Packers Prospect Primer: Oklahoma State OT Teven Jenkins

Welcome to a new series on the Green Bay Packers draft. This is aimed at getting you ready for the 2021 class before Brian Gutkunst and Co. make selections. We take a look at the kinds of players the Packers tend to like at positions of need. That way you’re ready when they make a pick.

As many as seven offensive tackles could go in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft, with top players like Penei Sewell, Rashawn Slater, and Christian Darrisaw looking like as close to locks as we can have here in early March. After that, it’s anyone’s guess, but there are plenty of players worth of top-40 selections at the position. We’ve already written about Darrisaw and Michigan’s Jalen Mayfield as Packers targets.

The only consensus guy after that group played three years at Oklahoma State, dominated as a physical, punishing right tackle, and makes sense for the Packers at 29: Teven Jenkins.

Jenkins, who turns 23 later this month, has experience playing left and right tackle, with over 500 snaps on the left side, but more than double that on the right. In fact, Jenkins will enter the NFL with over 1200 pass blocking snaps in his career, the kind of experience a team like the Packers would love if he has to play in 2021 protecting the three-time MVP.

He didn’t just play a lot; he played well, showing improvement each season, punctuated with a 2020 campaign grading out at 92 overall by Pro Football Focus. According to their charting, he gave up just two hits combined his final two years at OSU with no sacks. And while he’s a solid pass-protector, it’s the run game where his nastiness and power shine, with a 93.6 run blocking grade.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of what Jenkins offers

Pros

• Massive, powerful dude
• Road-grading tackle
• He’s going to find someone to block — looks for work
• He will put you in the f*cking ground
• Plays an aggressive style of football even in pass pro
• Keeps his feet moving on contact
• Consistently hits multiple targets when needed
• He takes someone to IHOP once a gap at least
• Violent, heavy hands
• Can get pushed back and re-anchor
• Fights to the echo of the whistle
• Excellent positional blocker
• Understands when to pull his hands away to avoid holding calls when he’s out of position
• Handled Texas’ Joseph Ossai
• Wins early so consistently
• When guys try to run the loop, he can handle it
• Handles pass-offs
• Quick feet into kickslide
• Attacks your chest in pass pro
• Even if he’s not in ideal position, he wins because he plays with an edge
• They rarely send help to his side

Cons

• A ton of quick throws in the OSU passing game so he doesn’t have to sustain pass blocks often
• Lost on an inside move vs WVU for a holding call in 2020
• Can be a little lunge-y at times, but he’s such a fighter/powerful that it doesn’t really matter
• I do wonder about his ability to sustain pass blocks
• When he loses, it tends to be on inside counters — does he have the lateral explosiveness to handle that?
• He’s a bad cut blocker (who cares)
• Only pass block rep I saw him lose was on a screen so he wasn’t really trying to sustain anyway

Summary

The only question I have about Jenkins is how much the Cowboys’ scheme masks his potential deficiencies. With what they ask him to do, he’s as good as any OT in this class. He’s powerful, nasty, aggressive, and effective. He wins run blocks 10 out of 10 times, moving bodies and burying them where you may never find them.

Jenkins’ power and approach helps him win in the pass game where his athletic traits may fail him. His lateral agility isn’t plus plus and his speed to the corner could get exposed against elite rushers, but he rarely lost pass-rush reps because he engages first with his length and power. As an NFL RT, he’s everything you want even with the question marks. If you think absence of proof isn’t proof of absence, there’s no reason not to take Jenkins top-20 and feel great about it.

He’s a first-round talent all day. For a team like the Packers, who wouldn’t need him to be an All-Pro, could keep him on the right side, and would relish running behind him with the bruising A.J. Dillon, there’s plenty of like about this fit.