Jalen Jelks
Jalen Jelks is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League. He played college football for the Oregon Ducks.
Early life
Jelks attended Desert Vista High School. He played football in only 3 years. As a senior, he was a two-way starter at defensive line and left tackle. He registered 72 tackles, 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and one blocked field goal, while receiving All-state honors.He finished his high school career with 113 tackles, 15 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries. A 3-star recruit, Jelks committed to play football at Oregon over offers from Arizona State, California, Nebraska, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wisconsin, among others.
College career
Jelks accepted a football scholarship from the University of Oregon. After redshirting for a year, he appeared in 11 games as a backup defensive end, collecting 9 tackles and 3 sacks as a freshman. As a sophomore in a reserve role, he contributed with 31 tackles, 2 sacks and 2 pass breakups in 8 games.As a junior, he started all 13 games, recording 59 tackles 6.5 sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 7 pass breakups. He had 9 tackles in the 2017 Las Vegas Bowl. He was put on the watchlist for the Chuck Bednarik Award during the season. He was named to the [List of List of All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12 Conference football teams|All-Pac-12 Conference] second-team, Pro Football Focus first-team All-Pac-12 and the Phil Steele second-team All-Pac-12 Conference.
Despite speculation that he could declare for the 2018 NFL draft, Jelks announced that he would return to Oregon. As a senior in 12 starts, he registered 57 tackles and 3.5 sacks.