36 Days to Purdue Football: Jaylan Alexander

Today we feature a player that burst onto the scene as a true freshman and is now entering year four as a long time contributor and starter.

Jaylan Alexander - Sr.

Hoffman Estates, IL (Hoffman Estates HS)

6’1”, 230 pounds

Linebacker

2021 Projection: Starter

Jaylan was part of coach Brohm’s first four year class and made the rare impact at linebacker as a true freshman. He played in 11 games and even starter twice, getting 23 tackles. Those are not bad numbers for a true freshman. He ended up playing a lot in the Music City Bowl against Auburn and made 8 tackles.

In 2019 he saw even more action. He played in all 12 games and started six times, finishing with 41 tackles, six of which were for loss. He even recovered a fumble. That came in his best game, as he had 10 tackles and said fumble recovery at Penn State. He matched that tackle number with 10 against Indiana too.

Last year he basically became a full-time starter for the first time. He started five of the six games and was second on the team with 49 stops. he had two more games with 10 tackles against Iowa and Rutgers. He then had a new career high with 12 against Minnesota.

Going into his final season it is pretty clear that Jaylan has one of the linebacker spots locked down. He should be a tremendous asset, as he already has 113 career tackles.