Jay Higgins (born February 14, 2002) is an American football linebacker for the Iowa Hawkeyes.
 Higgins with Iowa in 2023 | |
| Iowa Hawkeyes – No. 34 | |
|---|---|
| Position | Linebacker |
| Class | Senior |
| Personal information | |
| Born: | February 14, 2002 |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) |
| Weight | 224 lb (102 kg) |
| Career history | |
| College | Iowa (2020–present) |
| High school | Brebeuf Jesuit Prep (Indianapolis) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Early life
editHiggins was born on February 14, 2002, and attended Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School. Higgins committed to play college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes.[1][2]
College career
editAs a freshman in 2020 Higgins notched just two tackles.[3] In 2021, he totaled five tackles and a fumble recovery.[4] In week 9 of the 2022 season, Higgins recorded a career-high 11 tackles versus Northwestern.[5] He finished the season with 39 tackles with one and half going for a loss, and half a sack.[6] Higgins tallied 16 tackles in the 2023 season opener against Utah State.[7] In week 4, he notched a career-high 18 tackles versus Penn State.[8] Higgins was a semifinalist for the 2023 Butkus Award and a first-team all-Big Ten Conference selection by both the coaches and the media.[9][10] In 2024, Higgins was again named first team all-Big Ten and won the Big Ten Linebacker of the Year.[11]
College statistics
editIowa Hawkeyes
| |||||||||
| Season | Tackles | Sacks | Fumbles | INT | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Ast | Total | TFL | Total | FF | FR | INT | PD | |
| 2020 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 20 | 19 | 39 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 79 | 92 | 171 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 2024 | 49 | 69 | 118 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Totals | 153 | 182 | 335 | 9.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 0+1⁄8 in (1.83 m) |
224 lb (102 kg) |
31 in (0.79 m) |
9+1⁄2 in (0.24 m) |
4.82 s | 1.64 s | 4.35 s | 7.01 s | 33.0 in (0.84 m) |
9 ft 2 in (2.79 m) | |||
| All values from NFL Combine[12][13][14] | ||||||||||||
References
edit- ^ Tachman, Tyler. "Jay Higgins is forging his own Iowa football legacy in Hawkeyes' improbable season". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Dochterman, Scott. "'It doesn't get better than this': Why tackling machine Jay Higgins chose Iowa". The Athletic. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Votzmeyer, Colin. "Iowa football middle linebacker Jay Higgins is ready to shine and continue the Hawkeye standard". The Daily Iowan. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ "Jay Higgins 2021 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Thomas, Nathan. "College Football: Linebackers Jackson and Higgins ready to continue Iowa's defensive standard". Globe Gazette. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ "Jay Higgins 2022 Game Logs". Sports Reference. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Steppe, John. "Jay Higgins continues Iowa football's trend of stellar middle linebackers". The Gazette. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Reister, Scott. "Iowa LB Jay Higgins leading the Hawkeye defense". KCCI. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ "Jay Higgins Butkus Semifinalist". Iowa Hawkeyes on SI. SI.com. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Tachman, Tyler. "Iowa football's Cooper DeJean, Tory Taylor among Hawkeyes to earn All-Big Ten honors". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ Binder, Ross. "Jay Higgins Named Big Ten Linebacker of the Year, First Team All-Big Ten". Hawkeye Beacon. Retrieved December 27, 2024.
- ^ "Jay Higgins Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "2025 NFL Combine Measurements by School: Heights, Weights, Hand Sizes, and More". CollegeFootballNetwork.com. Retrieved February 27, 2025.
- ^ "Jay Higgins College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved February 27, 2025.