BIOGRAPHY
Jalen Jelks was born August 3, 1996, in Phoenix, Arizona. He is a defensive end in the NFL.
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 (12 for loss), 10 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and one blocked field goal, while receiving All-state honors.
He finished his high school career with 113 tackles (17 for loss), 15 sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 3 fumble recoveries.
elks 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 (6 in the final three games) and 3 sacks as a freshman.
As a sophomore in a reserve role, he contributed with 31 tackles (4 for loss), 2 sacks and 2 pass breakups in 8 games.
As a junior, he started all 13 games, recording 59 tackles 6.5 sacks (led the team), 15 tackles for loss (led the team) 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 (7.5 for loss) and 3.5 sacks.
Jelks was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the seventh round (241st overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft.
