Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
GAINESVILLE â€" For the third time in three years, Janoris Jenkins has a new team.
After a chaotic college career with stardom on the field and trouble away from it, he made it to the NFL when the St. Louis Rams selected him with the seventh pick of the second round Friday.
"People say you reached and you've got some risk with Janoris, but I don't think anybody did as much background research as we did," Rams coach Jeff Fisher said. "First-round value, probably top-10 value. Every person we talked to said take him. All those issues are behind him. We're going to keep him on the straight and narrow."
Jenkins, from Pahokee, went 39th overall. Three corners were chosen ahead of him. LSU's Morris Claiborne, South Carolina's Stephon Gilmore and Alabama's Dre Kirkpatrick were among the first 17 picks.
Jenkins is widely believed to have first-round talent and probably would have gone that early if he had turned pro a year ago. Jenkins, 23, is one of the most talented players ever produced by history-rich Pahokee High School and was an instant contributor at Florida. He started three seasons before Gators coach Will Muschamp kicked him off the team a year ago.
"Whoever gets me is going to get a blessing," he said recently. "I'm a great guy. I know I'm the best cornerback in the draft."
He was arrested early in his time at UF for his involvement in a bar fight, but stayed out of public trouble after that until last spring. Instead of declaring for the draft last January, he returned to the Gators for his senior season. He was arrested for marijuana possession shortly after that announcement and again in April.
Muschamp kicked him out, prompting him to transfer to North Alabama. Jenkins said he had to sign a zero-tolerance contract with the school, and former UNA coach Terry Bowden said he had no problems with him.
However, questions about his character persisted. The NFL sources said Jenkins admitted in his team interviews that he continued smoking marijuana at North Alabama, NFL.com reported. He denied that last week.
Gators update: No Florida players were chosen for the second consecutive night. Running back Chris Rainey and defensive tackle Jaye Howard are likely to be taken when the draft continues Saturday.
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