Gavin Jenkins didn’t arrive at Auburn as a mystery man, and he’s not being treated like one in preseason camp, either. Through the first three weeks, the transfer cornerback has been one of the most talked-about defenders on the field, earning steady praise from Auburn coach Alex Golesh and the players around him.
Jenkins came to Auburn after seeing limited action as a true freshman last season at South Florida, but he’s making it clear he views this stop as his chance to change that story. He said the work started long before camp opened.
“I’d really say it’s been hard work. God just putting me in this position,” Jenkins said.
“It’s more of my process in the offseason, staying late, going over plays, stuff like that. I earned it.
“It was just a matter of time. I just had to wait my turn. Now I feel like it’s my turn, so I can show the world what I can do.”
At cornerback, Demarcus Van-Dyke already sees Jenkins as more than just another newcomer. Van-Dyke coached him at South Florida and has leaned on that familiarity as Jenkins settles into Auburn’s system. Jenkins and Fred Gaskin III were the only South Florida defenders to transfer to Auburn, and Van-Dyke said Jenkins helped set the tone for the group by understanding what was coming.
“Yeah, he knew the standard. He knew me from recruiting and how I coach,” Van-Dyke said.
“So, he pretty much gave them guys the heads up like, ‘Look, Coach DVD is this man. There’s no gray area, it’s black and white,’ and those guys adjusted.
He’s pretty much been a guy like a right-hand man because he’s the second voice in everyone as far as like knowing how I want things done and things like that.”
The Tigers like what they’re seeing from the 6-foot-2 defensive back, whose length gives Auburn another strong piece in what Golesh called a loaded secondary. Golesh said Jenkins’ spring and summer have put him in position to compete for real snaps this fall.
“The way his spring was and the way his summer has trended. I would tell you he’s done everything in his power to be in the rotation,” Golesh said.
“I think Gavin is an NFL player. How fast he gets there will be interesting.
It would be huge for us at that position if he could be a rotational guy, if not push to be a guy, this fall.”
Jenkins has four years of eligibility remaining at Auburn, and right now he’s looking like a transfer who plans to use all of them to his advantage.
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