2014 NFL Draft: Pre-Season Breakdown – Timmy Jernigan, DT Florida State

Oct 27, 2012; Tallahassee, Florida, USA; Florida State Seminoles defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan (8) during the game against the Duke Blue Devils at Doak Campbell Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Melina Vastola-USA TODAY Sports

After having one of the most talented set of defensive ends in the country with Bjoern Werner, Tank Carradine, and Brandon Jenkins move onto the NFL, the Florida State Seminoles have a talented underclassman at defensive tackle in Timmy Jernigan.  Jernigan is an athletic penetrator who can be a quick, disruptive player who can shoot gaps, attack individual offensive lineman and create problems in the middle of the line.  Jernigan has flashes of brilliance and some issues he needs to continue to improve upon as well as stepping up to the challenge of being the biggest man on their defensive line and the pressure that comes with that responsibility.  He has been a contributor both his freshman and sophomore years, chipping in 8 tackles for loss this past season for the Seminoles, but he has the talent to make a big leap this year and a large reason for that jump could be in correcting some bad habits and tendencies that could be giving opponents a top as to what he plans to do on any given play.  It is difficult to predict where he would go at this point based on his play thus far, but there is significant potential for him to make a significant leap forward this year and next, should he choose to go that route.  Jernigan has the talent and potential where he could be a top 100 pick and establish himself in the top 50, but he needs to develop better habits in certain areas and improve his stamina and consistency.

Vitals & Build

Jernigan is listed at 6’2” 298lbs and has a nice combination of quickness and athleticism.  His motor tends to run hot and cold and there are times when he is extremely active and disruptive and others when he will have trouble being as effective because he is tired.  Jernigan needs to continue improving his stamina and motor to be more consistently effective.  He appears to have a sizable amount of potential as he is still only entering his junior year and even if he just improves his functional strength and adds weight to get a quality 300-305lbs, it could make a big difference, but he might have the frame to continue adding quality weight.

Snap Anticipation & First Step

Jernigan’s snap anticipation and first step depend entirely on his stance.  Whether Jernigan realizes or not, his stance is not only tipping his pitches for opposing offensive linemen able to notice, but it really impacts what he is able to do out of his stance.  Jernigan uses a four point stance and he demonstrates all of the positive and negative aspects of this particular stance.  When Jernigan is right, he has a flat back; his feet lined up behind him, and he is able to fire out low and with an explosive first step that makes it difficult for offensive linemen to get low enough to block him or stop him from shooting the gap.

The problem Jernigan ran into, which was particularly apparent against Virginia Tech, was that he would end up in a full on frog stance with his feet under his butt and his back at an uphill angle.  The result was that Jernigan got off the line consistently last among the defensive line and he was at a severe disadvantage.  He gives the offensive linemen a target to hit as opposed to an attacking defensive tackle they have to adjust and counteract.  Jernigan puts himself in a position where he is trying to recover and counterpunch rather than attack and dictate the tone of the matchup.

One other thing Jernigan will do is he will give away when he is in full on attack mode.  He makes it clear he is coming by getting in more of a track stance.  The only difference between this and the stance he uses when he is unpredictable and right is that his head will be close to the ground, almost touching the turf.  When the average player does this, the result can be slightly off balance resulting in coming off the ball slower than they were hoping for at times as they have to adjust for the weight being so far forward.  There are players who can pull it off; Jernigan appears to be one of them.  With his head barely off the ground, he is able to fire out quickly and low giving him a natural leverage advantage and comes up with a powerful, rising blow.

Overall, he should stay with the flat back approach as this is the most balanced approach and the hardest to predict but in obvious passing situations, if he wants to pull out the track stance, go nuts.  He needs to avoid getting in the frog stance, because it is ineffective for him at this point.

When he is in a flat back stance, he gets off the ball extremely quickly for the most part and was competitive with both Carradine and Werner in terms of his ability to get off the ball as well as his first step.  As long as he is not tired and his motor is running, Jernigan is an explosive, athletic defensive tackle that comes off the ball and can immediately have an advantage against his opponent.  When he gets tired, his stance and first step get slower and he is more a reactionary player than an aggressive one, which is a problem as a run defender.  If he can get better stamina, he can be a consistent problem for offensive linemen.

Block Shedding

Jernigan has extremely active, quick hands that can really give opponents fits.  For the most part, Jernigan uses a bull rush and swim move and really puts an emphasis on the latter.  They are both effective and he has had a great deal of success with them, but as the competition level goes up, he is going to need to learn and do more or he will be too predictable.  Because his hand speed and quickness is so effective, he should be able to add a new move or few without too much issue, but he just needs to do it and master it so he is not using his swim move quite so often, enabling it to stay effective.  And with this, if he can continue to work on his strength and functional power, he can possesses heavier hands and be able to do more damage as he uses them.  Given that he was just a sophomore last year, he has the time to add more to the repertoire.

