Kwon Alexander

Kwon Alexander
refer to caption
Alexander with the Buccaneers in 2015
No. 58 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Position: Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1994-08-03) August 3, 1994
Oxford, Alabama
Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight: 227 lb (103 kg)
Career information
High school: Oxford (Oxford, Alabama)
College: LSU
NFL Draft: 2015 / Round: 4 / Pick: 124
Career history
Roster status: Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2018
Total tackles: 351
Sacks: 7.0
Forced fumbles: 6
Fumble recoveries: 2
Interceptions: 6
Defensive touchdowns: 1
Player stats at NFL.com

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, and six forced fumbles (three recoveries) as a junior in 2010. Oxford finished the season 12–2, advancing the AHSAA Class 6A state semi-finals where they lost 32–22 to Marlon Humphrey's Hoover. Alexander 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

On December 31, 2014, Alexander announced on his Twitter account his decision to forgo his senior season and enter the 2015 NFL Draft.[8] Alexander was one of 33 collegiate linebackers to attend the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana. Alexander completed all of the necessary drills, finishing second among all linebackers in the 40-yard dash, sixth in the bench press and short shuttle, and ninth in the three-cone drill.[9]

External video
Kwon Alexander's NFL Combine workout

On March 27, 2015, Alexander attended LSU's pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills for team representatives and scouts from all 32 NFL teams, including Steelers' head coach Mike Tomlin and general managers from the Minnesota Vikings, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, New York Jets, and Pittsburgh Steelers.[10] During the draft process, he attended only one private visit with the San Francisco 49ers.[11] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Alexander was projected to be a third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the second best outside linebacker prospect in the draft by NFL analyst Charles Davis and was ranked sixth best outside linebacker in the draft by NFLDraftScouts.com, and was ranked the seventh best linebacker by Matt Miller of NFLDraftScout.com.[12][13][14]

Pre-draft measurables
Ht Wt Arm length Hand size 40-yard dash 10-yd split 20-yd split 20-ss 3-cone Vert jump Broad BP
6 ft 1 in
(1.85 m)		 227 lb
(103 kg)		 30 1⁄4 in
(0.77 m)		 9 1⁄4 in
(0.23 m)		 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[15]

2015

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Alexander in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2015 NFL Draft. The Buccaneers traded their fourth (128th overall) and seventh round (218th overall) picks to the Oakland Raiders in order to move up four spots and select Alexander. He was the 11th linebacker drafted in 2015.[16]

External video
Buccaneers select Kwon Alexander

On May 12, 2015, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Alexander to a four-year, $2.75 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $478,322.[17]

Alexander entered training camp competing for the job as the starting strongside linebacker against Danny Lansanah. After performing well, he was moved to middle linebacker to compete for the starting role against veteran Bruce Carter.[18][19] Head coach Lovie Smith named Alexander the starting middle linebacker alongside outside linebackers Lavonte David and David Lansanah.[20]

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener against the Tennessee Titans and recorded five combined tackles and a pass deflection during their 42–14 loss. On September 27, 2015, Alexander recorded ten combined tackles, two pass deflections, and made his first career interception off of a pass attempt by Ryan Mallett in the Buccaneers' 19–9 loss at the Houston Texans. On October 11, 2015, he made five combined tackles, two pass deflections, and made his first career sack on Blake Bortles as the Buccaneers defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 38–31. Prior to Week 8, Alexander's younger brother, Broderick Taylor, had been murdered just two days prior.[21] He started the following game and recorded 11 combined tackles, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and interception during 23–20 victory at the Atlanta Falcons.[22] His efforts 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 and missed the last four games of the season (Weeks 14-17).[23] Alexander finished his rookie season in 2015 with 93 combined tackles (59 solo), nine pass deflections, three sacks, and two interceptions in 12 games and 12 starts.[24] Alexander finished his rookie season with a overall grade of 31.6 from Pro Football Focus.[25]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished fourth in the NFC South with a 6-10 record and head coach Lovie Smith was fired at the end of the season.[26]

2016

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter was promoted to head coach and hired former Atlanta Falcons head coach Mike Smith as defensive coordinator.[27] Smith retained Alexander as starting middle linebacker to begin the regular season.

