| No. 71 – Arizona Cardinals | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Center | ||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||
| Personal information | |||||
| Born | (1999-05-24)May 24, 1999 (age 26) Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, U.S. | ||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||
| Weight | 315 lb (143 kg) | ||||
| Career information | |||||
| High school | Marquette University High (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) | ||||
| College | UCLA (2018–2022) | ||||
| NFL draft | 2023: 4th round, 122nd overall pick | ||||
| Career history | |||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||
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Jon Gaines II (born May 24, 1999) is an American professionalAmerican footballcenter for theArizona Cardinals of theNational Football League (NFL). He playedcollege football for theUCLA Bruins.
Gaines was born inWauwatosa, Wisconsin.[1] He attendedMarquette University High School, and participated infootball andtrack and field.[2] Playingtackle in football, he team captain, a Wisconsin Football Coaches Association All-State honorable mention in 2017 and was ranked the tenth-best player in the state as a three-star recruit.[3][4] The 128th-best ranked tackle nationally,[5] Gaines chose to commit toUCLA over offers fromNorthern Illinois,California,Iowa andPurdue.[4]
As a truefreshman at UCLA in 2018, Gaines appeared in one match, the season finale againstStanford.[2] He began seeing regular action as aredshirt freshman in 2019, appearing in every game with a single start.[6][7] He helped block for 1,000-yard rusherJoshua Kelley that season and contributed to the team's streak of five consecutive 200-yard rushing games, the first time they had accomplished this in over 40 years.[2] During theCOVID-19-shortened 2020 season, Gaines started four out of seven games.[7]
Gaines became a full-time starter in 2021, and started games at each of the threeline positions (tackle,guard,center).[2][6] He played a major role inZach Charbonnet's 1000-yard season that year, as well as the school's leading of thePac-12 Conference in rushing yards-per-game.[6] As asenior in 2022, he was key in Charbonnet's second 1000-yard season and helped UCLA lead the conference in yards-per-carry.[6] A starter in every game, Gaines also appeared on all 932 snaps at right guard, and was a member of a line that was a semifinalist for theJoe Moore Award.[8] He was an honorable mention all-conference choice and announced after the year that he was foregoing his final year of eligibility to enter theNFL draft and play in theNFLPA Collegiate Bowl.[9] He finished his stint at UCLA having appeared on 2,382 snaps, and only allowed five totalsacks and 52 pressures.[8]
Gaines was invited to theNFL Scouting Combine and posted the best short shuttle among its participants.[8] He was projected as being selected between the third and fifth rounds of the2023 NFL draft.[3][5][10][11]
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 303 lb (137 kg) | 33+5⁄8 in (0.85 m) | 10+1⁄8 in (0.26 m) | 5.01 s | 1.73 s | 2.80 s | 4.45 s | 7.31 s | 32.5 in (0.83 m) | 9 ft 6 in (2.90 m) | 19 reps | |
| Sources:[12][13] | ||||||||||||
Gaines was drafted by theArizona Cardinals in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the2023 NFL draft.[14] He was placed oninjured reserve on August 29, 2023, ending his season.[15]