Kris Jenkins

Bengals selected Michigan DT Kris Jenkins with the No. 49 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.

The son of former seven-year Carolina Panthers NT Kris Jenkins (6’3/299) boasts NFL pedigree, though he doesn’t carry quite the same massive 360-pound girth of his titanic old man. After spending two years filling out and getting acclimated to the college game, Jenkins was called upon to fill a starting role on the vaunted Michigan defensive line. He would go on to lead all Power Five defensive linemen with 36 stops in 2022, coming of age with an 81st percentile PFF overall grade for a Michigan team that reached the CFP Playoff. A stout run defender who plays with raw strength that outpaces his frame, Jenkins recorded 83rd percentile run grades in each of his last two seasons. Despite his ability to stack and shed versus the run, the two-time All-Big Ten DL only produced 40 pressures in two seasons with a team-low 2% pressure rate in third-down passing situations. Jenkins is a little undersized at 6’026 (56th%) and 299 pounds (54th%), but he ran extremely well posting times of 1.7s in the 10-yard split (92nd%) and 4.91s in the 40-yard dash. He also backed up the play strength displayed on tape by pushing out 29 bench reps, which tied for the second-most of the DL group, and finishing with a 9 relative athletic score. Jenkins will join a Bengals defensive line graded by PFF as last year’s 15th best pass rush and tenth worst run stopping unit.