Elijah Roberts
American football player (born 2001)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Elijah Roberts (born December 24, 2001)[1] is an American professional football defensive end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes and SMU Mustangs. Roberts was selected by the Buccaneers in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.
| No. 95 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Defensive end | ||||||||||
| Roster status | Active | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | December 24, 2001 | ||||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||||
| Listed weight | 295 lb (134 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Christopher Columbus (Westchester, Florida) | ||||||||||
| College | Miami (2020–2022) SMU (2023–2025) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 2025: 5th round, 157th overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2025 | |||||||||||
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Early life
Roberts attended Christopher Columbus High School in Miami-Dade County, Florida, and led the football team to a class 8A state title.[2] Coming out of high school, he was rated as a four-star recruit and held offers from schools such as South Carolina, Indiana, Florida State, Louisville, Penn State,[citation needed] Miami, Oregon, Michigan and Georgia Tech.[3] Roberts committed to play college football for the Miami Hurricanes.[4][5]
College career
Miami
In three years at Miami from 2020 through 2022, Roberts appeared in 20 games with one start for the Hurricanes, where he totaled 21 tackles with two being for a loss, half a sack, and a forced fumble.[6][7][8] After the conclusion of the 2022 season, he entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal.[9]
SMU
Roberts transferred to play for the SMU Mustangs.[10] In 2023, he started all 14 games, where he notched 37 tackles with 12.5 being for a loss, ten sacks, and two forced fumbles,[11][12] earning second-team all-American Athletic Conference honors.[13]
Professional career
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 3+5⁄8 in (1.92 m) | 285 lb (129 kg) | 33+5⁄8 in (0.85 m) | 10+1⁄4 in (0.26 m) | 4.78 s | 1.67 s | 2.78 s | 4.78 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) | 9 ft 8 in (2.95 m) | 25 reps | ||
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day[14][15] | ||||||||||||
Roberts was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the 157th pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft.[16]