Kayvon Thibodeaux

Kayvon Thibodeaux (/ˈtɪbədoʊ/ TIB-ə-doh;[1] born December 15, 2000) is an American football linebacker for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Los Angeles, he was named USA Today's High School Football Defensive Player of the Year in 2018.

Kayvon Thibodeaux
refer to caption
Thibodeaux in 2022
No. 5 – New York Giants
Position:Linebacker
Personal information
Born: (2000-12-15) December 15, 2000
South Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Weight:258 lb (117 kg)
Career information
High school:Oaks Christian
(Westlake Village, California)
College:Oregon (2019–2021)
NFL Draft:2022 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 4, 2023
Total tackles:58
Sacks:7.0
Forced fumbles:2
Fumble recoveries:2
Pass deflections:6
Defensive touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Thibodeaux played college football at Oregon, where he was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019, won the Morris Trophy in 2020, and was voted a unanimous All-American in 2021. He was drafted by the Giants fifth overall in the 2022 NFL Draft.

High school career

Thibodeaux was born in South Los Angeles, California, on December 15, 2000. He attended and played football at Susan Miller Dorsey High School for two years before transferring to Oaks Christian School in 2017.[2] He was named the High School Football Defensive Player of the Year by the USA Today after recording 18 sacks and 54 tackles during his senior season in 2018.[3]

Thibodeaux recorded 152 total tackles, 54 sacks, and eight forced fumbles during his high school career, and was the second-highest rated overall player in the 2019 recruiting class. He accepted a scholarship to play college football for the Ducks at the University of Oregon over several other offers including USC and Stanford.[4]

College career

Thibodeaux was named the Pac-12 Defensive Freshman of the Year in 2019.[5] As a sophomore, he won the Morris Trophy on defense and was named first-team All-Pac-12 while also winning MVP honors of the 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game.[6][7] Thibodeaux suffered a sprained ankle in the first game of his junior season,[8] and sat out the following two games.[9] He recorded seven sacks in 2021 and was unanimously voted to the 2021 College Football All-America Team.[10] Following the season, Thibodeaux announced that he would forgo his senior year and declared for the 2022 NFL Draft.[11]

College statistics
Season GP Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
SoloAstCmbTfLSckIntYdsAvgTDPDFRYdsTDFF
2019 13241135149.0000.0030001
2020 725174293.0000.0030000
2021 10351449127.0000.0010002
Career30844212635.519.0000.0070003

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 4 in
(1.93 m)		 254 lb
(115 kg)		 33+1⁄8 in
(0.84 m)		 9+3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		4.58 s1.56 s2.64 s4.38 s7.23 s9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)		27 reps
Sources:[12][13]

2022

Thibodeaux was selected fifth overall by the New York Giants in the 2022 NFL Draft.[14] Thibodeax suffered a sprained MCL in Week 2 of the preseason against the Cincinnati Bengals.[15]

Thibodeaux made his NFL debut against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 3, where he had one tackle in the 23-16 loss.[16] In Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens, Thibodeaux had his first career sack, forcing a game-winning fumble by quarterback Lamar Jackson in the fourth quarter during the 24-20 win.[17][18] On December 18, 2022, against the Washington Commanders, Thibodeaux completed a forced fumble and recovery for his first career touchdown. His performance earned him the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 15.[19][20]

In Week 17, Thibodeaux sacked Colts quarterback Nick Foles. Despite Foles writhing on the ground with a rib injury, Thibodeaux could be seen celebrating the sack by pretending to make snow angels. As Foles was being carted off the field, Thibodeaux could be seen mimicking Foles "going to sleep." Despite being neither flagged nor fined, fans, analysts and Colts players widely criticized Thibodeaux's celebration as disrespectful and unsportsmanlike[21]

He started and appeared in 14 games as a rookie. He finished with four sacks, 49 total tackles, five passes defended, and two forced fumbles.[22] He was named to the 2022 PFWA All-Rookie Team.[23]

NFL career statistics

Regular season
Year Team GP Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
CmbSoloAstSckFFFRYdsIntYdsAvgLngTDPD
2022NYG 144933164.0221000.0005
Career144933164.0221000.0005

Personal life

In July 2021, Thibodeaux announced a collaboration with Nike CEO Phil Knight and shoe designer Tinker Hatfield to design non-fungible token (NFT) artwork.[24] He launched his own cryptocurrency, "$JREAM", in September 2021.[25] It was named after the Jream Foundation, which Thibodeaux also founded.[25] Thibodeaux graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in journalism-advertising.[26]

