Jets take Georgia’s Jordan Jenkins in third round of NFL draft
When Todd Bowles’ name was brought up, Jordan Jenkins had plenty of positive things to say about him.
As it turns out, Bowles and the New York Jets felt the same about Jenkins. With the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the NFL draft, the Jets selected Jenkins to join their franchise.
“He really enjoys the game of football,” Jenkins said of Bowles. “He really seemed like a good guy to be around."
Jenkins was one of Georgia’s leaders on defense over the past couple of seasons. Over his four-year career, Jenkins totaled 204 tackles and 19 sacks. Thirty-nine of his tackles went for loss. Jenkins was named one of Georgia’s permanent captains at the season-ending team gala in December.
Jenkins watched the draft in Harris County with his immediate family. On Wednesday, Jenkins said he was anticipating being selected in the third round of the draft, although he had heard a few different scenarios as for where he would go.
A day after the first round, Jenkins became the second Georgia player to go in the draft. His selection followed the Bears trading up to take Leonard Floyd with the ninth overall pick.
Leading up to the draft, Jenkins participated in private workouts for the New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints. The Jets showed Jenkins a great deal of interest but took Ohio State outside linebacker Darron Lee with the 20th overall pick in the first round. Still, the Jets decided to add another outside linebacker to add to its defense.
Now that he has an NFL team, Jenkins is ready to get his professional football career started.
“I’m really excited to get that point,” Jenkins said Wednesday. “It’s been a long process. The last four or five months have been crazy. It feels like yesterday, going to positional meeting, going against Georgia Tech and Penn State. It’s crazy how time has flown the past couple of months. But it feels like an eternity has passed since the season ended.”
This story was originally published April 29, 2016 at 10:36 PM with the headline "Jets take Georgia’s Jordan Jenkins in third round of NFL draft."