Jalen Jelks


Jalen Jelks is an American football outside linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He played college football at the University of Oregon.

Early years

Jelks attended Desert Vista High School. He played football in only 3 years. As a senior, he was a two-way starter at defensive 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.

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 All-Pac-12 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.

Professional career

Jelks was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round of the 2019 NFL Draft. He was placed on injured reserve on August 30.