Thibodeaux is an avid chess player, saying he used chess principles to hone his skills as a football player.[27][28][29] He began playing chess at a young age, watching his uncles play the board game. Playing online chess became a passion for him.[30] He was selected as a player for Chess.com's BlitzChamp tournament, a rapid tournament for NFL players. Thibodeaux is also a minority owner of the New York Warriors USA Masters T10 cricket team.[31]

References
  1. Foley, Damian (August 29, 2019). "Why Thibodeaux Picked the UO". uoregon.edu. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  2. "Kayvon Thibodeaux, No. 1 player in 2019, transfers to Oaks Christian (Calif.)". usatodayhss.com. May 6, 2017. Retrieved August 25, 2021 – via USA Today.
  3. "Kayvon Thibodeaux's High School Timeline". MaxPreps.com. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  4. Hodgkinson, Oliver (June 8, 2021). "Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon DE NFL Draft Scouting Report". ProFootballNetwork.com. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  5. "Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux wins Pac-12 Football Defensive Freshman Player of the Year after a dynamic season". Pac-12. December 9, 2019. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  6. Crepea, James (January 11, 2021). "Oregon Ducks DE Kayvon Thibodeaux wins Morris Trophy as Pac-12′s top defensive lineman". OregonLive.com. Retrieved July 12, 2021 – via The Oregonian.
  7. "Oregon holds off USC late, grabs Pac-12 title with 31-24 win". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 18, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  8. Scarborough, Alex (September 4, 2021). "Star defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux leaves Oregon Ducks' season opener after first half". ESPN. Retrieved September 6, 2021.
  9. Neel, Zachary (September 18, 2021). "Oregon Ducks' star Kayvon Thibodeaux will not play vs. Stony Brook". Ducks Wire. USA Today. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  10. "AP All-America team: Young and Tide lead with 3 1st teamers". Associated Press. December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  11. Shook, Nick (December 6, 2021). "Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux declares for 2022 NFL Draft". NFL.com. Retrieved January 6, 2022.
  12. "Kayvon Thibodeaux Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
  13. "2022 Draft Scout Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  14. "Giants draft Oregon EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux with 5th pick". Giants.com. April 28, 2022. Retrieved April 29, 2022.
  15. "Injury Updates: Kayvon Thibodeaux (MCL sprain); LB Darrian Beavers (torn ACL)". Giants.com. August 22, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  16. Eisen, Michael (September 29, 2022). "Kayvon Thibodeaux looks to build off NFL debut". Giants.com. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  17. Raanan, Jordan (October 17, 2022). "Giants' Thibodeaux gets first sack on Lamar Jackson vs. Ravens". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  18. Leonard, Pat (October 16, 2022). "Julian Love, Kayvon Thibodeaux force stunning Giants comeback win over Ravens". New York Daily News. Retrieved October 19, 2022.
  19. "Giants beat Commanders in prime time to end winless streak". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 19, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  20. "2022 NFL Week 15 Leaders & Scores". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  21. "Kayvon Thibodeaux did so many snow angels while an injured Nick Foles writhed in pain". For The Win. January 1, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2023.
  22. "Kayvon Thibodeaux 2022 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  23. "2022 NFL All-Rookie Team". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  24. Kercheval, Ben (July 7, 2021). "Oregon star Kayvon Thibodeaux partners with Nike co-founder, shoe designer for NFT artwork collaboration". CBSSports.com. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  25. Bonagura, Kyle (September 23, 2021). "Oregon Ducks star Kayvon Thibodeaux launches his own cryptocurrency". ESPN.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  26. "CONGRATS, GRADUATES!". Oregon Ducks Athletics. June 18, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  27. "How the game of chess has influenced Kayvon Thibodeaux | College GameDay". YouTube.com. ESPN College Football. October 23, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  28. "How the game of Chess has helped mold Oregon's Kayvon Thibodeaux". RSN. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  29. DiRocco, Michael (March 4, 2022). "Thibodeaux checklist: Copy greats to capture QB". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  30. Emma, Chris (March 4, 2022). "How Kayvon Thibodeaux's love of chess made him a top NFL prospect: 'I'm thinking moves ahead'". Audacy.com. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
  31. "Announcing BlitzChamps With NFL Stars Fitzgerald, Thibodeaux, Parsons, And More!". Chess.com. June 17, 2022. Retrieved July 5, 2022.
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