I’m not sure what the opposite of “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink” is, but John Jenkins admits there was a point last season when the scales tipped for him at 370 pounds.
Between that and his academic disqualification for the bowl game, you have to wonder how seriously he took that commit to the G stuff.
“It was a lot of frustration,” Jenkins said. “Things happen. I can’t dwell on the past. I have to look forward to the future.”
Get The Picture 
FWIW, he’s blaming the academic stuff on a concussion. Playing at 370 though. That’s all on him. No wonder we weren’t getting consistent production and dl were having to rotate every other play.
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That helps explain why he got shoved around in the SECCG. He’s gonna need good old fashioned self discipline to stick in the pros.
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” Things happen?” Look in the effen mirror and take some got damn personal responsibility.
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Says the middle aged guy who has never done a damn thing.
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Do you know Red Cup personally? Or just feel like you should join the group that talks out of their butt with unfounded accusations and name calling like those with a middle school mentality? That is rampant around on internet sites, not as bad here but we have our share of cheapshot artists who label people without any knowledge.
Truth is, not accepting personal responsibility is a pretty safe guess for the situation Red Cup spoke of. Like gatriguy, I also wonder about Garner’s role with Jenkins and our rotation of DL last year. I don’t know if he was a part of the problem but am very happy to see if Wilson can do a better job.
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I’ve always felt that Garner was not a great Dline coach. He did less with more talent than any coach at UGA in my 65 years. He could recruit and that is how he made his living. Both of our Nose guys were too tall and never learned that they had to stay low or the Center could get leverage. Still can see the smaller centers controling them one on one.
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Sic em Mac
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I have no problem with someone criticizing a coach getting paid big bucks. But I have a huge problem with the typical anonymous message board jockey talking down to a college player as if he’s actually done something.
I stand by my original statement.
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And that was the point, you don’t know who isn’t “typical” here, and may have some creds beyond the average message board jockey. And at what age is an individual to learn about accountability? I think Mr Jenkins is in the range of 22-23 years of age, has lived away from home for over four years in multiple locations, and shows no signs of limited mental capacity. He is a man.
Red Cup seemed very reasonable to me, it isn’t like he was speaking of a ten year old city league player, Jenkins had professional counseling from a top flight medical group/staff. If he played 30 pounds above his optimal weight in 2012, it is his own shortcoming. And if he balloons to 500 pounds after his active playing days are over, that is on him too…although some nanny-mayor types would prefer to blame corporate America and punish Coca Cola, Burger King, and Morton’s Salt.
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I like that, Cube!
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Hey Cube
All I was suggesting is that Mr Jenkins needs to take some personal responsibility for his behavior and actions. Things just don’t happen. All that food didn’t just happen to jump into his mouth and the grades, or lack thereof, did not just happen. I have NEVER booed a UGA player in my life, nor any UGA coach for that matter. I am more likely to get in the face of our famous fair weather fans ( referring to the Moron at Auburn last year who were complained about Bobo even though we were whipping them by 28 and had scored about every time we touched a ball) than critisize a player. I was not blaming Jenkins for losing any game or playing bad. But he should be man enough to say hey, I screwed up. I ate too much, didn’t take care of myself, didn’t devote enough time to my studies. Not -“things happen.”
Please, thrill us with all or your accomplishments.
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Yeah, “things happen” like stuffing your goddam face and skipping the weight room.
I don’t get it; he HAD to have been uncomfortable at 370 pounds. That’s always been a mystery to me about fat people that refuse to do anything about it; you can tell they’re miserable with the extra weight, but they won’t make any effort to improve it.
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Lifting weights makes you gain weight and lifts are mandatory during season. There is no evidence he didn’t lift. And yes, he obviously lifted a lot of food to his mouth also.
I don’t think it’s right to blame our best d lineman from last year for our run defense problems. Yes, I would prefer him closer to 300 than 400 pounds but ask if I’d like to have him back another year and you know what everyone would say instantly.
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Have to disagree. I’m glad Jenkins is gone. He was lazy, on the field and off, and it hurt his team a great deal.
