JOSH Jenkins is taller than Lance Franklin, heavier than Eagle Josh Kennedy and has taken nearly as many contested marks as Adelaide teammate Taylor Walker this season.

However, the Crows' leading goal scorer is arguably the least "typical" key forward of the bunch.

Sure, Jenkins has strong pair of hands and kicks like a mule, but the 199cm and 107kg forward is a power-packed hybrid, as adept on the ground as he is in the air.

And after four seasons of steady improvement the 27-year-old's potential is being unlocked by first-year coach Don Pyke.

At the halfway mark of the season, Jenkins has booted 34 goals (his career-best is his 46 last year) and is a Coleman Medal smoky.

But there are obvious differences in how the big Crow scores compared to the likes of Franklin, Kennedy, Gold Coast's Tom Lynch or even Jack Gunston.

Three of his seven goals against St Kilda on Sunday were kicked from two metres out, with commentator Mark Ricciuto dubbing Jenkins the 'goalsquare specialist'.

It's a fair assessment.

Nearly half his majors (14 in all) have been kicked from within 15m of the big sticks, tied with mercurial teammate Eddie Betts for the most in the competition from point-blank range, according to Champion Data.

The next best key forwards from close range are Franklin (eight from 41 goals), Kennedy (eight from 38) and Greater Western Sydney star Jeremy Cameron (eight from 22).

For those who have seen the Crows' extreme brand of 'slingshot' footy, Jenkins' numbers wouldn't surprise.

The Crows defend deep in their own half and then counterattack at breakneck speed, with Jenkins' pace and footy smarts a lethal combination.

"He's hard to match-up on," one assistant coach told AFL.com.au.

"He'll get you on the lead or on the paddock situations back to goal. He's just smart; he knows how to read the play and when to get to the goalsquare and when he's going to beat his opponent.

"It's very rare that you see the Crows go slow from defensive 50 and give the opposition time to get back.

"I think in the games that they've lost, opposition sides have been able to hold them up and get back and support their defence.

"But they're a hard side to stop when they get going and he's (Jenkins) important to them."

Jenkins' bag of seven in the belting of the Saints followed an eight-goal haul – three from within 15m – in a loss to the Western Bulldogs in round seven, and another couple from point-blank range in round one against North Melbourne.

Jenkins is even tougher to stop because he can also take a strong contested mark (1.5 per game, skipper Taylor Walker averages 1.9) and demands a big-bodied defender.

But it's when he gets out the back of defensive zones that he's doing damage, kicking almost half his goals from open play and almost never missing (86 per cent accuracy in general play).

Jenkins isn't the biggest name in the highest-scoring attack in the competition but, with reported offers around the $750,000 a season mark for the out-of-contract Crow, he's becoming one of the League's most valuable big men in a dangerous side.

"A lot of clubs put a lot of work into Walker, because he's the one who gets up the ground a bit more and his leading patterns are a little bit more dangerous than Jenkins," the assistant coach said.

"But they bypass him and kick it long to the 'Rock of Gibraltar' and he takes a mark.

"Then they've got Eddie Betts as well, so they've obviously got a pretty good system.

"They're all duck or no dinner, though. If they don't score, they get scored against the other way.

"If they can fix up a bit of their defensive stuff, I reckon they're a big chance (to win the flag) because they've got good players on every line and a very dangerous forward line."

STATS QUIRK OF THE WEEK: Jenkins' 7.3 return against St Kilda (6.9) was the 10th time in the last three seasons a player has matched or outscored an entire opposition side in a game. It has happened in one other match this season, when West Coast smashed the Saints by 103 points in round eight. Mark LeCras (6.0) and Josh Kennedy (5.1) - who booted all five of his goals in the first quarter - both eclipsed St Kilda's score (3.11).

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