Sophomore Teven Jenkins could play a pivotal role in the rebuild of the offensive line. But, Jenkins was struggling a little to get adjusted to the NFL world. He looked, at times, outmatched physically. This might not be the case anymore. Here are reports from two Bears writers:
I absolutely love to hear that. We have heard a few times this off-season that Jenkins' weight was an issue and it needed to be addressed. He worked his "butt" out and the results are already showing up.
Jenkins is only 24 and has very little experience in the NFL. It's hard to call his rookie season a failure because he was injured for 11 out of the 17 games. However, it was very disappointing to see.
But, let's not forget that Jenkins was very highly graded coming out of college just last year. He was selected with the 39th overall pick in the 2021 draft and many experts called this pick a "steal" at the time. In fact, ESPN, PFF and NFL Network all had Jenkins ranked as a top-4 offensive tackle in his class. While this does not help us at the moment, it just shows what kind of talent he possesses.
In fact, per PFF, Teven Jenkins only allowed two pressures and zero sacks, in the last four games of 2021! This is very impressive stuff and he faced a lot of solid pass rushers versus the Vikings and the Giants.