BIOGRAPHY
Jaleel Johnson was born on July 12th, 1994 in Brooklyn, New York and currently plays defensive tackle in the NFL.
He attended St. Joseph high school, where he earned prep All-America recognition as a senior. He was a three-year starter as an offensive and defensive lineman, he was team captain as a senior and recorded 80 tackles as a senior, including five tackles for loss, three sacks, and nine pressures; he also earned two letters as a heavyweight wrestler.
He played college football at the University of Iowa; as a freshman in 2012, he redshirted. In 2013 he played in seven games, recording one assisted tackle. As a sophomore in 2014, he played in all 13 games of the season and recorded two solo tackles and nine assists, with 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
In 2015 as a junior, he started all 14 games at defensive tackle and recorded 45 tackles, including 5.5 tackles for loss and four QB sacks; he was an honorable mention All-Big Ten by league coaches and media.
As a senior in 2016, he started all 13 games at defensive tackle and recorded 29 solo tackles and 26 assists, with ten tackles for loss (54 yards) and eight sacks (50); he also had one safety, two pass breakups, and five QB pressures. He was named First-team All-Big Ten by Big Ten coaches, Associated Press, and Athlon Sports, a second-team All-Big Ten by Big Ten media and Phil Steele and earned the Team Hustle Award, defense.
The Minnesota Vikings drafted Johnson in the fourth round with the 109th overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft; during the season, he played in 5 games and recorded two tackles.
In 2018 he appeared in all 16 games in his 2nd season, finishing with 20 total tackles, 3 TFL, 0.5 sacks, and 1 FF.
In 2021, he signed a one-year deal with the Houston Texans.
