Unpacking Future Packers: No. 18, Michigan DL Kris Jenkins
The Unpacking Future Packers Countdown is a countdown of 100 prospects that could be selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 2024 NFL draft.
The Green Bay Packers need to shore up their run defense. The Packers finished last season with the 29th-ranked run defense and gave up 4.4 yards per attempt.
A player who could help fix Green Bay’s run defense is Kris Jenkins. The Michigan defensive lineman and nephew of Cullen Jenkins checks in at No. 18 in the Unpacking Future Packers Countdown.
A three-star recruit out of Maryland, Jenkins enjoyed a breakout season of sorts in 2022. He finished the season with 54 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks.
This past season Jenkins helped the Wolverines win the National Championship and finished the season with 4.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one interception.
Nicknamed The Mutant, Jenkins was No. 6 on Bruce Feldman’s Freaks list prior to the season. From Feldman:
“He’s the mutant of all mutants,” Harbaugh tells The Athletic. “He just keeps going and going. He’s No. 1 in our KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). He’s over 300. He’s the poster child for enthusiasm unknown to mankind. Watch him become a top-10 pick.”
Jenkins has good initial quickness to break into gaps. The former three-star recruit has the lateral quickness and the motor to make plays up and down the line of scrimmage. He’s stout and able to eat up blocks. He plays with outstanding leverage and controls his gap. Jenkins has strong hands. Once he gets his hands on a ball carrier they aren’t getting out of his grip.
“You know what you’re going to get in Michigan defenders. Tough, high athletic profiles and the ability to stop the run,” Ryan Fowler, an NFL Draft analyst for Bleacher Report and The Draft Network, said. “Although a bit undersized, Jenkins’ twitch off the snap allows him to consistently get into the frame of opposing linemen, winning the leverage battle before he ever uses his hands. He has a strong anchor to take on double teams and will not miss tackles if ball carriers try to attack his gap.”
With his first-step quickness, power-packed frame and motor, Jenkins has a ton of upside as a pass rusher. With his strength, he’s able to drive offensive linemen backward into the lap of the quarterback. Once Jenkins develops more of a pass-rush plan, he could develop into a dominant force on the interior.
“Motor and an improving pass-rush repertoire,” Fowler said. “Not the most flexible or refined 1 or 3-tech in the class, but showcases the ability to consistently win with his hands. Guards and centers with heavy feet, weak anchors, or slow-to-react hands, will often find themselves on the back foot and three yards back against Jenkins. He’s more of a finesse pass rusher than winning with pure power, but the flashes of both make him an intriguing prospect.”
Fit with the Packers
With Kenny Clark, TJ Slaton, Devonte Wyatt, Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden on the roster, the Packers don’t have a pressing need to add another defensive tackle.
Jenkins has the talent to challenge for reps and one could argue that he’d be the most talented member of that group not named Kenny Clark. He’s a stout run defender with the power and twitch to be a quality interior pass rusher.
“Interior push is a need, not a want, in today’s game,” Fowler said. “While his NFL lineage has been a talking point for years, he’s created his own spotlight as a powerful yet fluid and technical interior presence that has the chance to evolve into a starter. Not only is Jenkins a heck of a ballplayer, he’ll be a leader in a locker room from Day 1 who should make an impact quickly on Sundays. While consistent pressure and sack numbers may come down the line, his ability to clog gaps on early downs while winning isolated matchups presents an intriguing high floor-high ceiling combination as he gets his feet wet at the pro level.”
The Packers own the 41st and 58th overall picks in the upcoming draft. That’s the range where Jenkins could go off the board. If they think he could help shore up their run defense, while offering some pass rush upside, Jenkins could be the pick at 41.
