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AJC College Sports Recruiting

UGA targets Drew, Jenkins bond in Miami, talk about playing together (updated)

3:51 pm January 17, 2011, by Chip Towers

Very few people know where Ray Drew is going to go to college, but John Jenkins claims he does.

The duo hit it off in Miami this past weekend. Drew, a five-star defensive end from Thomas County Central, and Jenkins, a 6-4, 340-pound noseguard at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, both just happened to be on official visits at the University of Miami this weekend.

Despite having not met previously, the two highly-sought-after prospects — who each have Auburn, Georgia and Miami among their finalists — ended up spending the majority of their time together in Coral Gables. Jenkins said they discussed at length the possibility of playing together in college.

“He and I really clicked,” said Jenkins, back at school in Gulfport, Miss., Monday. “He knew about me when I got down there and we just ended up hanging out together and talking a lot. He was just saying how he’d like to play where I play at. He said he wanted to be where I was playing nose so he can make some plays. We were talking about playing playing on the same line.”

Drew lists Auburn, Clemson, Georgia, LSU and Miami as finalists. Jenkins said he will decide between Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Miami. He will have visited Miami, UGA and Florida on consecutive weekends before national signing day (he visited Auburn in December).

I asked Jenkins if Drew was trying to recruit him toward any one school in particular.

“It wasn’t like that, but I do know where he’s going to go,” said Jenkins, who will be visiting UGA this weekend. “I don’t want to reveal his situation or anything like that, but he knows what he’s going to do. He took me aside and told me his thing.”

Drew said he likes Jenkins both personally and as a football player.

“When you’ve got a four-man front with four down linemen, you’ve got to have two big men that can flush everything to the outside and guys on the outside that can push everything inside,” Drew said. “We were talking about how we could help each other out that way. I need to find another big D-tackle.”

Don’t count out Miami as a possible destination. He said he was “blown away” by the Hurricanes on his visit.

“It was beautiful,” he said. “The hotel I was in had this big balcony. So when I woke up in the morning, I looked to right and there was the ocean, I looked to my left and there was the city and straight ahead was South Beach. Pretty nice.”

He was also impressed with new coach Al Golden. “He seems like a very driven, high-energy guy,” Drew said. “He wants to get Miami back to where they used to be.”

I asked Drew about his sudden interest in Miami, which he previously had not listed among his finalists.

“Miami has always been a school that I’ve looked at; I just never really said anything about it,” said the 6-foot-5, 250-pound U.S. Army All-American. “It’s been in the process for a while. The majority of my father’s family lives in the Miami area, so it’s a place where I feel like I could feel at home.”

Drew now has taken official visits to Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Miami. He has an official visit planned for Clemson this weekend. It’s his fifth and final official.

Even if Drew does know where he’s going to sign, he said he’s not about to announce it anytime soon.

“If not signing day then a few days before,” he said.

For what it’s worth, Drew did tell me he plans to attend the announcements of fellow AJC Fab 50 members Malcolm Mitchell and Jay Rome in Valdosta this Thursday.

“I plan on being there,” he said. “I know those guys and I’m just interested in seeing where they go like everybody else.”

Meanwhile, Jenkins came away from his Miami trip impressed.

“It was a cool weekend,” he said. “I got to meet the coaches and got a chance to see what they had in mind in terms of a plan for me. And I had a chance to see the city, which was great. The weather was beautiful.”

Asked what he expected from his visit to Georgia this coming weekend, Jenkins said, “I’m just expecting to see how well I fit in around there. I’m just going to see what my family thinks and see if they see what I see. I don’t have any high expectations. I just want to go in on an even keel and absorb everything and see what turns out.”

College Recruiting By Chip Towers

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376 comments Add your comment

Juwan

January 18th, 2011
12:06 pm

“UGA wants and is in need for both of you. Miami really? just a bunch of thugs in green and orange who purposely try on not getting an education. If you dont make it to the NFl through Miami youll just end up on the street begging for pennies or trying to steal from the local gas station.They cant even sell out their own stadium for big games. Be smart here and choose the right stadium where yall will flurious. If you do choose Miami tho i wish you luck……kinda.”

U may be right on the stadium thing, but your coach played for the U, did you forget that U ignorant can’t get your facts straight moron. BTW Miami’s graduation rate for athletes is higher than Georgia’s. get your facts right

Juwan

January 18th, 2011
12:07 pm

and we have more players actively on nfl rosters HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Go Dawgs!

January 18th, 2011
1:14 pm

Rocky

January 18th, 2011
9:33 am
“Read between the lines, Drew says “4″ Man front, Dawgs are “3″ Man front. Which team plays the 4/3 defense will tell you where he is going”

Okay folks it’s football education 101 time.

3-4 Simply means there are 3 linemen and 4 linebackers. It has more to do with the numbers of each position. If you will look at any team pro or college that uses the 3-4 you will still see a 4 man front. a NT, 2 DEs, and 1 LB. The reason the 3-4 is so hard to prepare for is that 4th lineman can come from either side for one, and second, with the 4 LBs it makes blitzing more easy to disguise, because while it’s difficult to drop a lineman into coverage you can do so with the LBs who are tweeners which opens up saftey and corner blitzes.

When you have a typical 4-3 defense, you know that the 4 down linemen are just that. When you have a 3-4 you open up the choice of having the left or right side OLB move up to the fourth spot, or switching, or rushing both and effectively have 5 “linemen” rush.

The key to a successful 3-4 is having a NT that demands a double team and LBs that are strong athletic “tweeners”. Drew and Jemkins would compliment each other nicely in a 3-4 scheme.

DawginLex

January 18th, 2011
1:35 pm

Drew won’t play in 2011 for the Dawgs. He will redshirt with whoever he signs with.

