Former Texas football LB Malik Jefferson released by Colts

One of the more recent early-round NFL Draft picks among former Texas football players is linebacker Malik Jefferson. The former third-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals (78th overall) in the 2018 NFL Draft Jefferson had a hard time finding a solidified landing spot with any team in the pros in the first few years of his career.

And that struggle continued for Jefferson this week. On May 10, it was announced by the Indianapolis Colts that they would be waiving Jefferson along with offensive tackle Shon Coleman in favor of signing fellow offensive tackle Dennis Kelly.

This is the third time that the Colts have released and/or waived Jefferson since last fall. If the Colts keep repeating this pattern, Jefferson could still wind up on this roster (or at least on the practice squad) by the start of Training Camp.

But the fact of the matter is that Jefferson continues to have a challenging time finding traction with any one team in the NFL.

Colts part ways with former Texas football All-American LB Malik Jefferson

Jefferson is now up to a half-dozen teams that have at least signed him at one point in time since the start of his NFL career a few years back. The most recent of those stints where Jefferson got any actual live game reps came with the Colts last season.

In just a single game played with the Colts last season, Jefferson got nine special teams snaps under his belt. That was his lowest snap total in any one season between defense and special teams since the start of his career.

That is obviously not a good sign in terms of the direction his career is trending at the moment.

Last season was also the first where Jefferson wasn’t even able to get a single assisted tackle under his belt on defense. Heading into last season, Jefferson had registered 16 career combined tackles, no tackles for loss, no sacks, and one quarterback pressure.

He really has yet to make much of an impact with any NFL team in his four-year-long career.

This year feels like it could be the final shot for Jefferson to prove he belongs in the NFL. And that is if most NFL front offices don’t already feel like Jefferson used up his last chance with the Colts in 2021.

Jefferson had a very successful college career where he was an All-American and one of the most accomplished Texas linebackers in the last couple of decades. The former Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and Second-Team 2017 All-American has yet to be able to translate his skill set to the NFL.