Chose A&M over: Alabama, Ole Miss and Mississippi State, among others

Jernigan is a highly aggressive, very smart linebacker who shows outstanding vision. Last year, A&M had repeated issues with its linebackers anticipating poorly and hitting the wrong gaps (something that improved massively this year); that's what Jernigan does best. He reads and reacts, and his reaction time is excellent.

Once Jernigan figures out where the ball is, he shows great burst to get to the running back. He does an excellent job eluding blockers, using his quickness and strong lateral movement to avoid being blocked out of the play.

Jernigan does a great job getting into the backfield, even when he's not blitzing. He has the knack of figuring out the ball, identifying the ballcarrier and getting after him. His speed is above average and he pursues well.

If there's a knock on Jernigan, it's his strength. You can see that, at times, he has troubles getting a running back to the ground (but, on the plus side, he wraps up well and has solid technique). But adding is strength is what you're supposed to do in college, so it'll be up to A&M's strength & conditioning program to get him stronger.

I really like how Jernigan finds the ball and gets to it fast. That shows a great combination of intelligence and natural ability. That's a combination that A&M will be happy to add at linebacker.