Kwon Alexander
 Alexander in 2015 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 58 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | August 3, 1994 Oxford, Alabama | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 227 lb (103 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| College: | LSU | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2015 / round: 4 / pick: 124 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 12, 2016 | |||||||||||||||
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Kwon Alexander (born August 3, 1994) is an American football linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Louisiana State University.
Early years
Alexander attended Oxford High School in Oxford, Alabama. An impact player on the defensive side of the ball, Alexander missed most of his 2011 senior campaign with a knee injury after posting 144 tackles, 17 sacks, six forced fumbles (three recoveries) as a junior in 2010. He participated in the Under Armour All-American Game as a member of the black team. He was chosen as a finalist for the High School Butkus Award, given annually to the nation’s top linebacker. He was also named to the 2011 ESPN All-Alabama Football Team and was a Class 6A All-State Football Team Honorable Mention.[1]
Alexander was also a state qualifier in track & field at Oxford. At the 2011 AHSAA 6A Section 4, he posted personal-best times of 11.24 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 22.99 seconds in the 200-meter dash, placing 9th and 7th, respectively.[2]
Regarded as a four-star prospect according to ESPN.com, Rivals.com, and Scout.com, Alexander was ranked No. 19 in the 2012 Scout.com Final Southeast Top 150. He was ranked No. 45 in the Press-Register Super Southeast 120 and No. 29 in the 2012 ESPNU 150. He was listed in the MaxPreps 2012 Top 100. He was rated as Alabama’s No. 3 prospect by ESPN.com, No. 11 by Rivals.com, and No. 6 by 247Sports.com. Nationally, ESPN.com and Scout.com rated him as the No. 3 linebacker, 247sports.com rated him as the nation’s No. 9 linebacker, while Rivals.com rated him at No. 20.[3] He committed to Louisiana State University (LSU) to play college football.[4]
College career
Alexander attended LSU from 2012 to 2014. As a true freshman, he played in seven games with two starts and had 12 tackles. As a sophomore, he started nine of 13 games. He finished the season with 65 tackles.[5] As a junior, Alexander led the team with 92 tackles and had 1.5 sacks.[6] After his junior season Alexander entered the 2015 NFL Draft.[7]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
227 lb (103 kg) |
4.55 s | 1.58 s | 2.68 s | 4.20 s | 7.14 s | 36 in (0.91 m) |
10 ft 1 in (3.07 m) |
24 reps | |||
| All values from NFL Combine and Pro Day[8] | ||||||||||||
Alexander was drafted in the 4th round of the 2015 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2015
On August 17, 2015, it was announced that Alexander would be a starter, after receiving much praise from Head Coach Lovie Smith.[9] Alexander would make his first start September 13, 2015, against the Tennessee Titans, Week 1, recording a combination of 5 tackles; three total and two assisted, as well as one pass defenced.
During Week 8 on November 1, 2015, Alexander played the best game of his young career against the Atlanta Falcons in memory of his late younger brother Broderick Taylor, who had died 48 hours before the game. Alexander's 11 total tackles, interception, forced fumble, and fumble recovery were vital to Tampa Bay defeating Atlanta in overtime which earned him the title of NFC Defensive Player of the Week.
On December 7, 2015, Alexander was given a four-game ban for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing substances.[10]
References
- ^ "Kwon Alexander Bio". LSUsports.net.
- ^ "AHSAA 6A – Section 4". AlabamaRunners.
- ^ "Kwon Alexander". yahoo.com.
- ^ "Top 100 LB Kwon Alexander picks LSU - CBSSports.com". CBSSports.com.
- ^ "Speed and experience make LSU veteran LBs Kwon Alexander, Jesuit grad Deion Jones key parts of a revitalized defense". NOLA.com.
- ^ "LSU's leading tackler Kwon Alexander to enter the 2015 NFL draft". NOLA.com.
- ^ "LSU linebacker, Oxford native Kwon Alexander skipping senior season for NFL draft". AL.com.
- ^ "*Kwon Alexander – LSU, OLB : 2015 NFL Draft Scout External News". nfldraftscout.com.
- ^ "Rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander works with Bucs starters". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ^ "Kwon Alexander will miss Buccaneers' final four games with suspension". Bucs Nation. Retrieved December 8, 2015.