While Florida's Gerard Warren could end up being the second pick overall to the Arizona Cardinals -- and Georgia's tandem of Richard Seymour and Marcus Stroud along with Miami's Damione Lewis are expected to be the next group of players at the defensive tackle position to come off the board -- make sure you keep an eye on the physically gifted Kris Jenkins.

	Kris Jenkins has the size that defensive coordinators are looking for in a defensive tackle.

With Adams using his combination of quickness and strength to collapse things along the interior and Siragusa using his massive frame to occupy blockers and clog the middle, middle linebacker Ray Lewis was freed up to flow to the ball and ring up amazing tackle numbers week after week. In the process, Lewis has made his mark as the top defensive player in the NFL and is arguably the top player at his position to ever play the game. While he's definitely deserving of such high praise, some of the credit has to go to Adams and Siragusa.

With Jenkins, you are looking at a player with similar physical qualifications who really took his game to a new level last season. Up until that point, I viewed him as an underachiever who wasn't able to put all of that talent to consistent use on the football field. It certainly wasn't due to a lack of steady playing time. You see, Jenkins saw action in every game as a freshman in 1997. However, entering the 2000 campaign, he had recorded a grand total of just 1½ sacks -- that's it! Folks, that's not the type of production you would expect from a defensive tackle with his awesome physical talent.

Fortunately for Jenkins, the light definitely seemed to go on last season. He finished with 62 tackles, 17 stops behind the line of scrimmage, eight sacks and 19 quarterback hurries.

When you look back over his last three years at College Park, there were games in which Jenkins looked to be turning the corner. As a junior in '99, he flashed future star quality against Georgia Tech, finishing the game with 10 tackles. The problem, however, was that you didn't see the necessary consistency on a week-to-week basis.

This past season was a completely different story. His performance level was excellent, with Jenkins developing more sustained intensity while also doing a significantly better job when it came to locating the ballcarrier. In addition to his imposing size, Jenkins is super quick and extremely agile for a big man and has no trouble redirecting when his initial move is thwarted. He also used leverage more this season, allowing his superior strength to be maximized. At the combine, Jenkins did 33 bench-press reps at 225 pounds.

When you combine the strong senior campaign with his impressive combine and individual workouts, it's easy to see why he has been gaining so much momentum in the weeks and days leading up to April 21. If Jenkins maintains the fire and intensity level in game situations at the pro level and continues to improve from a technical standpoint, there is no doubt in my mind that he could ultimately rank right up there or in close proximity to the elite defensive tackles in the NFL.