Crowell can start TODAY in Athens.
Jenkins can start TODAY in Athens.

Mitchell and Rome will contribute but not as much as Crowell and Jenkins.

3 of the 5 make us look good in the recruiting rankings.

2 of the 5 can help keep Richt employed.

Any doubt where the recruiting emphasis is ?

LiveRedBleedBlack

January 18th, 2011
2:02 pm

Are you guys missing the biggest part of this article?

Jenkins says he and Drew want to play with 4 down lineman so the big DT’s can push plays outside for Drew to clean up. Jenkins then says he needs to find another DT. You can’t do that in a 3-4, which is what Georgia runs.

These 2 are Auburn all the way.

Cdub

January 18th, 2011
2:58 pm

Rivals says GT lands Tuitt

Matt

January 18th, 2011
3:17 pm

LiveRedBleedBlack- Read Go Dawgs! post. Not to mention that when you are in a nickel or dime package you have 4 down lineman.

Gbal

January 18th, 2011
4:24 pm

Drew is talking a 4 man front and needing 2 strong tackles inside. This COULD be an indication that he/they are not going to a 3-4 defense.

karl schlierf

January 18th, 2011
5:04 pm

I think there is a good chance they land at the []_[]! Especially if it is cold in Athens this weekend

Dan Mullen for UGA

January 18th, 2011
6:02 pm

I will be surprised if UGA lands either one of these guys much less both of them. I sure hope they do, so I can coach them up with I get to Athens in 2012!

Paul N Destin

January 18th, 2011
7:42 pm

Drew is tight with the Rev Chette at Auburn and you need to know what that means. It will all come to pass in the coming months. Don’t count on Drew at UGA folks. I hope you get both these guys instead of Auburn. For those posting that Nick is cheating then you need to get a life. Saban loves recruiting where people like Tubberville , Mark Richt , Phil Fulmer hated to put forth the effort. Bama will take Dickson but it’s not a big deal if he goes to UGA since we have folks 3 deep on the defensive line already. Watch out for the Rev Chette.

War Eagle

January 18th, 2011
8:58 pm

Crowell to UGA, Jenkins and Drew Auburn.

Cane57

January 18th, 2011
10:16 pm

Came over to your blog to see anything about Drew or Jenkins. We would love to have either one. Think you may have them both on signing day. Our linebacker coach is a preacher also, Michael Barrow. Seems Drew and Barrow had alot to talk about. As for the Orange Bowl, it is about half an hour drive from the U but it is the same place the Dolphins play. Major comfort. By the way someone wrote concerning our boys after football. Our graduation rate during the past three years has been 78% except for this year which was 100 percent of the seniors graduating. Hope you all do well this year but please beat the Gators at all cost.

THE CRIMSON HAMMAH

January 18th, 2011
11:50 pm

jenkins claims drew and himselfto play for hurricanes – tide victory

greco9828

January 19th, 2011
12:08 am

To all of the UGA, its been a done deal for months Drew,and Jenkin will sign with Miami. Ray Drew family is from miami,i thought all of UGA fans knew that…WOW!!!

MikeP

January 19th, 2011
12:12 am

“When you’ve got a four-man front with four down linemen, you’ve got to have two big men that can flush everything to the outside and guys on the outside that can push everything inside,” Drew said.

Doesn’t sound like Drew is heading to a 3-4 defense tom me. Can’t say as I blame him, the 3-4 is outdated and has been for some time. The only teams that use it are those that can’t recruit enough D-tackles to play four-down.

14 CRIMSON HAMMAH 23 27

January 19th, 2011
12:35 am

3-4 is growing in the nfl therefore is great college scheme as well

14 CRIMSON HAMMAH 23 27

January 19th, 2011
12:36 am

drew jenkins to miami – stone cold locks

smh

January 19th, 2011
4:44 am

Some of you people are drinking the kool aid, I’m not one of them. Chip changed the story and it’s obvious as to why.

cdevaughn

January 19th, 2011
7:57 am

lol i hear all this smack talk about miami and the acc. check the pro bowl roster, the acc has more players then any conf with 19 and out of the 19 9 are from miami. so shut ya cock holsters

Chip Towers

January 19th, 2011
10:58 am

smh: I don’t understand what you mean by “changed his story” and definitely not “obvious as to why.” Originally I had spoken only to jenkins but not to drew. I added drew’s comments after I spoke to him. It’s called a “write-thru” in the news biz. But nothing was fundamentally changed.

Dawg Tired

January 20th, 2011
11:54 am

Do the actuall footballplayers at Miami actually live in a hotel with a balcony over looking the beach? I don’t think so. The question here may be whether this guy can actually be taught to moce the center backwards.

Dawg Tired

January 20th, 2011
11:59 am

Thanks for the info 14 CRIMSON HAMMAH 23 27.

It is so comforting to have folks on here who actually are able to obtain such information before anyone else can. Thanks again. BTW, would you mind revealing your sources? UH, do you have any sources? Uh, do you know the meaning of the word source? Just wondering.

greco9828

January 20th, 2011
10:52 pm

Hear’s the facts if you want to go to one of the top 10’smartes school and bye the way and the number one school for the NFL theres only ONE THAT’S THE U..ENOUGH SAID.

greco9828

January 20th, 2011
10:59 pm

@ Dawg Tired yes they do live @ a hotel dorm only in miami..THAT’S SWEET

Atlanta-Cane

January 21st, 2011
11:43 pm

I hope you both end up at The U…. Those 4 years will shape you for the rest of your life! As for all the slander, fans always love when a winner slides a little… More players in the NFL and more championships than the other schools on your list…. BTW it takes a CANE to lead dem Dawgs! Richt was a QB at The U…. with that being said, I wish you both the best and good luck…

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