He had a chance to take his game to the next level after his OK junior year. Instead, he chose to go south. And to a large extent, took our run defense with him. And that was very obvious DURING the season.
I’m tired of fat linemen who can’t finish a game. The guys we have now, like Taylor and Mayes, are the right body-types, because they work at it.
Give me a player who has 40 pounds less of fat, and is top condition, all day every day.
~~~
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When Jenkins arrived we were coming off a 6-7 season. With him we made 2 SEC champ games with vastly improved defenses that everyone agrees must have a big body up front. I have a hard time accepting your argument that he hurt the team.
Also, Terrance Cody.
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IIRC Cody had trouble keeping his weight down also, and spent a lot of time in Saban’s dog house.
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Eating cupcakes will do it for ya too. 😉
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This is yet another thing I put on Garner. His guys were never held accountable and always phoned it in once they realized they were about to get paid.
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I’m perfectly aware what lifting weights does, and the weight room has cardio machines, too. Jenkins frequently got gassed in games, and I would imagine weighing 370 pounds had something to do with that. Jenkins is an athletic big man, but carrying that much weight will hurt anyone’s agility and conditioning. He as much as admits it was too much.
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Agreed, but there have been athletes who have handled that weight,plus.
Remembering when Buddy Ryan as D Coach of the Bears came under Chicago and national sports writers’s criticism for taking this big fat kid out of Clemson to be an NFL Pro player. Year or so later, Buddy was on a minicam in the Bear’s dressing room just before kickoff. To one side the players were ramping up and in front of the camera was the visage of Buddy with his hand on a low table next to and even with the knees on the largest legs to ever fill a tv set. Ryan slapped the table and the giant legs jumped up and landed flatfooted on the table. He slapped again and the giant legs hit the floor flatfooted. There began a slapping rhythm of jumps onto the table and back to the floor for about a dozen effortless repetitions; repetitions followed by a loud yell and everyone exited for the playing field.
Ryan, tired of the unwarranted criticism of The Fridge’s weight, had shown Chicago and other national writers the athleticism of an overweight player ( bordering 400 lbs more often than 350) live on national tv using a small camera snuck into the dressing room before the game.
John Jenkins should be ashamed of himself. Yep, John was appreciated for what he did on the field, but if you watched him in any of his last several games, it was sickening to watch him get moved one way or the other to the side while the play came right over his position. Muscles that will lift his wt off the ground only a few inches aren’t ready to face an NFL lineman. And “No!”, Senator, he didn’t commit to the G and make a scholastic effort and that can lose him every single UGA fan before it’s all over.
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^^ This..I am not a fan of Jenkins b.c of his possibilities in the NFL. i am a fan b.c he played at the school I cheer for. If he does not take playing at UGA seriously, then why should I be a fan of him?
Also to the T. Cody guy. Cody got fat b/t the end of the season and the combine. Big diff. than being fat in the season.
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Terrance Cody played at about 360, as a stated weight. And he dominated.
I also wish we could stop speaking in stupid absolutes like “he does not take playing at UGA seriously.” Your evidence of this is that he weighted 370 and was acedemincally inelligible for bowl game? Wow.
Am I dissapointed he didn’t finish strong? Yes. But he was a great lift to our program and I’m tired of everyone shitting all over anyone else the first time they don’t live up to some standard that is by all means exceptional. I don’t know any other posters on here personally, but I’m sure I could put a camera on you for 2 years and find some shit to complain about.
John Jenkins is a DGD and I enjoyed his two years here. If you disagree with that, fine.
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[“Terrance Cody played at about 360, as a stated weight. And he dominated.”]
Cody carried some fat, but was a different body type than Jenkins was this year. Jenkins was obese in 2012, for a football player, regardless of weight.
Cody was always in shape, so that’s a bad comparison for you. It’s actually proves the opposite of what you intended.
[“I also wish we could stop speaking in stupid absolutes like “he does not take playing at UGA seriously.”]
The only thing stupid about that is the statement itself.
