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DB Malcolm Jenkins (All B1G, All-American, Thorpe Award, All-Pro, 2x Super Bowl Champion)

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Malcolm Jenkins emerging as elite safety
December, 17, 2010
By Pat Yasinskas

nfl_u_jenkinsm_576.jpg

Derick E. Hingle/US Presswire
Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins returns an interception for a touchdown against the Rams on Sunday.

Ever since he intercepted a pass and returned it 96 yards for a touchdown Sunday against St. Louis, New Orleans safety Malcolm Jenkins has been drawing even more comparisons to Darren Sharper.

That's pretty logical, because the play looked almost like a copy of the one Sharper made against the New York Jets early last season. Both plays came near the same end zone, went down the same sideline and resulted in touchdowns.

But let's not act like this is a case of Jenkins coming out of nowhere and making Sharper pretty much a non-factor. What you are seeing is Jenkins emerging as one of the best, or at least hottest, safeties in the league.

This was all part of a master plan by the Saints. Although fans didn't want to believe it for most of the offseason, the decision for Jenkins to take Sharper's place was made almost an entire calendar year ago. Sharper is a charismatic veteran beloved by fans and a player who made very big plays during last season's Super Bowl run.

But it also was becoming very obvious during that run that Sharper's time as an elite player was running out quickly. By the time the Saints won the Super Bowl, there was a pretty strong hunch within the coaching staff and management that Sharper no longer was the best safety on the roster.

In their eyes, the best safety on the roster was Jenkins, who played cornerback a year ago. That's why as soon as he showed up to start working out after the Super Bowl celebrations, the Saints sat Jenkins down and told him he was moving to free safety. It turns out that foresight was spot on.

?I don?t know if Malcolm is the second coming of Darren Sharper, but he?s going to be the first coming of Malcolm Jenkins,?? Sharper told the New Orleans media this week.

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http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post?id=33798
 
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Nutriaitch;1836057; said:
i think part of the reason is because he is needed at Safety.
the saints have enough corners
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I'm glad to hear Malcolm is winning friends down in NOLA. As for safety / CB - I always thought that was a great break for him. Safeties are the current flavor of the month in many NFL Ds - it is a high profile gig.

He was always up to snuff on run support being a hard hitter - and I'd argue that at safety he gets as many chances to get the big plays and picks.
 
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Yeah just look at Polamalu, Reed, Sharper, and Sanders as arguably the best defenders on their teams. Safeties play a huge role in the defense if they are the right fit. I actually like Malcolm better at safety but he can definitely play either. I'm excited for next weeks Monday night game with my Falcons going up against Malcolm and his defending champ Saints. Going to be a fun match up.
 
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to go one step further - a safety with real cover skills allows that Saints D to be more versatile in their coverages against teams that run "spread" sets... MJ can cover and stop the run... shaping up to be a great one for the Saints
 
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3074326;1836056; said:
Still think they should've given him a shot at CB (he was a monster CB), but I guess the whole safety thing is working out. :tongue2:
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I thought he was very underrated as a CB there last year. In the Super Bowl, the Saints pass defense tightening up correlated with Jenkins being on the field.
 
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