2020 NFL Draft: Javon Kinlaw fits the Indianapolis Colts interior need

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 09: Javon Kinlaw #3 of the South Carolina Gamecocks before their game against the Appalachian State Mountaineers at Williams-Brice Stadium on November 09, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

Background

Javon Kinlaw has one of the most interesting stories of the entire draft class. While at the Senior Bowl in January, Kinlaw opened up about his life growing up in Washington D.C., where he lived practically homeless. He talked about what it was like growing up, what it was like when he got to Jones County Junior College and the transition to South Carolina.

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"“Just growing up in northeast Washington, D.C., pretty much homeless, living in basements. We went without electricity, no water, things like that,” Kinlaw said. “We had to use the neighbor’s hose to fill up totes of water. We would take them back in the house. We had gas, a gas stove. We would light the stove with a little match or something, get a tall pot, boil the water, mix it with some cold water, put it in a bucket, take it upstairs, take a shower like that,” he shared. “At a young age, we just thought that was normal,” he continued. “That’s how we was living, we didn’t know how everybody else was living, but we knew that’s how we was living and we was cool with that, especially me. But now that I look back at it, it was tough, man. It made me a man at a young age.”"

For most of his life, Kinlaw had to overcome much more than double teams. He dominated his competition at the Junior College level as he was towering over his teammates at 6’5″, 350 pounds. It wasn’t until he got to South Carolina and started working with the strength and conditioning staff that he dropped down to 315.

Kinlaw committed to South Carolina as a three-star prospect coming in as a defensive end in 2016. It wouldn’t be until his sophomore season in 2017 that he would suit up for the Gamecock’s as he would have to attend junior college to improve his grades before being available for Division I football. He was a nightmare for opposing offensive lines starting his sophomore year at South Carolina. Still, it wasn’t until 2019, his senior season, that he started getting the recognition that he deserved. Games against Alabama and Georgia are what put him on the map for many scouts.

Once he got to the Senior Bowl, it didn’t take long at all for NFL general managers to figure out that he was an early first-round pick. ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay stated that Kinlaw probably made himself 12 to 15 million dollars just in those 48 hours at the Senior Bowl.

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