C.J. Saunders (born September 15, 1996) is an American professional football wide receiver. He played college football at Ohio State.
| Personal information | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born: | September 15, 1996 Dublin, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||
| Career information | |||||||
| High school: | Dublin Coffman (OH) | ||||||
| College: | Ohio State (2015–2019) | ||||||
| Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||
| Undrafted: | 2020 | ||||||
| Career history | |||||||
| As a player: | |||||||
| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||
| As a coach: | |||||||
| |||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||
| |||||||
College career
editSaunders was unranked by 247Sports.com coming out of high school.[1] He committed to Ohio State as a walk-on before the 2015 season.[2] After getting the opportunity to play sporadically for the team, he applied for and was denied a sixth year of eligibility.[3]
Professional career
edit| 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9 3⁄4 in (1.77 m) |
179 lb (81 kg) |
31 1⁄4 in (0.79 m) |
9 5⁄8 in (0.24 m) |
4.70 s | 1.62 s | 2.72 s | 4.15 s | 7.10 s | 34.5 in (0.88 m) |
9 ft 5 in (2.87 m) |
8 reps | |
| All values from Pro Day[4] | ||||||||||||
After spending a year as a graduate assistant at Ohio State, Saunders had a mini-camp tryout with the Atlanta Falcons in May 2021.[5][6]
Carolina Panthers
editOn June 1, 2021, Saunders signed with the Carolina Panthers.[7] He was waived on August 31, 2021, and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.[8][9] He signed a reserve/future contract with the Panthers on January 10, 2022.[10]
On August 30, 2022, Saunders was waived by the Panthers and re-signed to the practice squad.[11] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2023.[12] He was released on August 26, 2023.[13]
Atlanta Falcons
editOn August 31, 2023, Saunders was signed to the Atlanta Falcons practice squad.[14] He was released on October 11, 2023.[15]
Coaching career
editSaunders coached as a graduate assistant at Ohio State in 2020 after he was denied a sixth–year of eligibility.[16]
References
edit- ^ "C. J. Saunders Recruiting Profile". 247Sports.com.
- ^ "C. J. Saunders 247". 247Sports.com.
- ^ Kurelic, Bill. "NCAA denies C.J. Saunders 6th year of eligibility". Bucknuts.
- ^ "2021 NFL Draft Scout C.J. Saunders College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
- ^ Murphy, Patrick. "Former Ohio State receiver C.J. Saunders receives invite to Atlanta Falcons rookie camp". Bucknuts.
- ^ Baird, Nathan (May 11, 2021). "Former Ohio State football receiver C.J. Saunders gets NFL opportunity in Atlanta Falcons' mini camp". Cleveland.com.
- ^ Bryan, Will (June 1, 2021). "Panthers sign former Ohio State WR C.J. Saunders; waive Tommy Stevens". Panthers.com. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (August 31, 2021). "Panthers reduce roster on Tuesday morning". Panthers.com.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (September 1, 2021). "Panthers announce practice squad signings on Wednesday". Panthers.com.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (January 10, 2022). "Panthers sign 10, including quarterback P.J. Walker". Panthers.com.
- ^ "Panthers make transactions to get to initial 53-man roster". Panthers.com. August 30, 2022.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (January 9, 2023). "Panthers sign nine players on Monday". Panthers.com.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (August 26, 2023). "Panthers waive 11 players Saturday". Panthers.com.
- ^ Bair, Scott (August 31, 2023). "Falcons sign two players more to practice squad". AtlantaFalcons.com.
- ^ Bouda, Nate (October 11, 2023). "NFL Transactions: Wednesday 10/11". NFLTradeRumors.co. Retrieved October 12, 2023.
- ^ Baird, Nathan (August 4, 2020). "Ohio State football's C.J. Saunders denied sixth year of eligibility, will instead join coaching staff". Bucknuts.