Run Stopping

Jernigan has the ability to be an effective run stopper but is inconsistent.  When he is energized and going, he will shoot the gaps and force offensive linemen to adjust to him, allowing him to get penetration and disrupt the play in the backfield.  In addition, he can use his hands and particular that swim move to shed the block and make the tackle.  He has impressive agility and body control and is able to make a lot of plays in the middle of the line and catch running backs in the hole.  But like everything else with Jernigan, it is all about his motor and stamina in terms of how much he can bring.

In terms of being a stout run player, Jernigan can do the job and should only improve as he gets stronger, but it is all about where he sets the line in the sand.  When he fires off the ball and gets into the center or guard, he has the leverage and base to keep them in position allowing his teammates to make plays.  He can still do that when he gives up ground off the snap, but the difference is a couple yards and where the tackle can be made.  The difference of those couple yards may not seem like much but it can be the difference between a clogged running lane and an open hole for the back to go through and pick up yardage.

Rushing the Passer

Jernigan might be a better pass rusher than run defender at this point because he is so athletic and potentially disruptive.  When he fires off the snap quickly, he can immediately shoot a gap and get into the backfield where the offensive linemen is already blocking his side and is at a huge disadvantage.  At that point, Jernigan can continue on and get to the quarterback, draw a holding penalty, or force the quarterback to either make a quick throw or maneuver in the pocket to avoid Jernigan.

In situations where he is playing head up over the center or guard, he can use his strength to knock the offensive lineman off balance or set them up for the swim move where he shoots past the defender in the backfield and in a position to make a play on the quarterback. He is fluid and effective with his short area quickness so while he can periodically overrun the play, he is typically fluid enough to where he can adjust and make a play in small areas on athletic quarterbacks.

Even in situations where Jernigan is late off the snap and has ground to make up, he is athletic enough where he can beat the guy ahead of him and the closing speed to make a big time play.  It is obviously more difficult when the offensive lineman gets the jump on him and is able to get in position and needs to reduce the amount this happens, but he has the ability to still be a factor on those plays.

The Seminoles will also run Jernigan on stunts which usually have him looping around the end to get after the quarterback.  He clearly has the athleticism to do this and can be effective at it, but Jernigan is incredibly inefficient with his movement in these situations.  Jernigan needs to be able to run lower and turn the corner more effectively.  For as athletic as he is, his inefficiency with his movement and particularly his foot work will have him looking like a rusty shopping cart as he tries to make the turn around the tackle.

System Fit

Jernigan’s best fit is as a 3-technique ­defensive tackle in a 4-3 system and that is primarily what he has done for the Seminoles, but he does appear to have the versatility to play both the under tackle spot as well as nose guard and the 2-tech heads up over the guard.  He does his best work when he is able to shoot the gaps and use his athleticism to really cause havoc for the opponent.  If he gains weight and gets around the 310-315lb range, he becomes more of a versatile threat, which is fine as long as it does not negatively impact what makes him stand out; his athleticism and quickness.   Jernigan’s skill set would fit in with what Tennessee, St. Louis, Chicago, and Minnesota.

He has the skill set to where he could probably contribute as a ­5-tech end in the 3-4, but he does not possess the ideal length to play in that scheme, so a team might take him to do it, but he would not be ideally suited for it and then he could kick inside to a rush tackle on obvious passing downs.

Schedule

Notable Games

Clemson provides an interesting test for Jernigan, particularly because of their tempo and the ability to run a balanced offense.  Jernigan could have a huge impact on that game if he can stop the run and put pressure on quarterback Tajh Boyd.  The instate rivalry games are both great tests as Miami should be better under head coach Al Golden and they have some beef on their offensive line and Florida has been a power run team that will give Jernigan to prove he can be a consistent run stopping threat against a team who will run the football no matter the opponent.  The game at Boston College could be a sneaky good matchup for Jernigan, but it remains to be seen if BC is ready to make that big leap forward and get back to being the football program they are normally.

NFL Comparison

There are flashes that will make people think he could be a Geno Atkins type player and maybe he can be with further development, but right now, he is more similar to a player like Jurrell Casey.  Casey has been a solid contributor for the Tennessee Titans since coming out of USC but he has not taken the step to be a star player.  This is where Jernigan is right now as a player.  He can certainly contribute but he has not taken that big step forward to where he is that franchise player.  The potential is there to make that leap and has the time to do it.

Draft Projection

Timmy Jernigan has a ton of athletic talent and raw potential, but this is the year where he really needs to take that big step forward and have the light go on as a star player.  If he can do that, he could get into the 50 as a player as a disruptive tackle that can put pressure on opposing quarterbacks, but that will require him to improve his stamina and motor to be more consistent, adding more to his repertoire to beat blocks, and simply getting consistent with his stance.  If he wants to go with the four point stance, he needs to get more consistent with getting in that balanced, flat back stance, that makes it harder for opponents to get a read on what he is doing and allows him to get a good first step to get an advantage against opposing offensive linemen.  There is a ton of talent with Jernigan, so if he can just put it all together in the next year or two, he could be a dynamic player both for the Seminoles and in the NFL.