Vontae Davis wants to be known as more than just Vernon Davis’ little brother.

And understandably so. After all, Vernon’s most noteworthy action of the 2008 NFL season was when the San Francisco 49ers tight end was banished to the locker room in the middle of a game by Head Coach Mike Singletary for demonstrating less than team-oriented behavior.

But when it comes to some comparisons, he’ll gladly take them. Like when his physical skills are compared to Vernon’s eye-popping athleticism and top-flight talent. Vontae says he owes a lot to Vernon, that his big brother helped him out in developing into the football player he has become – a football player poised to become a first-round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.

Davis, an early-entry prospect out of the University of Illinois, is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the draft. The 6-0, 200-pounder possesses incredible athleticism, capable of both running with the league’s fastest receivers and coming up to the line of scrimmage both in run support and on corner blitzes. In three years with the Illini, Davis earned the reputation of one of the nation’s hardest-hitting defensive backs.

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Ohio State cornerback Malcolm Jenkins, who many scouts feel is the best defensive back in the draft, might have cost himself an opportunity to be a top 10 pick after a poor showing at this year’s scouting combine.

Jenkins, mentioned as a possible selection of the Browns at No. 5, ran unofficial times of between 4.53 and 4.58 at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. He also dropped some passes in the ball drills, prompting Deion Sanders of the NFL Network to proclaim that Jenkins and a couple of the other DBs were “killing themselves.”

“His value will be affected by his time, like it or not,” said Mayock. “But there’s a lot of good tape on him and a lot of Cover 2 teams are going to love him at corner.”
Or perhaps at another position.

“Some people think day one he’s a Pro Bowl free safety,” said Mayock. “He’s got the size and the strength and the physicality to play the position.”

Most of the analysts were more concerned about Jenkins’ shaky performance in the ball drills.
“He kind of followed up [the 40 time] with an average at best — and probably not even average — performance for his skill-set,” said Mayock.

I watched the combine yesterday on the NFL Network and Jenkins’ performance was as bad as the article suggests. He’s a good player and he had a tremendous collegiate career at Ohio State. The combine doesn’t mean everything, but it’s hard to shake off a bad 40-time when you’re a corner – especially when you’re projected to go in the top 10. Most safeties run n the mid 4.5’s, so this isn’t good for Jenkins’ draft stock.