World’s Best Preview: Rise of the ‘Elgatron’

Elgton Jenkins believes it's his obligation to pay back the Packers for their faith in him.

To get an appreciation for Elgton Jenkins’ rookie season, let’s start with the most rudimentary measuring stick. Playing time.

Only 10 rookie offensive linemen in the entire league have played half of their team’s offensive snaps. Jenkins, despite watching most of the first two games from the sideline behind veteran Lane Taylor, is in that small group.

Jenkins – nicknamed “Elgatron” by offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett – will make his seventh consecutive start at left guard on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers. By all accounts, the second-round pick has been fantastic.

Well, maybe not all accounts.

“I’ve been doing some things OK,” Jenkins said this week. “There are some things I can improve on, too, in the pass game and the run game, diagnosing defenses, seeing it faster than I do see so I can play faster.”

Video: Rodgers says team has find-a-way mind-set.

Just 16 rookie offensive linemen have played even 20 percent of their team’s offensive snaps. In that group, Jenkins ranks second in ProFootballFocus.com’s pass-blocking efficiency metric, which measures sacks, hits and hurries per pass-protecting snap. With zero sacks, zero hits and eight total pressures, Jenkins is the only one of those blockers whose man has not hit the quarterback. He’s been strong in the run game, too. According to Sports Info Solutions, Jenkins hasn’t allowed a stuff – a tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage vs. the run – all season.

So, that performance is just “OK”? And where does that never-satisfied mind-set come from?

“Just trying to be the best in the league,” Jenkins said. “If you want to be the best, there’s always things you can work on. You can never be complacent with your job and the things that you’ve accomplished. So, you critique every small thing. When you’re doing everything to the best of your ability, eventually, everybody will label you as the best.”

Those are lofty goals, especially for a 23-year-old. For most rookies, simply getting on the field is the goal. That initially was true for Jenkins, too. Jenkins got his first playing time on offense in Week 2 vs. Minnesota. When veteran starter Lane Taylor went down with a torn biceps in practice a few days later, the door was open for Jenkins to take over, starting with the Week 3 game against Denver.

“It’s a process,” he said. “My first goal was to come in and get on the field and start and be a valuable pick. Now that I’m on the field and I’m performing and doing my job, I’m striving to be better than I was the last game, striving to be better than the man that plays my position on another team.”

According to league data, the Packers have averaged 4.33 yards per rush with Jenkins in the game compared to 3.99 yards without him. In the passing game, Green Bay has averaged 8.01 yards with Jenkins compared to 7.36 without him. Sports Info Solutions has charged Jenkins with three blown blocks, a blown-block rate of 0.8 percent that is 13th in the league among all offensive linemen who have played at least 320 snaps and first among all Packers blockers and all NFL rookies. Among all linemen with 130 run-blocking snaps, he’s the only rookie to not have a blown block in the running game.

Jenkins’ demeanor, personality and mental toughness stand out to coach Matt LaFleur. Confidence is what stands out to veteran left tackle David Bakhtiari.

“I think his ability to not let the stage get too big for him, I think that’s always huge,” Bakhtiari said. “I think sometimes in certain stages, your eyes can get too wide and it can affect your play. I think he’s done a good job. At times, we kind of have to bring him back down to reality and have him understand that you don’t want to get too big of a head out there because you can caught going the other direction. It’s always good to be like a plateau – consistent, never too high, never too low – so you’re not riding the wave of the highs and the lows.”

While the two-year starting center at Mississippi State was drafted to play guard by Green Bay, Jenkins arrived about as well-prepared as possible. His 34 career starts included opening games at each of the five offensive line positions. His offensive line coach at MSU, Marcus Johnson, marveled about his prized pupil’s versatility.

“Early in camp, I remember one time I put Elgton at right tackle against Montez Sweat,” Johnson said after the draft. “He got to his spot so fast – we know how freaky of an athlete that Montez Sweat is – but he got to his spot so fast it was almost like he was waiting on him. He stoned him right there at the line of scrimmage. Then I put him at right tackle against Chauncey Rivers, who will be a pretty good pass rusher for us this season, and it was the same thing. He looked like a natural. Then I remember playing him at left guard a bunch during bowl-game preparation and it was like he’d be there before. He’s a very impressive young man with God-given abilities and genetics and DNA.”

The DNA wasn’t evident to recruiters, though. Until about a week before National Signing Day, the all-state player from Clarksdale (Miss.) High School didn’t have any offers from Power 5 conference schools. The Bulldogs gave Jenkins that scholarship offer, and Jenkins spent five years saying thank you.

“For them to take a chance on me, I felt like it was my obligation to pay them back for taking a chance,” he said. “There’s only 1 percent, so for them to think I could be in that 1 percent, I had to give them an award for taking a chance on me. It’s like now. The Packers took a chance on me. Thirty-one other teams took a chance on somebody else but the Packers organization believed in me. I feel like it’s my obligation to show I’m a more valuable pick than the players the other 31 teams took.”

Jenkins’ main challenger on the Mississippi State practice field was Jeffery Simmons. Simmons was so good that he the 19th pick of this year’s draft despite suffering a torn ACL during his predraft training in February.

“As an O-line coach, it was awesome to watch him go against Jeffrey Simmons,” Johnson said. “Jeffrey is as good as it got at the collegiate level. It was fun to watch those two battle it out every day and Elgton held his own. I’ve seen Jeffrey freaking rag-doll and sling centers and guards around when rushing the passer. Against Elgton, he would try to club or use other moves but Elgton’s great with his hands. His hands are so strong. He’d fit his hands in there and he would be able to snatch himself back in front of Jeffrey, which was very impressive in one-on-one pass rush throughout the course of the season.”

Said Jenkins: “That helped me a lot, I can really say that. Jeffery just played his second game last week; the first game, he played the Chargers and had four tackles and a sack and a forced fumble. The things he’s doing now, I’ve been seeing those things in practice because he tried to do them to me in practice. It was us sharpening each other. So, I know I’m more than capable of playing at this level and he’s more than capable, too.”

Jenkins said he wasn’t at Mississippi State long before hearing that he’d be a potential early draft pick. The praise has come quickly with the Packers, as well. Bakhtiari said Jenkins should be in contention for Rookie of the Year honors.

Remembering his roots has helped keep him grounded and hungry.

“It’s knowing where you’re coming from,” Jenkins said. “I come from Clarksdale. There’s not a lot of people make it from there. If they’re telling me that I can do this and I can do that, I’m like, ‘I’m 295; I need to be 310. I’m benching 18 reps on 225 (pounds); I need to be benching 30.’ It’s keep on going at it, keep on taking small steps. My coach always said, ‘Potential will get you fired.’ You can have all the potential in the world but, if you’re not using it or taking it to work every day, it don’t matter.”

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