Oct 3, 2014
10:19:33am
He's not crazy, consider the teams they played for and the stats
He's definitely confident/cocky, but he's not way off.

Consider Jenkins career at BYU. In his freshman year in 1996, he split time with senior RB Brian Mckenzie on a very good team and he had a good year for a freshman - 733 yds, 5.7 yds/carry. Then he was suspended the next year. In 1998, he was the featured RB on a much lesser team that had a fairly tough schedule in those old WAC days where they played at Alabama to start the year, at Washington, at Fresno St, and lost in the WAC championship to an Air Force team that ended the year 12-1. Jenkins had 1307 yds, 5.2 yds/carry as well as 349 receiving yards and 15 combined TD's. This all with Kevin Feterik at QB who only threw for 2718 yds, 16 TD's, and 6 INT's, a very mediocre year and those who watched him know he was a mediocre QB in 1998 which was his junior year (he was much better his senior year). The offense was a lot more traditional and the defenses could really focus in on Jenkins. Jenkins was suspended for good after that year, played 1 yr at Northern Arizona, and then to the NFL.

Consider Staley's career. His freshman year was solid as he split time with Fahu Tahi. He had 432 yds, 4.7 yds/carry with Feterik at QB in a pass first offense where he threw for 3500+ yds and 25 TD's. In his sophomore season, they really had a bad offense with Charlie Peterson at QB, and couldn't really run or pass. Luke had 479 yds, 3.7 yds/carry. And then, of course, there is his junior season where Luke ran wild. He had a monster season of 1596 yds, 8.1 yds/carry and 24 TD's plus 334 receiving and 4 TD's. They had Brandon Doman at QB who had a great season with over 4000 yds passing and 500 yds rushing. Doman threw for 33 TD's and ran for 8 more. Reno Mahe had 91 catches and over 1200 yds receiving. Their offense was based on the option which the mediocre MWC teams couldn't handle. With Staley, Doman, and Mahe, nobody could focus on just one aspect of the offense. That being said, that schedule was horrible! People think this year is weak, but it's miles ahead of the 2001 schedule. Look at the records of the teams they played. The teams that you think might be good were horrible that year, with Cal going 1-10 and Mississippi St being 3-8. The Utes were a good team that year and Hawaii and Louisville were good, but Staley didn't play against those last 2 team.

Staley and Jenkins were different players. Jenkins had elite speed but was smaller and more shifty. Staley had good speed and was also big and could run you over and keep on going. Staley had injury issues and only played parts of 3 years. Jenkins got suspended twice and only played 2 yrs.

All that being said, if you switch places, I bet Jenkins could have put up the same stats as Staley in that 2001 year. That offense was so dynamic and Jenkins' likely would have had many amazing plays. Staley would have probably done similar to Jenkins if put onto the 1998 team. He would have gotten a ton of carries but would have been the focus of the defenses against a slightly tougher schedule.

I don't know who was better, but it's hard to compare straight across. And we all have these fluffy memories of Staley running wild (and forget it was against a super weak schedule after him having 2 mediocre years) and not so much of Jenkins (who left a bitter taste in fans mouths by getting suspending, and while playing his last year for a very average BYU team), but my opinion is that Jenkins would have matched Staley and vice versa if you switched their teams.
icetre421
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icetre421
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