Jordan
Magee.
Jordan
Magee.
Temple· 6'1"· 228 lb· 4.55s 40
"Magee is a 4.55 linebacker still learning to trust his own eyes: the speed was never the question at Temple, and the half-second of hesitation before he uses it was the only thing standing between Day 3 and Day 2."Pre-draft read
Magee was Temple's every-down WILL, an off-ball linebacker at 6-1, 228 who only moved off quarterback as a high school senior. His game starts with speed: he covers ground laterally in a hurry, chases plays to the boundary, and finishes ballcarriers in space rather than in a phone booth. When his key is clean he triggers downhill and beats the guard to the spot.
The secondary trait is blitz value. Temple sent him from depth on passing downs and he turned that into 8.0 sacks over two seasons, rare for an off-ball defender. Against the run he chases and tackles rather than resetting the line; his answer to blocks is to run around them. The signature is the closing burst: 4.55 speed at 228 pounds that plays as sudden range.
Attacking one-gap front that lets the WILL run free behind two-gapping linemen; a defense that keeps him clean and asks for downhill speed, not two-way coverage responsibility.
Year 1: core four special teamer and situational blitzer with early-down rotational snaps. Ceiling: full-time WILL in a run-first sub-package who handles 55-65% of the defensive snaps and closes games against heavy personnel.
A two-gap 3-4 that asks the inside linebacker to take on pulling guards head-up and man tight ends and backs down the field — he lacks both the anchor and the coverage recognition for that job.
Best used with a nose tackle who occupies the A gaps and a strong safety who handles man coverage on backs.
Jordan Magee Temple Highlights
Career reel showing the range, blitz timing and open-field chase that defined his Temple tape.
Jordan Magee (Temple LB) vs Akron 2023
Full-game cutup from his senior season with the downhill triggers and tackles for loss.
Jordan Magee is the BEST Day 3 Linebacker Prospect in the 2024 NFL Draft
Pre-draft breakdown of the athletic profile and the processing questions that pushed him to Day 3.
A three-year contributor who became Temple's defensive centerpiece, Magee is a speed linebacker first and a diagnostician second. Two-time captain, second-team All-AAC, the kind of player a Group of Five staff builds a front around because he erases width the rest of the defense cannot. The football identity is straightforward: run, hit, chase, and blitz.
The production backs the traits. He led the Owls in tackles in back-to-back seasons, jumped from 6.5 to 9.0 to 14.0 tackles for loss, and added 8.0 sacks across 2022-23 while defending 10 passes in three years. The flags are just as clear on tape. He is late to read blocking schemes, gets beaten to the spot when the key is muddy, takes on blocks square without the strength to stack them, and catches ballcarriers instead of striking them. A torn right bicep in the fall of 2023 cost him the East-West Shrine Bowl and the chance to answer questions in an all-star setting.
Boards had him as a fifth-to-seventh-round developmental linebacker with a special teams floor, and his workout only widened the gap between what he is and what he tests like. Washington took him 139th as a trait bet: a defense that valued speed and coverage range in the middle betting that instincts can be coached faster than a 4.55 forty can be found.
- 01
Sideline-to-sideline range
4.55 speed at 228 pounds lets him run down plays outside the numbers that most off-ball linebackers concede.
- 02
Blitz timing
Temple sent him from depth on passing downs and he cashed it for 8.0 sacks across his last two seasons, elite for an off-ball linebacker.
- 03
Backfield disruption
his tackle-for-loss count climbed every year, peaking at 14.0 as a senior when he was the Owls' primary penetrator from depth.
- 04
Zone closing speed
reacts and drives on throws underneath in a hurry, turning short completions into immediate tackles rather than run-after-catch.
- 05
Leadership and durability
two-time captain who played through a torn bicep and never gave the staff a reason to take him off the field.
- 01
Delayed diagnosis
slow to read blocking schemes and process run keys, which costs him the head start his speed is supposed to buy.
- 02
Play strength
takes on blocks square at 228 pounds without the pop to stack and shed, so linemen who reach him can wall him off.
- 03
Tackling technique
a catch tackler more than a striker, allowing yards after contact against backs who run through arms.
- 04
Coverage recognition
loses receivers when concepts distort his zone, and route combinations that stress his eyes will find the seam behind him.
Relative Athletic Score (Kent Lee Platte) benchmarks combine/pro-day numbers against every measured prospect at the position since 1987. 10.00 is elite; 5.00 is average.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- 4.55sp50
- Vertical
- 35.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 124inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Temple | 5 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | Temple | 12 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | Temple | 12 | 86 | 4.5 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2023 | Temple | 11 | 80 | 3.5 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Career | — | 40 | 235 | 8 | 1 | 10 | 2 |
Verified season-by-season against cfbstats (Temple, team 690) tackle, tackle-for-loss, sack, interception and misc-defense tables; season sums match career totals. Fumble recoveries left null - not listed on cfbstats fumble-return tables.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
Athletic backup linebacker whose real job is special teams with rotational defensive snaps in run-heavy situations.
Same downhill speed with the play recognition Magee never developed — the outcome if the eyes ever catch up to the feet.
Testing-driven Day 3 linebacker who never turned the athleticism into a trusted defensive role.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Washington drafted him as a developmental piece behind Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu, and the rookie year never got traction: knee trouble limited him to eight games with one start and nine tackles, most of his value coming on special teams. Year 2 was the correction. He stayed healthy for all 17 games, started eight, and finished with 54 tackles, three for loss and a pass defensed. The usage tells the story better than the totals — 24 defensive snaps through six weeks, then a real rotational role every week after, ending sixth on the team in tackles. By 2026 he was healthy and known, but Washington rebuilt the defense around him, adding Leo Chenal in free agency and drafting Sonny Styles, leaving Magee to fight for early-down and short-yardage work under a new coordinator.
In hindsight the evaluation held up almost exactly. The athleticism was real and the instincts still lag; he is a good downhill run defender in a defined role and a liability if you ask him to carry tight ends and backs across the field. That is a useful fifth-round outcome, not a steal, and it is fair to say the injury-shortened rookie year cost him the runway that a slower processor needs. He remains what he was at Temple — speed looking for the fastest route to trusting his eyes.
Data note: Verified season-by-season against cfbstats (Temple, team 690) tackle, tackle-for-loss, sack, interception and misc-defense tables; season sums match career totals. Fumble recoveries left null - not listed on cfbstats fumble-return tables.