[“… I’m tired of everyone shitting all over anyone else the first time they don’t live up to some standard that is by all means exceptional. I don’t know any other posters on here personally, but I’m sure I could put a camera on you for 2 years and find some shit to complain about.”]
What a dumb statement. This is football. That’s not an accurate description of what Jenkins did anyway.
[“John Jenkins is a DGD and I enjoyed his two years here. If you disagree with that, fine.”]
John Jenkins let his team, his coaches, and the Georgia people down when he flunked out of school and forced us to have to play the Bowl game without him. That’s universally acknowledged by everybody, including Jenkins himself.
John Jenkins let everybody down, especially himself, when he decided to put his NFL prospects, his coaches, his teammates, and everybody else around him second to eating twinkies and junk food (or whatever he ate), and doing just barely enough physical work to get by and stay on the team.
Nor did he put in the work in other areas to prepare himself, and it showed on the field. It was there for anybody to see, who have eyes to see it. He was dominated by every good team we played, and by some that weren’t so good. And it wasn’t because he didn’t have the ability.
That is NOT a DGD, at least in my book. Whether you like it or not, in football there are many absolutes. And there is nowhere to hide on that field. The film sees everything, and doesn’t lie.
John Jenkins was, as often as not, a liability on the field last year. And I’m glad hes gone. You disagree with that, and that’s fine.
~~~
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Dude you seriously need to check your bizarre accusations of this young man. I have read some bs comments on this post, but yours takes the cake, and seems to be grounded in some sort of bizarre sense of entitlement because you are a “fan”. With fans like you, who needs enemies?
“John Jenkins let his team, his coaches, and the Georgia people down when he flunked out of school and forced us to have to play the Bowl game without him.”
The kid missed 1 game out of the 28 he was here for and you are going to boil his entire career down to that? He played through multiple injuries, and at least one concussion, and you are focusing on the freaking Nebraska game? Grow up and quit throwing a pity party.
“John Jenkins let everybody down, especially himself, when he decided to put his NFL prospects, his coaches, his teammates, and everybody else around him second to eating twinkies and junk food (or whatever he ate), and doing just barely enough physical work to get by and stay on the team.”
Here we go again with the letting everyone down theme. Because he gained 15-20 pounds. I feel bad for your wife, if you have somehow managed to find one. Also, feel free to keep us up to date with your physical conditioning.
“Nor did he put in the work in other areas to prepare himself, and it showed on the field. It was there for anybody to see, who have eyes to see it. He was dominated by every good team we played, and by some that weren’t so good.”
JJ vs. Missouri: 5 tackles
JJ vs. S Carolina: 8 tackles
JJ vs. Tech: 11 tackles
JJ vs. Alabama: 6 tackles & 1 sack
You could at least try to do some research to see if what you say is true. I saw our entire defensive line get pushed around at times. JJ never really seemed “dominated” to me. “Gassed” in the second half against Bama… Yeah. Him and the other 10 guys on the field. He was our 2nd most productive D-Lineman this year.
“John Jenkins was, as often as not, a liability on the field last year. And I’m glad hes gone.”
A liability, gee I wonder how Richt and Grantham missed that. He managed to record more tackles than the other nose tackle on our team. They way you are talking, he shouldn’t even have been on the team, and that is utter bs.
So does it make you feel good to put down a 22 year old young man because of his weight and missing a game? You’re a read badass huh? Would you say this crap to his face? Nope. Just a keyboard commando. What’s f’ed up the most about what you are saying is the fact that JJ is a fantastic guy. Maybe the nicest, most outgoing person on the team. He is going to be drafted into the NFL and be a millionaire within the month. And he deserves it! John Jenkins = DGD whether you agree or not.
Maybe you should step out of your fantasy world and realize that these guys aren’t just here for our amusement. They are people, young ones at that, and have Committed more to the G than any delusional fan.
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There are several big flaws in your argument. But it’s not that important anymore. Jenkins is gone.
He’s not the devil nor the sole reason we couldn’t stop the run last year. He just wasn’t the player he could have been, and should have been. And, as I already mentioned, there’s more that goes into that than just letting yourself go and being fat and out of shape.
