Justin Jefferson came out of Bartlett High School in Memphis, Tennessee, as an unranked, unrecruited linebacker, and ended up committing to play at Pearl River Community College in 2022. In his lone season at Pearl River, where he amassed 86 tackles and 19 TFL, he was listed as a 4 Star and the #1 LB and #2 JUCO recruit, according to 247 Sports. Following his season of domination, he received countless offers from Power 4 schools, including Florida, Texas A&M, Colorado, Oregon, and LSU, but ultimately committed to Alabama. He spent three seasons with the Crimson Tide while starting in 2024 and 2025. Across these three years, the 6’1”, 227 lb. linebacker had 144 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 1 interception. He also earned a spot on the 2025 Butkus Award Watch List.
Jefferson excels in zone coverage, uses his athleticism and hands to tighten passing windows, and is solid at placing his hands to deflect balls thrown in his zone. He also has solid speed and acceleration to stay close and tight on tight ends in man coverage, though once the QB starts scrambling, he has a habit of rushing the QB too early, leaving his man open downfield. When blitzing, he continues to use his speed to blow past the offensive line, where he has good closing speed on the quarterback, allowing him to get QB pressures as a free rusher. While he uses his athleticism well when blitzing, he does not show many, if any, pass-rush moves. This causes him to struggle to get any pressure unless he is untouched. He is very physical in the run game and will take on blocks with his hands, then extend on the blocker, but often struggles to get off the block due to his lack of size and strength. When tackling, he has a good ability to quickly and securely wrap the ball carrier, leading to very few missed tackles, but he will often give up extra yards to bigger ball carriers.
Overall, Jefferson is a quick, athletic, undersized linebacker who needs to improve both physically and mentally across many areas to be a reliable NFL linebacker. All the potential is there for him; it just depends on whether he wants to improve. He will be more of a project linebacker with very high upside and also a low downside.
Scheme Fit and Team Fit
The Cleveland Browns would be a good fit for Jefferson, as they have shown success in the past with undersized, athletic linebackers like Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. They also run a unique “attack-style” scheme that has a lot of linebacker stunts and blitzes that Jefferson could use to his advantage, as well as some very productive defensive veterans already on the team that could take him under his wing, like Myles Garrett, Carson Schwesinger, and Denzel Ward.
NFL Player Comp: Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah
Jefferson and JOK are both undersized linebackers who can maximize their games with their quickness and athleticism.
Projection: Backup/Role Player
Jefferson projects to be a backup/role player in the league.
Grade and Round Projection: 3.82, 6th round
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