one gap to hold up the running back
• Against double-teams, he packs a potent corkscrew technique to squeeze through the squeeze between the two linemen
• Highly active to work off blocks with a potent arm-over and track down the ball-carrier rather than getting hung up in traffic
• You better not give this guy an opening as a linemen has to get in front of him after bucket-stepping, with no initial bump by anybody, as well as make sure he’s secured before somebody peels off combos, because he’ll otherwise chase down the ball
• Actively closes the distance to pullers when initially unblocked and is able to create traffic in the backfield to throw off the timing of plays
• Routinely squeezes bodies into the action and puts some centers on the turf trying to down-block on him
• As a junior, Jenkins’ 31 run-defense stops were tied for the most in the nation among interior defensive linemen (in 2022) and almost one third of his run-defense snaps were categorized as “positive” in PFF’s database, which you get a “neutral” when you just “do your job”, meaningful he was highly impactful at that

Pass-rush:

Packs some legit bend for an interior rusher

You see Jenkins dip and rip in order to create an angle towards the quarterback – particularly off play-action – quite regularly

Capable of cross-facing blockers with great suddenness, especially once his hand-swipes continue to improve to actually win cleanly

We didn’t see Jenkins just sell out for bull-rushing solo blockers, but his power was on display a few times when he drove back double-teams to squeeze down the pocket

Really worked on his spin move in 2023, selling that he’ll attack the outside shoulder and then getting to the opposite hip in one fluid motion just as guards lean into him

Michigan put Jenkins over tackles more often this past season, where he showed the ability to condense the edge by riding tackles into the quarterback with the long-arm or bull-rush

Looks dynamic sticking his foot in the ground and looping across multiple games, being able to corner his path towards the QB

The type of style Michigan asked Jenkins to play didn’t lend itself to great production as a pass-rusher, yet he matched his pressure number from 2022 (20) on 75 fewer opportunities (228 pass-rush snaps) last season

Weaknesses:

• Even for a read-and-react Wolverine front, Jenkins appears a tad late off the ball and puts himself in compromised positions at times because of it
• Could do a little better job of mirroring the first step(s) of offensive linemen and not allowing himself to get sealed off or scooped on the backside of wide zone plays
• Wastes too much time with tight-end when lined up at 5-/6-technique, instead of quickly shedding them to make plays
• Doesn’t have a much of a pass-rush portfolio at this point, largely relying on power and not packing any reliable counters he’ll access
• Needs to do a better job of when he does have vertical momentum to keep working through one half of the man and shorten the path towards the quarterback for himself

Kris Jenkins Jr.'s 2024 NFL Draft prospect

This draft is filled with sons of former NFL standout player, but somehow Kris Jenkins Jr. is the one I barely hear being talked about. A big part of that is how he was asked to play by the Wolverine coaches, where he regularly is in a more conservative four-point stance on early downs and doesn’t just get off the ball on purpose, although even for that,

I thought he didn’t help himself with that and it affected him even on passing downs to some degree. With that being said, that doesn’t mean he can’t be a more disruptive player if coached that way, considering we did see that quickness he clearly has show up more in 2022.

I mean, Kris Jenkins Jr. was number six on Bruce Feldman’s 2023 Freaks List, because his shuttle and three-cone times at Michigan were up there with any D-tackle coming into the league these past couple of years and only Cowboys first-round pick Mazi Smith (at a good 30 pounds extra), put up a higher mark than Jenkins’ 760 pounds on the combo twist – which tests an athlete’s ability to apply force.

Jenkins certainly needs to improve his ability to attack half the man and become a more well-versed pass-rusher, but I think he could be a borderline elite run-stopper by his second season and has the potential to be a legit impact player on third downs, particularly on different games up front.

Grade: Early second round