Jesse Luketa

Jesse Shimbi Luketa (born January 15, 1999) is a Canadian-born professional American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State.

Jesse Luketa
refer to caption
Luketa with the Cardinals in 2022
No. 43 – Arizona Cardinals
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (1999-01-15) January 15, 1999
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:253 lb (115 kg)
Career information
High school:Mercyhurst Preparatory
(Erie, Pennsylvania)
College:Penn State (2018–2021)
NFL Draft:2022 / Round: 7 / Pick: 256
CFL Draft:2022 / Round: 2 / Pick: 20
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of 2022
Total tackles:3
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life and high school career

Luketa was born in Edmonton, Alberta[1] and grew up in the Ottawa's Heron Gate neighborhood.[2] He was raised in a single parent household by his mother, who immigrated to Canada from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.[3] When Luketa was 14 years old, he enrolled at Mercyhurst Preparatory School in Erie, Pennsylvania for his final three years of high school.[4] Luketa was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at Penn State from over 40 scholarship offers.[5]

College career

Luketa played mostly on special teams during his freshman season.[6] He saw more significant playing time as a sophomore, and made 24 tackles with four passes broken up.[7] Luketa was selected as a team captain going into his junior year and finished the season second on the team with 59 tackles along with 2.5 tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and three passes broken up.[8] Luketa played both linebacker and defensive end as a senior, and was named to the third-team All-Big Ten Conference.[9][10] Following the end of the season, he declared that he would be entering the 2022 NFL Draft.[11]

Collegiate statistics
Penn State Nittany Lions
SeasonGPCombSoloAstSckIntFF
2018 5752000
2019 1224159000
2020 9593128000
2021 126134270.510
Total3814882660.510

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 2+7⁄8 in
(1.90 m)		 253 lb
(115 kg)		 32+5⁄8 in
(0.83 m)		 10+3⁄8 in
(0.26 m)		4.89 s1.69 s2.82 s4.27 s7.29 s37.5 in
(0.95 m)		10 ft 0 in
(3.05 m)		17 reps
Sources:[12][13]

Luketa was drafted in the final round (256th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.[14] He was ranked as the #2 Canadian prospect ahead of the 2022 CFL Draft, where he was drafted in the second round (20th overall) by the Ottawa Redblacks as a territorial draft pick.[15] He was waived on August 30, 2022, and signed to the practice squad the next day.[16][17] He was promoted to the active roster on September 27.[18]

Following Week 16 of the 2022 NFL season, Luketa underwent dental surgery; upon learning about teammate J. J. Watt's retirement announcement, Luketa attempted to contact Watt (who was unaware that it was Luketa contacting him). Luketa, with cottonballs and slurred speech after surgery, sent a photo and voice memo to Watt requesting a signed jersey at the end of the season, which both later joked about in the press.[19][20]

References
  1. Kryk, John (April 28, 2022). "NFL draft prospect Jesse Luketa: 'Edmonton made me, Ottawa raised me'". Toronto Sun. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  2. Baines, Tim (November 15, 2017). "From Ottawa to Penn State: Jesse Luketa has heart of a Lion". Ottawa Sun. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  3. Naylor, Dave (February 2, 2022). "Luketa closing in on NFL dream". TSN.ca. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  4. Carlucci, Mario (April 29, 2017). "Fully committed: U.S. colleges rush to woo Ottawa football phenom Jesse Luketa". CBC.ca. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  5. Bauer, Nate (December 20, 2017). "Signed: LB Jesse Luketa". Rivals.com. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  6. Juliano, Joe (June 28, 2019). "After leaving home in Canada for the love of football, Jesse Luketa ready to compete for playing time at Penn State". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  7. Wilborn, Nubyjas (June 30, 2020). "Penn State's Jesse Luketa trained with NHL stars during pandemic". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  8. Gallen, Daniel (September 11, 2021). "Jesse Luketa's move to defensive end pays off in Penn State win". The Patriot-News. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  9. Lambert, Zech (September 12, 2021). "Penn State's Jesse Luketa shows his versatility and talent". Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  10. "Former Erie high school football stars Scruggs, Luketa, Lucas claim college honors". Erie Times-News. December 14, 2021. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  11. Scarcella, Rich (January 1, 2022). "Penn State's Jesse Luketa declares for NFL draft after Outback Bowl loss". Reading Eagle. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  12. "Jesse Luketa Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  13. "2022 Draft Scout Jesse Luketa, Penn State NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  14. "2022 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 10, 2023.
  15. "Metchie leaps to top-spot in final Scouting Bureau of 2022". Canadian Football League. April 19, 2022. Retrieved April 19, 2022.
  16. Urban, Darren (August 30, 2022). "Cardinals Make Final Cutdown To Get To Initial 53-Man Roster". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  17. Urban, Darren (August 31, 2022). "Cardinals Re-Sign 11 To Practice Squad". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  18. Urban, Darren (September 27, 2022). "Cardinals Sign Jesse Luketa From Practice Squad, Cut Deionte Thompson". AZCardinals.com. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  19. Meirov, Ari (December 30, 2022). "JJ Watt got a text and voice memo from rookie Jesse Luketa after he announced his retirement this week". Twitter.com. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
  20. Arizona Cardinals (December 29, 2022). "We've obtained the voice memo @JJWatt @OttawasVeryOwn 😂😂". Twitter.com.
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