As his team prepares for its season ending showdown with First Coast, Jacksonville Terry Parker wide receiver A.J. Jenkins (6-1, 180) is once again inundated with recruiting. Once committed to Georgia Tech, Jenkins re-opened his recruiting and the longer he remains open, the more schools are inquiring about his interest.
Because Parker runs a wing-T offense, Jenkins doesn’t see the ball very often. Nor does he see it often on the defensive side of the ball. Asked to start at corner earlier in the year, Jenkins picked off a couple of early passes but since then, opponents try the other side of the field. Last week, however, there were some changes made on offense and Parker opened things up a bit. Jenkins got the ball in his hands and he made the most of the opportunity.
“I had a pretty good offensive game last Friday,” Jenkins said Tuesday night. “I had eight receptions for two touchdowns.”
On his best play of the night, Jenkins knew it was going to be a big play almost from the moment the ball was snapped.
“The longest was a 67 yarder,” he started. “I was in the slot and ran a 12-yard hook. When the quarterback threw it, I had to make a spin move and then it was off to the races. I knew when he threw it I would score, all I had to do was catch it.”
Speed is the name of the game for Jenkins, who will spend his spring running track for Parker by competing in the 100, 200 and 4X100.
Between now and February, what will keep him busy is recruiting. The moment he de-committed Georgia Tech it was like saying “release the hounds” to recruiters. The phone stays busy every night with recruiters from all of the south’s big programs making their pitch.
“It has heated up since I de-committed,” he said. “I talk to Florida on a daily basis. Other schools that are really recruiting me the hardest are Illinois, South Carolina and West Virginia.
He has two official visits planned so far and plans on visiting one school twice in a two-week period.
“I plan on going to Illinois next weekend, the 17th ,” Jenkins said. ““I am going to Florida for the Florida-Florida State game. I will probably visit them officially on December 8th.”
The Gators have remained a constant in the recruiting process for Jenkins. The entire time he was committed to Georgia Tech, Florida stayed in contact. If there is one thing that has changed since he backed off Georgia Tech it is the way Coach “G” has been pushing what Florida does with its wide receivers
“I talk to Coach (Billy) Gonzales a lot and he is giving me a lot more facts about the receivers and number of catches after each game,” Jenkins said. “I think they get the ball in the play makers hands. It was stressed to me that Percy Harvin got the ball 20 times last week and Coach ‘G’ said if I came to Florida I would get the ball in my hands. It is up to me what I am going to do with it.”
Jenkins refuses to name a top five, but besides Florida and Illinois, one team that does remain in the mix is Georgia Tech. He might have de-committed to Georgia Tech but the Yellow Jackets are still in the running.
“Georgia Tech runs a lot of three wide receiver formations and they tell me they would run a lot of reverses with me,” Jenkins said. “They tell me they are going to get me the ball to make big plays.”
In the end, Jenkins wants a place he can see the field early, but also a place where he can show his skills. For him it is all going to come down to, “playing time and the type of offense that they run.”
A.J. Jenkins has been a big target on the Florida board for a while and finally seems a bit more open to the possibility of being a Gator. The many ways that Florida gets its receivers involved in the offense has to help the Gators’ chances of landing Jenkins on signing day.