Michigan's Kris Jenkins is near the top in latest PFF rankings

Michigan is once again loaded on their defensive line. The interior is anchored by returning leader Kris Jenkins who is joined alongside by the likes of Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant among others.

At Big Ten Media Days Kris Jenkins spoke with the level of leadership and intensity that could get your grandpa fired up and off his armchair. He also mentioned that his weight is now up to 305 pounds, as he worked hard this offseason to add muscle going into fall camp. Now, Jenkins has been placed with some of the country’s best interior defensive linemen in the latest Pro Football Focus rankings.

Released on Tuesday, PFF listed their 2024 NFL Draft interior defensive linemen rankings, where a fellow Big Ten player out of Illinois took first place. The Wolverine's Jenkins appeared at number four, three spots behind first-place lineman Jer’Zhan Newton of the Illini.

This is what PFF had to say about Jenkins:

Jenkins stood out as a run defender as a junior last season at Michigan. At 6-foot-2 1/2 and 292 pounds, Jenkins earned a positive grade on 29.2% of his run-defense snaps — an incredibly high number, especially for a player of his size. He also missed just one tackle on 233 run-defense snaps. Jenkins’ ability to play with good leverage is a calling card of his. His shoulder pads are so low in his stance, yet he is able to fully explode out of his stance to get into his blockers and the backfield.

But unlike other players who might start low and pop straight up, Jenkins maintains lower leverage to consistently get up and under offensive linemen in order to control them in run defense and move them aside in pass rush. He’s still working on his pass-rush plan, but this is a top-50 player with a very high floor.

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