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Cleveland Browns select Justin Jefferson in 5th round of 2026 NFL Draft

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz04/25/26NickSchultz_7

The Cleveland Browns have selected former Alabama linebacker Justin Jefferson in the fifth round of the 2026 NFL Draft. He spent three years of his college career at Alabama.

Jefferson began his college career at Pearl River Community College. There, he racked up 25 tackles for loss in two seasons before committing to Alabama out of the NCAA transfer portal.

2023 was his first season in Tuscaloosa and ended up appearing in all 14 games as a reserve and on special teams. He finished the season with four tackles.

However, he’d take off in 2024 after logging 60 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. He did so with just three starts in 12 appearances for Kalen DeBoer’s squad. This should have been his fourth and final year of eligibility, but he was granted an extra year due to the NCAA blanket waiver that stemmed from Diego Pavia’s lawsuit.

This worked out in his favor, and Jefferson had the best season of his career. In 15 games — and 15 starts — he racked up 85 tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 2.0 sacks, an interception and five pass breakups.

Before playing at the FBS level, Jefferson was the No. 2 overall JUCO recruit in the country per the Rivals Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the top-rated linebacker as well.

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Justin Jefferson

Now that Jefferson has been drafted, his new fanbase may want to know what to expect out of their newest linebacker. NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein provided in-depth analysis on the former JUCO standout.

“Jefferson is a smallish Will linebacker whose game is centered around his quickness and instincts. He plays with adequate field vision and good speed for long-haul pursuit. He’s athletic with above-average change-of-direction quickness to stay engaged with the play. Jefferson lacks functional size to take on blocks and leverage his gap, so becoming a better block-slipper or run-and-chase option is essential. He can cover, blitz and spy mobile quarterbacks, so a nickel linebacker/special-teams role could be his best fit.”