02/29 — The Jets defense got better today. Draft picks are nice, but you weren’t going to find a 6’4”, 349-pound NT who can anchor your front come April. Kris Jenkins has the ability to be a dominant nose in the 3-4 and his passion for football is undeniable.

Jenkins is a three-time Pro Bowler, having earned trips while a member of the Carolina Panthers in 2002, ’03 and ’06. Injuries limited him to a combined five games in ’04 and ’05, but he played in every contest each of the past two seasons and he was the Panthers' best D-lineman in '07, recording 53 tackles and three sacks.

Beyond the numbers, he’s an absolute handful for any offensive lineman. He can’t be blocked with one man and this acquisition just made ILB David Harris that much better. Now a likely three-man front of Jenkins and DEs Shaun Ellis and Kenyon Coleman looks very formidable and will create more room for all the ‘backers to do their thing.

The Jets finished 29th against the rush last season (allowing 134.8 yards per game) and they weren’t going to let that happen again. Enter Jenkins, a space-eater who not only will impact the rush D but can create a push up the middle. Ask any quarterback and he’ll tell you it's the pressure up the gut that gives him the most difficulty. Despite a constant double, Jenkins has racked up 18 sacks in 69 career games.

Jenkins, who is entering his eighth NFL season, will turn 29 in August. Naysayers will say he’s battled the bulge on occasion and they’ll also point to his knee injury in ’05 and shoulder injury in ’04. But that’s well in the past and the thing you have to love about this guy is his fire.

"I don't just play for the money. I play because that's in my heart," he told the Charlotte Observer last year. "I've been playing since I was 8. I love this game; I love it. And when my kids see me, they love it.

"I don't look at it as a profession like everybody else does. It's still a gladiator's sport. And what I'm doing I love doing."

After seven years in Carolina, a change of address should suit Jenkins well. A second-round pick in 2001 out of Maryland, he’ll now be a shorter drive or a quick airport shuttle away from his family.

“I guess it's because I'm getting to the point where I'm missing being away from my family and not being able to see my kids [sons Kris Jr. and Marcus] grow up,” he said in December.

Defensively the Jets did some growing up in last season's second half and Jenkins will help the spurt in '08.