No. 95 – Washington Commanders | |
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Position: | Defensive tackle |
Personal information | |
Born: | St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. | August 31, 2002
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
Weight: | 295 lb (134 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Clearwater Central Catholic (Clearwater, Florida) |
College: | Illinois (2020–2023) |
NFL draft: | 2024 / Round: 2 / Pick: 36 |
Career history | |
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Roster status: | Unsigned draft pick |
Career highlights and awards | |
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Player stats at PFR |
Jer'Zhan "Johnny" Newton (jer-ZAHN; born August 31, 2002) is an American football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini, earning consensus All-American honors in 2023. Newton was selected by the Commanders in the second round of the 2024 NFL draft.
Newton was born on August 31, 2002, in St. Petersburg, Florida. [1] He attended Clearwater Central Catholic High School in Clearwater, Florida. During his career, he had 244 tackles and 24 sacks. He originally committed to play college football for the Maryland Terrapins before switching to the Illinois Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois. [2] [3]
As a true freshman for the Illinois Fighting Illini in 2020, Newton played in all eight games with two starts and had 23 tackles and 1.5 sacks. [4] In 2021, he started 11 of 12 games, recording 50 tackles and 3.5 sacks. [5] Newton returned to Illinois in 2022. [6] [7] Newton declared for the 2024 NFL draft following the 2023 season, where he was named a consensus All-American and the Big 10's Nagurski–Woodson Defensive Player of the Year. [8] [9] He finished his career with 18 sacks, tying Moe Gardner for the most for an Illinois defensive tackle. [10]
Season | GP | Tackles | Fumbles | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | FR | FF | TD | ||
2020 | 7 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 1.5 | 1.5 | – | 1 | – |
2021 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 50 | 3.5 | 3.5 | – | – | – |
2022 | 13 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 14 | 5.5 | 2 | – | – |
2023 | 12 | 26 | 26 | 52 | 8.5 | 7.5 | 1 | 1 | – |
Career | 44 | 80 | 107 | 187 | 27.5 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
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6 ft 1+5⁄8 in (1.87 m) | 304 lb (138 kg) | 32+3⁄8 in (0.82 m) | 9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) | |||||||||
All values from NFL Combine [11] [12] |
Newton was drafted by the Washington Commanders in the second round (36th overall) of the 2024 NFL draft. [13] In May 2024, Newton underwent surgery to fix a Jones fracture in his left foot. [14]
Newton has four brothers; Jerjuan played for the Toledo Rockets and ranks in the top ten of the school's career touchdown receptions list. [10]
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