Had Jenkins had the kind of year he should have had, we wouldn’t been a different defense, especially against the run.
But thanks for your opinion. I stand on mine.
~~~
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Several Big Flaws, huh… *Crickets*
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I know high school kids who will work their asses off and practically starve themselves to maintain a wrestling weight. It can be done with commitment.
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I just listened to an interview of Jenkins on Atlanta radio earlier in the week. In discussing his draft prospects, he repeatedly said that he has never had a weight problem. Obviously, he wasn’t being honest. I hope the Falcons stay clear of him in the first round.
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This might explain part of last year’s defensive slide. NT is probably THE most important position in the 3-4. Don’t know how Garner (or Grantham or the S&C staff or even CMR) could stand by and allow the starting NT to balloon up to such a weight – unless they threw up their arms and just gave up on Jenkins.
I guess its something to think about for anyone considering switching to the 3-4. You absolutely must have the giant NT, and having more than a couple is probably a necessity too. Very hard to find, let alone successfully recruit, players with the size and ability needed for NT.
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Unless a Co-Defensive coordinator, and D-Line coach held realm.
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Is Jonathan Sullivan mentoring Jenkins?
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Earlier in the season when he said he wouldn’t let anyone get in the way of him feeding his family has a different meaning now.
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J Jenkins is just doing what his agent has told him to do and say. To say he has lost 35 lbs since school makes him sound like he has a great work ethic and can do anything he wants when the time counts. That’s all. Do you really think UGA coaches let them stop working out and stop the nutrician program 1/2 wat through the season?
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After getting manhandled by Cocky and have a week off to shake it off against a Kentucky that went 0-8 in the SEC. The Cats proceeded to run for over 200 yards against the Dawgs while holding the Dawg to 77 yards rushing. I thought we were in big trouble.
Cue up the 1:32 mark. Motel 6 grabbing sky. Do they look at vertical jump on pro day?
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Even though he may not have been a great high jumper, at least his feet got almost a foot off the ground. Not only that, nicknames like Motel 6 are few and far between.
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Cool, let’s play this game. I enjoy the stat that pops up at 22:17 (UGA 3rd most in country in 3 and out drives from 2011 to time of game). Florida averaged 1.85 ypc this game and was known as a running team.
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22:17
GEORGIA DEFENSE
forced 90 three and out drives
(2nd most in NCAA)
“I’m your huckleberry”
2012 Southeastern Conference Leaders Rushing Defense – All Games through 01/07/2013
Name G Att Yards Avg. TD Att/G Yards/G
1 ALABAMA 14 440 1069 2.43 10 31.43 76.36
2 Florida 13 413 1229 2.98 12 31.77 94.54
3 LSU 13 440 1321 3.00 14 33.85 101.62
4 South Carolina 13 504 1569 3.11 9 38.77 120.69
5 Arkansas 12 440 1489 3.38 21 36.67 124.08
6 Mississippi 13 483 1681 3.48 17 37.15 129.31
7 Texas A&M 13 487 1814 3.72 18 37.46 139.54
8 Vanderbilt 13 482 1848 3.83 17 37.08 142.15
9 Missouri 12 451 1791 3.97 26 37.58 149.25
10 Kentucky 12 481 1940 4.03 25 40.08 161.67
11 Mississippi Stat 13 504 2153 4.27 16 38.77 165.62
12 GEORGIA 14 616 2550 4.14 17 44.00 182.14
13 TENNESSEE 12 477 2266 4.75 25 39.75 188.83
14 Auburn 12 484 2371 4.90 23 40.33 197.58
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“You’re a daisy if you do.”
