The Chicago Bears have been receiving rave reviews for their 2021 draft class, which starts with trading up to land quarterback Justin Fields in what could be a franchise-altering move.
After drafting Fields, the next move Chicago made was to trade up for their offensive tackle of the future in Teven Jenkins with the 39th overall pick. Which speaks volumes about how this organization views the future of this team — specifically their confidence in Jenkins to be a long-term answer at presumably left tackle.
While Jenkins had an impressive college career at Oklahoma State, Jenkins’ former college coach Mike Gundy believes his best is still yet to come and, when all is said and done, Jenkins might just wind up being the best offensive lineman taken in the 2021 NFL draft.
“I think he’s just scratching the surface on his ability,” Gundy said, via ChicagoBears.com.
“When he arrived, I don’t think he had any idea what college football was like. And just in the last year, he’s finally developed some toughness and some grit that will certainly benefit him playing in the NFL. I would not be surprised in two years if people are looking back and saying he is potentially the best offensive lineman taken in this draft.”
Jenkins possessed impressive traits when he first enrolled at Oklahoma State in 2016. But Gundy said that Jenkins has transformed over the last season and a half into the guy the Bears drafted.
“He has phenomenal athleticism, strength, he’s highly intelligent, and he’s just started to really get into football over the last 18 months,” Gundy said.
“Now I know that sounds funny, but when you’re as gifted and talented as he is, you can get by being a good college football player without having that grit and toughness like he’s developed over the last 18 months. So he really brought that to our program just recently.”
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