Jalen Reeves-Maybin

BIOGRAPHY

Jalen Reeves-Maybin was born on January 31st, 1995 in Clarksville, Tennesse. He is a linebacker in the National Football League.

Reeves-Maybin is the cousin of current New York Yankees outfielder Cameron Maybin. Additionally, he is the son of former Louisville Cardinals standout basketball player Marques Maybin. Marques was a shooting guard at the University of Louisville from 1998-2002.

He attended Northeast High School in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was a two-way player excelling on both offense and defense. He was a 2X offensive player of the year as a sophomore and a junior. Jalen gained more than 2,000 rushing yards as a senior, including 1,000 yards in three postseason games with more than 300 yards in each game. On defense, he recorded 103 tackles, ten forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and one sack as a junior earning him All-State on defense in 2012 by the Tennessee Sports Writers, and First Team All-State linebacker as a junior. He received more than ten offers and signed with the University of Tennessee on 08/10/2012.

On special teams as a true freshman,  he recorded a team-best 11 special teams tackles. He started in all 13 games at linebacker as a sophomore and finished ninth in the SEC in tackles per game. As a junior, he started in all 13 games for a second consecutive year at linebacker and posted career-highs with 105 total tackles (66 solo), six sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries while adding four defended passes. That year he posted a career-high 21 tackles against Oklahoma, the most tackles by a player in NCAA FBS in 2015. In total, he logged 240 total tackles (149 solo), 27 tackles for loss, eight sacks, four fumble recoveries, four pass defenses, and two forced fumbles in 41 career games for the Volunteers.

Jalen Reeves-Maybin was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the fourth round with the 124thoverall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. On May 12, 2017, the Detroit Lions signed Reeves-Maybin to a four-year, $3.01 million contract with a signing bonus of $618,887. Throughout training camp, he competed against Thurston Armbrister, Steve Longa, and Antwione Williams for a role as the backup outside linebacker. Head coach Jim Caldwell named Reeves-Maybin the backup weakside linebacker behind Tahir Whitehead to start the regular season in 2017. He made his professional regular-season debut in the Detroit Lions' season-opening 35–23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals. On December 10, 2017, he made a season-high six combined tackles, deflected a pass, and made assisted on his first career sack in the Lions' 24-21 victory at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He made his first career sack with teammate D. J. Hayden, as they both tackled quarterback Jameis Winston for a nine-yard loss. He finished his rookie season with 30 combined tackles (25 solo), two pass deflections, and was credited with a half a sack in 14 games.

On March 23, 2022, Reeves-Maybin signed a two-year contract with the Houston Texans. Reeves-Maybin joined the Detroit Lions in 2023.