2012 SEC Passing Defense Rankings
http://www.cfbstats.com/2012/leader/911/team/defense/split01/category02/sort01.html
1 Alabama 14 397 217 54.7 2431 6.1 8 18 103.67 28.4 173.6
2 Georgia 14 351 200 57.0 2459 7.0 13 13 120.64 25.1 175.6
3 Vanderbilt 13 432 232 53.7 2493 5.8 7 11 102.44 33.2 191.8
4 Florida 13 444 231 52.0 2498 5.6 7 20 95.48 34.2 192.2
5 South Carolina 13 379 213 56.2 2533 6.7 18 15 120.09 29.2 194.8
6 LSU 13 457 254 55.6 2678 5.9 15 18 107.75 35.2 206.0
7 Mississippi State 13 414 265 64.0 2883 7.0 17 19 126.88 31.8 221.8
8 Auburn 12 358 235 65.6 2675 7.5 20 2 145.72 29.8 222.9
9 Kentucky 12 367 247 67.3 2757 7.5 21 5 146.56 30.6 229.8
10 Missouri 12 401 261 65.1 2897 7.2 19 7 137.92 33.4 241.4
11 Mississippi 13 427 268 62.8 3205 7.5 22 15 135.78 32.8 246.5
12 Texas A&M 13 485 281 57.9 3259 6.7 17 12 121.01 37.3 250.7
13 Tennessee 12 446 272 61.0 3390 7.6 26 12 138.70 37.2 282.5
14 Arkansas 12 419 262 62.5 3430 8.2 24 6 147.33 34.9 285
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I don’t deny that UGA’s run defense left something to be desired. But CTG defenses are by design weak against the run (designed to confuse and bring pressure from obscure angles. We struggle against smashmouth running teams. Blaming everthing on Jenkins is silly though.
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I didn’t really mean to give that impression. Jenkins was a very important part of both SEC East championships. Florida is a very good running team. #3 in the SEC. Kentucky game was a shock. A walk on with a battlefield scholly won that game for us. (and of course Murray). We could have put ourselves in a very big hole with a loss there. It looked like they pushed Motel 6 around a lot. Every team has an off game and every player does too.
Go Dawgs!
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Look, some people get kennel blind. Terrence Cody was better than Jenkins. Ray Drew and Clowney came out together……ain’t even close. It is about getting the right people. Besides Geathers, who else is Grantham going to put in there at NT? I don’t like the 3-4 for this reason. You better have a stud NT and not just a fat ass. One that truly demands double teams. It is very hard to recruit for this defense. I know Alabama has been successful with it, but they have the ability to convert to a 4-3 with personnel.
For what it is worth, John Jenkins didn’t make the Florida game, that would be one Jarvis Jones. Mr. Murray can thank Mr. Jones for saving him after his 1st half bed wetting.
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‘Kennel Blindness’. I like that. In football, it’s always better to deal in realities, so thanks for that refreshing glimpse of it.
Not only are some people ‘kennel blind’, they also think that Dawgs who prefer to deal in reality somehow don’t love their team or their school as much as those who keep their feet firmly planted somewhere in the air.
Most of my longtime Georgia friends are former players/coaches and many of us have been loyal to Georgia for more than 40 years. We take a backseat to nobody when it comes to the Red and Black.
But emotions, feelings, sensitivities, and political correctness have no place in an intelligent football conversation. Only football reality.
This is a football board. And you can’t talk football without talking about players. But there is nothing personal about it.
You’re absolutely right, of course. Grantham kept Jenkins on the field when he was hurting us because he had to. Kwame was usually a step down, and we didn’t have anybody else. And that sure is a drawback of the 3-4. You gotta have those guys, and other than Jenkins, we really have had any.
That’s why Jenkins was such a disappointment. He was all we had, he knew it, and he didn’t care enough to give us his best effort.
I would like to say, however, that I am very excited about the guys we have coming on now – Mayes and Taylor especially. They aren’t quite as heavy, but I feel like they may be exactly what we need in the middle. They’re strong, but not fat. More agile and quick, and possess what is obviously a superior work ethic compared to Jenkins.
They may just be the guys to reset the standard at their position, which is badly needed. Same thing at safety. We need a new mold there as well, getting back to what Georgia has traditionally been at that critical position.
I think we came out on the upper end by having Wilson instead of Garner. Garner had gotten stale, with both coaching and recruiting. He needed a change, and so did we.
Can’t wait to see these new guys play in a few weeks, and then see what Wilson will be able to do with them by the time we kick off and play.
~~~
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