New Orleans Saints First Round Draft Choices: Malcolm Jenkins (2009)

The first round of the 2016 NFL Draft will be held on Thursday, April 28, in Chicago, Illinois.

Between now and then, we’ll be looking back at all of the drafts of the New Orleans Saints, from 1967-2015.

Yesterday, we looked back at 2008.

Today: 2009

The 2009 draft was the 43rd draft in the history of the Saints.

The selection turned out to be a pretty good one for the Saints, landing a player who was a 4-year starter, before leaving in free agency.

The pick: Malcolm Jenkins, a defensive back from Ohio St.

A native of Piscataway, New Jersey, Jenkins, who was the 14th-overall pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, played five years for the Saints, from 2009-2013.

The 6-foot, 200-pound Jenkins played in 14 games at cornerback as a rookie in 2009, the year the team won their first and only Super Bowl, including 6 as a starter, while compiling 41 tackles and one interception.

In 2010, Jenkins played in 15 of the 16 games at both cornerback and safety, all as a starter, generating 52 tackles, to go along with 2 interceptions, one of which he brought back for a touchdown.

From 2011-2013, his final three years in New Orleans, Jenkins remained a fulltime starter, collecting 183 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 3 interceptions.

Jenkins signed with the Philadelphia Eagles prior to the 2014 season, and has had two productive seasons there, including a Pro Bowl appearance in 2015.

In 5 seasons with the Saints, Jenkins appeared in 71 games, including 63 as a starter, accumulating 275 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 6 interceptions, and 2 touchdowns.

In 7 seasons in the NFL, Jenkins has appeared in 103 games, including 95 as a starter, compiling 426 total tackles, including 4.5 sacks, 11 interceptions, and 4 touchdowns.

The Saints only had four picks in the 2009 NFL Draft, selecting linebacker Chip Vaughn and defensive back Stanley Arnoux, both from Wake Forest, in the fourth round, and SMU punter Thomas Morstead in the sixth round.