He started the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener at the Atlanta Falcons and recorded 17 combined tackles and a sack in their 31–24 victory. On September 25, 2016, Alexander made seven combined tackles and returned an interception off of Case Keenum 38-yards for his first career touchdown during a 37–32 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. In Week 8, he recorded a season-high 14 solo tackles and broke up one pass in the Buccaneers' 30–24 loss to the Oakland Raiders. On December 18, 2016, Alexander recorded a career-high 21 combined tackles (11 solo) in a 26–20 loss at the Dallas Cowboys. He finished his second season ranking in fourth in the league in tackles with 145 combined (108 solo). He also had seven pass deflections, three sacks, and interception in 16 games and 16 starts.[24] Alexander earned an overall grade of 77.3 from Pro Football Focus and was their most improved second-year linebackers.[28]

2017

Alexander started the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener against the Chicago Bears and recorded one solo tackle, a pass deflection, and intercepted former teammate Mike Glennon during a 29–7 victory.[29] He left the game after sustaining a hamstring injury that sidelined him for the next four games (Weeks 3-6).[30] In Week 15, Alexander recorded a season-high 13 solo tackles as the Buccaneers lost to the Atlanta Falcons 24–21.[31] He finished the 2017 season with 97 combined tackles (70 solo), four pass deflections, and a career-high three interceptions in 12 games and 12 starts. On January 16, 2018, Alexander was named to his first Pro Bowl replacing injured Seahawks middle linebacker Bobby Wagner.[32] Pro Football Focus gave Alexander an overall grade of 68.0, ranking him 48th among all qualifying linebackers in 2017.[33]

References

  1. ↑ "Kwon Alexander Bio". LSUsports.net.
  2. ↑ "AHSAA 6A – Section 4". AlabamaRunners.
  3. ↑ "Kwon Alexander". yahoo.com.
  4. ↑ "Top 100 LB Kwon Alexander picks LSU - CBSSports.com". CBSSports.com.
  5. ↑ "Speed and experience make LSU veteran LBs Kwon Alexander, Jesuit grad Deion Jones key parts of a revitalized defense". NOLA.com.
  6. ↑ "LSU's leading tackler Kwon Alexander to enter the 2015 NFL draft". NOLA.com.
  7. ↑ "LSU linebacker, Oxford native Kwon Alexander skipping senior season for NFL draft". AL.com.
  8. ↑ si wire (January 1, 2015). "LSU's Kwon Alexander, Jalen Collins declare for NFL Draft". si.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  9. ↑ Brady, James (February 22, 2015). "NFL Combine 2015: Full results for linebackers". sbnation.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  10. ↑ Gil Brandt (March 28, 2015). "LSU's Danielle Hunter wows scouts with dazzling pro-day display". NFL.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  11. ↑ Brady, James (April 27, 2015). "2015 NFL Draft visit tracker: Which teams are the prospects meeting with?". sbnation.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  12. ↑ "*Kwon Alexander, DS #6 OLB, LSU". nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  13. ↑ Davis, Charles (April 1, 2015). "2015 NFL Draft prospect rankings by position". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  14. ↑ Miller, Matt (April 29, 2015). "NFL Draft Big Board 2015: Matt Miller's Final Rankings". bleacherreport.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  15. ↑ "*Kwon Alexander – LSU, OLB : 2015 NFL Draft Scout External News". nfldraftscout.com.
  16. ↑ Sharp, Katie (May 2, 2015). "NFL Draft results 2015: Kwon Alexander taken by Buccaneers after trade". sbnation.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  17. ↑ "Spotrac.com: Kwon Alexander contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Rookie linebacker Kwon Alexander works with Bucs starters". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2015-12-16.
  19. ↑ Yasinskas, Pat (August 14, 2015). "Rookie Kwon Alexander making push to start at MLB". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  20. ↑ "Ourlads.com: Tampa Bay Buccaneers' depth chart: 10/01/2015". Ourlads.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  21. ↑ "Family, friends mourn loss of Oxford High School student". wvtm13.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  22. ↑ "NFL Player stats: Kwon Alexander (2015)". NFL.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  23. ↑ "Kwon Alexander will miss Buccaneers' final four games with suspension". Bucs Nation. Retrieved 2015-12-08.
  24. 1 2 "NFL Player stats: Kwon Alexander (career)". NFL.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  25. ↑ Monsoon, Sam (June 13, 2016). "Kwon Alexander wasn't as good as you think". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved May 6, 2018.
  26. ↑ "Buccaneers fire coach Lovie Smith". ESPN.com. January 7, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  27. ↑ Jones, Jonathan (December 16, 2016). "How Mike Smith found new NFL life in Tampa Bay at the helm of Bucs' surging defense". si.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  28. ↑ Mott, Bonnie (February 19, 2017). "Kwon Alexander is Pro Football Focus' most improved second-year LB". bucswire.usatoday.com. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Chicago Bears at Tampa Bay Buccaneers - September 17th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 31 October 2017.
  30. ↑ Auman, Greg (October 4, 2017). "Bucs' Kwon Alexander to miss third straight game with injury". tampabay.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  31. ↑ "NFL Player stats: Kwon Alexander (2017)". NFL.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Kwon Alexander headed to Pro Bowl, replacing Bobby Wagner". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 16 January 2018.
  33. ↑ "Pro Football Focus: Kwon Alexander". profootballfocus.com. Retrieved May 7, 2018.
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