The thing for the Detroit Lions and their fans to remember is every NFL draft happens in a vacuum. Teams cannot afford to let the mistakes of past draft day decisions cloud their judgment in current of future drafts. Even after the bust of WR Charles Rogers picked second overall in the 2003 NFL Draft cannot cloud the Lions judgment of this year's potential first round pick CB Janoris Jenkins.
The two will be linked in the minds of Lions fans because of their marijuana use while in College. Jenkins was thrown off the Florida Gators for said issues and ended up playing ball at North Alabama. Leaving the Gators program hurt his draft stock, but after a pretty good year in 2011 and an impressive showing at this year's Senior Bowl his stock may be on the rise. Furthermore, his issues may have still on the board when the Lions select 23rd in the first round.
On top of that Jenkins has had two collarbone injuries, and those are the same kind of injuries that ultimately sidelined Rogers in his career with the Lions. He would start just nine games in his Lions career and catch 36 balls for 440 yards and four scores. The Lions cannot afford another first round bust of this size.
Jenkins is a 5 foot 10, 177 pound elite cover corner. The kind of cover guy the Lions defense desperately needs. However it may not be their biggest need. According to Justin Rogers of mlive.com Offensive tackle, safety, and linebacker may be bigger needs for this team depending on what happens in free agency.
However, in terms of value Jenkins may be exactly the right pick. Football's future.com has him rated as the third best CB in this draft. After two blowout loses to end the 2011 season (in which they gave up over 460 passing yards in each) the addition of a elite cover man could be exactly the right move to make. They would have to trust their strong locker room to keep Jenkins in check something Rogers never had the benefit of.
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