 Ingram with the San Diego Chargers in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | (1989-04-26)April 26, 1989 (age 35) Hamlet, North Carolina, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Richmond(Rockingham, North Carolina) | ||||||||||||||||
| College: | South Carolina (2007–2011) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2012: 1st round, 18th pick | ||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||
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Melvin Ingram III (born April 26, 1989) is an American professionalfootballlinebacker. He playedcollege football for theSouth Carolina Gamecocks, earningAll-American honors in 2011. He was selected by theSan Diego Chargers in the first round with the 18th overall pick of the2012 NFL draft. He has also played for thePittsburgh Steelers,Kansas City Chiefs andMiami Dolphins.
Ingram was born and raised inHamlet, North Carolina. He attendedRichmond Senior High School inRockingham, North Carolina. As a seniorlinebacker, he recorded 87tackles and 2.5sacks.
Ingram attended theUniversity of South Carolina, where he played for coachSteve Spurrier'sSouth Carolina Gamecocks football team from 2007 to 2011. He playedlinebacker for the Gamecocks before switching todefensive end. As a junior in 2010, he led the team with nine sacks.
In 2011, Ingram registered 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and twointerceptions. He also scored threetouchdowns. Two of his touchdowns came againstGeorgia in a 45–42 victory inAthens, which included a 68-yard run during a fake punt and a 5-yard fumble return.[1][2] Ingram's strong senior campaign helped propel the Gamecocks defense to a final #4 national poll ranking, and he was a first-teamAll-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, and was recognized as a consensusAll-American.[3][4]
| 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 | Wonderlic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m) | 264 lb (120 kg) | 31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) | 9+5⁄8 in (0.24 m) | 4.79 s | 1.62 s | 2.63 s | 4.18 s | 6.83 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) | 9 ft 1 in (2.77 m) | 28 reps | 18 |
| All values fromNFL Combine[5][6] | ||||||||||||
Ingram was selected by theSan Diego Chargers with the 18th overall pick in the first round of the2012 NFL draft.[7] In his rookie campaign, Ingram racked up 18 quarterback pressures, tied for second-most on the squad, along with 12 special teams tackles, which tied for the team lead. He played in all 16 games, with two starts.
On May 14, 2013, Ingram tore hisanterior cruciate ligament during the Chargers' organized team activities and was expected to miss the entire2013 season.[8] On August 26, 2013, he was placed on theReserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.[9] On December 7, 2013, Ingram was activated off the PUP list prior to Week 14. In Week 16, Ingram sackedOakland Raiders quarterbackMatt McGloin while forcing a fumble. In the wild card game against theCincinnati Bengals, Ingram picked off quarterbackAndy Dalton for his first postseason interception. On October 4, 2015, Ingram strip-sackedCleveland Browns quarterbackJosh McCown and recovered the fumble.
On February 27, 2017, the Chargers placed thefranchise tag on Ingram.[10][11] On June 11, 2017, Ingram signed a four-year, $66 million contract with $42 million guaranteed with the Chargers.[12][13] Ingram earned the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September 2017 after recording 5.5 sacks, including a three-sack game against the Chiefs in Week 3.[14] He finished the season with 56 combined tackles and 10.5 sacks. Ingram was selected to his first career Pro Bowl after the 2017 season, replacing teammateJoey Bosa. He was ranked 76th by his peers on theNFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[15]
Prior to the start of the 2018 NFL season, Ingram predicted that the Chargers would winSuper Bowl LIII and he said that "We're ready. We've got to bring a Super Bowl to the city." He also said that "I was taught you've got to speak stuff into existence. If you want to do something, you've got to say you're going to do it and then you've got to go do it."[16] In the end, Ingram and the Chargers failed to make it to the Super Bowl when they lost to the eventual Super Bowl championNew England Patriots by a score of 41–28 in the divisional round of the playoffs.[17] On June 17, 2019, Ingram predicted that the Chargers would winSuper Bowl LIV and stated that "We're the team to beat in the NFL, not just the AFC West, it's the NFL. We feel like when we're going against our offense that we need to beat them because they're the best. They need to beat us because we're the best. That's how we're going to get better."[18] In the end, the 2019 Chargers not only failed to go to the Super Bowl, but missed the playoffs entirely after posting a 5–11 record.
On September 26, 2020, Ingram was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.[19] He was activated on October 24, 2020.[20] He was placed back on injured reserve on November 27, 2020, with a knee injury.[21]
On July 20, 2021, Ingram signed a one-year contract with thePittsburgh Steelers.[22]
Ingram was traded to theKansas City Chiefs on November 2, 2021, in exchange for a sixth-round selection in the2022 NFL draft.[23]
On May 18, 2022, theMiami Dolphins signed Ingram to a contract.[24]
On December 14, 2023, the Dolphins signed Ingram to their practice squad.[25] He was promoted to the active roster on January 10, 2024.[26]
| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | PD | ||
| 2012 | SD | 16 | 2 | 41 | 27 | 14 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2013 | SD | 4 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2014 | SD | 9 | 9 | 29 | 21 | 8 | 4.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2015 | SD | 16 | 16 | 65 | 52 | 13 | 10.5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2016 | SD | 16 | 16 | 60 | 46 | 14 | 8.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 2017 | LAC | 16 | 16 | 56 | 43 | 13 | 10.5 | 1 | 2 | 39 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2018 | LAC | 16 | 16 | 43 | 28 | 15 | 7.0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 2019 | LAC | 13 | 13 | 48 | 39 | 9 | 7.0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| 2020 | LAC | 7 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2021 | PIT | 6 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| KC | 9 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2022 | MIA | 17 | 3 | 22 | 15 | 7 | 6.0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2023 | MIA | 3 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career[27] | 148 | 106 | 414 | 298 | 116 | 58.5 | 16 | 9 | 48 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 8.5 | 9 | 0 | 30 | |
