Jalen Mayfield

Jalen Mayfield
refer to caption
Mayfield in 2021
Personal information
Born: (2000-05-23) May 23, 2000 (age 24)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:Catholic Central (Grand Rapids)
College:Michigan (2018–2020)
Position:Guard
NFL draft:2021 / round: 3 / pick: 68
Career history
Career NFL statistics as of 2023
Games played:19
Games started:16
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Jalen Mayfield (born May 23, 2000) is an American professional football guard. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, and was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft.

Early life

Mayfield grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and attended Catholic Central High School, where he was a four year starter at offensive tackle and defensive end for the football team.[1] Mayfield originally committed to play college football at Minnesota in February of this junior year, but eventually flipped his commitment to Michigan three months later.[2][3][4] As a senior, he was named The Grand Rapids Press Defensive Player of the Year after recording 96 tackles, 31 tackles for loss, 17 sacks, and 3 fumble recoveries and played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.[5][6]

College career

Mayfield played in three games at left tackle as a true freshman.[7] He was named the Wolverines' starting right tackle going into his sophomore year and was named honorable mention All-Big Ten Conference after starting all 13 of Michigan's games.[8][9] Following the 2020 season, Mayfield announced that he would forgo his remaining years of college eligibility and enter the 2021 NFL draft.[10]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
6 ft 5+1⁄4 in
(1.96 m) 		326 lb
(148 kg) 		32+5⁄8 in
(0.83 m) 		9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 5.38 s 1.81 s 3.03 s 4.91 s 7.86 s 28.5 in
(0.72 m)		 8 ft 0 in
(2.44 m)
All values from Pro Day[11][12][13]

Atlanta Falcons

2021 season

Mayfield was selected by the Atlanta Falcons in the third round (68th overall) of the 2021 NFL Draft.[14] He signed his four-year rookie contract with Atlanta on June 15, 2021.[15]

Heading into his first NFL training camp, Mayfield competed with Kaleb McGary to be the Falcons' starting right tackle. Due to injuries suffered by offensive guards Josh Andrews and Matt Gono, however, Mayfield began taking first-team reps at left guard. At the conclusion of the NFL preseason, Mayfield was named the starting left guard for the Falcons.

Mayfield made his first career start and NFL debut in the Falcons' Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, playing in 90% of the team's offensive snaps[16] After this game, he would appear in every single offensive snap for the Falcons until Week 17, when an injury suffered late in the fourth quarter of the Falcons' loss to the Buffalo Bills kept him out of the Falcons' Week 18 season finale against the New Orleans Saints.[17]

Overall, Mayfield finished his rookie season appearing in 16 games and starts.[18]

2022 season

On September 1, 2022, Mayfield was placed on injured reserve.[19] He missed the entire 2022 season.[20]

Mayfield was released on August 26, 2023.[21]

New York Giants

Mayfield was signed to the practice squad of the New York Giants on August 31, 2023.[22] He was promoted to the active roster on October 14.[23] He was released on October 16 and re-signed to the practice squad.[24] Following the end of the 2023 regular season, the Giants signed him to a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024.[25] He was waived on August 27, 2024.[26]

References

  1. ^ Wellner, Peter (May 23, 2017). "Catholic Central's Jalen Mayfield commits to Michigan: 'It felt like home'". MLive.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  2. ^ "C2Eight: Tackle Jalen Mayfield Commits to Minnesota!". The Daily Gopher. February 19, 2017. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  3. ^ Christensen, Joe (May 24, 2017). "Jalen Mayfield splats Gophers in paintball video announcing Michigan commitment". Star Tribune. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  4. ^ Zucker, Joseph (May 23, 2017). "4-Star OL Jalen Mayfield Flips to Michigan After Being Committed to Minnesota". Bleacher Report. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  5. ^ Kaminski, Steve (November 21, 2017). "Introducing the 2017 MLive Grand Rapids Press Dream Team Defense". MLive.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  6. ^ Hutton, Jason (October 3, 2017). "Mayfield selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American Game". Fox7Online.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  7. ^ Sang, Orion (April 14, 2019). "Michigan's Jalen Mayfield in thick of right-tackle competition". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  8. ^ McCann, Aaron (August 16, 2019). "Time for Jalen Mayfield to prove himself on Michigan's OL". MLive.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  9. ^ "Michigan's Jalen Mayfield debuts at No. 14 on Mel Kiper's first 2021 Big Board". The Detroit News. May 5, 2020. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  10. ^ Brown, Brandon (August 18, 2020). "Jalen Mayfield declares for the 2021 NFL Draft". WolverineDigest. Retrieved August 18, 2020.
  11. ^ "Jalen Mayfield Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  12. ^ "2021 Draft Scout Jalen Mayfield, Michigan NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  13. ^ "Jalen Mayfield 2021 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  14. ^ Conway, Kelsey (April 30, 2021). "Falcons select OL Jalen Mayfield in third round of NFL Draft". AtlantaFalcons.com. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  15. ^ Levine, Ben (January 15, 2021). "Falcons Sign Five Draft Picks". Pro Football Rumors. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  16. ^ "Philadelphia Eagles at Atlanta Falcons - September 12th, 2021". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  17. ^ Sigler, John (January 7, 2022). "Terron Armstead ruled out vs. Falcons in Week 18, Marcus Davenport questionable". Saints Wire. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  18. ^ "Jalen Mayfield 2021 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  19. ^ McElhaney, Tori (September 1, 2022). "Falcons place players on injured reserve, re-sign others". AtlantaFalcons.com. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  20. ^ Beazley, Colin (August 4, 2023). "Jalen Mayfield back working at right tackle, his original position". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved August 19, 2023.
  21. ^ Grindley, Wyatt (August 26, 2023). "Falcons Waiving Four Players". NFLTradeRumors.co. Retrieved August 26, 2023.
  22. ^ Eisen, Michael (August 31, 2023). "Giants fill out practice squad in series of roster moves". Giants.com.
  23. ^ "Azeez Ojulari to IR among series of roster moves". Giants.com. October 15, 2023.
  24. ^ Eisen, Michael (October 17, 2023). "Giants sign 2 offensive linemen; Joshua Ezeudu to IR". Giants.com.
  25. ^ "Giants sign 10 players to reserve/future contracts". Giants.com. January 8, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  26. ^ Eisen, Michael (August 28, 2024). "Giants announce initial 53-man roster for 2024". Giants.com.