Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste agrees to undrafted free agent deal with Los Angeles Chargers
Former Ole Miss linebacker Jeremiah Jean-Baptiste has agreed to an undrafted free agent deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chargers revealed.
He is one of 21 UDFAs that will look to land themselves on the Los Angeles’ 53-man roster this offseason. Those names also include fellow Rebel defender, defensive back Zamari Walton, among others.
In his lone campaign at Ole Miss, Jean-Baptiste made 13 appearances. The 6-foot-2, 230-pound LB finished the season with 54 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, .5 sacks and one pass defended. Jean-Baptiste tallied three tackles in Ole Miss’ 38-25 win over Penn State in the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl.
Before his lone season with the Rebels, Jean-Baptiste appeared in 35 games across four seasons at UCF. He tallied a career-high nine tackles on two separate occasions, which included a career-high eight solo tackles against SMU during his senior season. In 2022, he recorded five or more tackles in six games during his final season in Orlando.
Overall, Jean-Baptiste finished his collegiate career with 206 tackles, 2.5 sacks, eight passes defended and an interception. He posted his decision to enter the draft along with a heartfelt message on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“First and foremost, I want to thank God for His countless blessings,” Jean-Baptiste wrote. “I must also thank my family for their unwavering love and support throughout my life journey. Lastly, I thank the Ole Miss and UGF administration, coaches, teammates, and fans for the most fun football season of my life. Special thanks to Coach Kiffin and Pete Golding for entrusting me to play at a high level.
“When I committed to Ole Miss last spring, I could have never imagined the magnitude of impact the state of Mississippi and the city of Oxford would have on my life and my family’s life. There will always be a special place in my heart for this community.”
Before his college career, Jean-Baptiste was a three-star recruit coming out of South Dade (FL) High School, per the On3 Industry Rankings, a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services.
He was the No. 1,527 overall player and the No. 184 rated linebacker in the 2019 recruiting class, meaning he is no stranger to having the odds stacked against him. He, along with 20 other undrafted free agents will look to beat the odds and make the final roster this offseason.