There was a feeling (maybe by me alone) that the Cincinnati Bengals could target cornerback Janoris Jenkins, provided the North Alabama cornerback began falling outside projected values, roughly into the mid-to-later rounds of the 2012 NFL draft, due to "character" red flags. You have to admit it. The Bengals have historically been willing to take risks on talent if those players fall well below projected rounds (or team-based grades), provided they have salvageable intent to encourage the team on investing the effort to help the player grow.

Nope. Not even close.

According to Geoff Hobson it appears that Jenkins wasn't "anywhere near their radar, no matter the round." Goes to show you how far they've come with their emphasis on character (more on that later). Ultimately it didn't matter. After the Cincinnati Bengals selected cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick at No. 17 and Kevin Zeitler at No. 21, Cincinnati wouldn't be given another opportunity after the Rams drafted Jenkins at No. 39 -- 14 picks before the Bengals third selection of the draft.