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Ohio State standout cornerback Malcolm Jenkins will be a man on a mission when he reports to the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis this week.

The consensus All-American cornerback is considered a Top 10 lock and is expected to be the first defensive back off the board on draft day, but Jenkins has other thoughts in mind. His mission: prove to NFL scouts that he's worthy of Top 5 consideration in April's NFL draft.

During a phone interview with Jenkins, he talked about his training leading up to the Combine and how he hopes to impress NFL scouts in Indy.

Speed the key

"The only thing in question for me is I think scouts want to see how fast I run the 40-yard dash," Jenkins said. "Everyone is predicting me to run something like a 4.5 or whatever. I guess that's probably going to be the determining factor whether I play corner or safety in the pros."

Jenkins said he has really focused on running the 40 so that there is no confusion come time to work out that he is a corner and not a safety. He went on to say that he would love to run in the high 4.3's, but worst case scenario expects to run in the mid 4.4 range.

There has been talk of teams possibly moving Jenkins to safety at the next level, but that talk doesn't seem to faze the player. Jenkins played free safety off and on during his junior year, but would like the opportunity to show teams that he can hold down the cornerback position in the pros just as he did in college.

"Playing safety is something that I can definitely do and have the ability to do, but I think corner is my natural position," he said. "But if a team needs me to play safety I can."

Prime time player

Jenkins is the recipient of this year's Jim Thorpe Award which is awarded to the top defensive back in college football. He finished the 2008 season with 57 tackles, three interceptions and nine pass break-ups.

When playing Ohio State some teams didn't even bother throwing Jenkins' way. In the big game against Penn State, the team threw only one pass the cornerback's way which was a 5-yard out that Jenkins almost made a play on.

Jenkins doesn't mind playing on an island and isn't overconfident in his lockdown ability.

"I come into every game preparing like teams are going to throw to my side," he said. "I never really get bored out there thinking that they're going to throw the other way. That's how a lot of good corners get caught up expecting them not to throw their way and get hit with a big play. So I prepare like they are going to throw at me every time. I do that out of respect for the other team."

Physical approach

At 6-1, 205-pounds Jenkins is an outstanding man-to-man corner with great instincts, excellent speed, quickness and leaping ability. He's very physical and attacks ball carriers like a pit bull in run support and he plays with a linebacker's mentality. Not surprising considering Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was Jenkins' favorite player growing up. He shows good overall fundamentals and technique.

What makes Jenkins so special is his versatility to play in the box and blitz off the edge his dominance and playmaking ability. He's the complete package at the corner position.

According to one NFL scout, Jenkins is definitely worthy of Top 5 consideration based on pure talent alone. The scout added that there may be some teams out there willing to trade up in the draft to secure a shot at the corner depending on his performance at the Combine and Pro Day.

Jenkins could be of some interest to the Cleveland Browns at the No. 5 position should the team lose starting safety Sean Jones to free agency.

Carlos "Big C" Holmes covers the NFL for Dayton Daily News.

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