UFL Defensive Player of the Year Heading to Jacksonville Jaguars
One of spring football's fiercest pass rushers is making his triumphant return to the NFL.
Michigan Panthers pass rusher Breeland Speaks signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Thursday.
The 2024 season showcased Speaks' ability to get to the quarterback. He led the league in sacks with 9.5 and tackles for loss with 13. Speaks also racked up 32 tackles, two pass breakups and one forced fumble in 10 games. He secured the league's Defensive Player of the Year award in the process.
The @Jaguars have signed former UFL DPOY & @USFLPanthers DE @Bspeaks9 🔥🙌 pic.twitter.com/Ku7EQfj6pc
— United Football League (@TheUFL) August 8, 2024
Speaks first showed how good he was in spring football in 2023 with the Panthers, when the team was in the USFL. He finished with similar results, with 53 tackles and nine sacks in 10 games. At the end of the season, the USFL named him to its All-USFL team.
His NFL career began in 2018 when the Kansas City Chiefs selected him in the second round of the NFL Draft out of Ole Miss. Speaks only played in his rookie season in the NFL, during which he had 24 tackles, eight quarterback hits, three tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble in 16 games. The Chiefs cut him after the preseason in 2019, and he returned to an NFL field with the San Francisco 49ers after the USFL season in 2023. He made four tackles in three preseason games for the 49ers, but was cut at the end of training camp.
The challenging part for Speaks will be coming into training camp late and with little time to prepare to play as the Jaguars take on his old team, the Chiefs, on Saturday. This gives Speaks less than three weeks to show the Jacksonville coaching staff he deserves to be in the NFL again.
On Thursday, the UFL announced that 50 players from the league have signed NFL contracts. This total exceeds what the USFL did last year when 42 players signed. Michigan has nine players in the NFL, and the Panthers are behind the Birmingham Stallions, who have 11.
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ANTHONY MILLER