Arden Key Jr. (born May 3, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pla ...

for the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

, and was drafted by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Ra ...

in the third round of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first dra ...

Early years

Key attended

Hapeville Charter Career Academy Union City is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 19,456 at the 2010 census. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Union City in 1908. One source claims that the town was named for the union of rail ...

Union City, Georgia Union City is a city in Fulton County, Georgia, United States. The population was 19,456 at the 2010 census. History The Georgia General Assembly incorporated Union City in 1908. One source claims that the town was named for the union of rail ...

. He recorded 15.5 sacks as a senior, eight as a junior and 12 as a sophomore. He committed to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

(LSU) to play college football. Regarded as a four-star recruit by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, Key was ranked as the No. 6 defensive end prospect in the class of 2015.

College career

As a true freshman at LSU in 2015, Key played in 12 games and started the final nine. He recorded 41 tackles and five sacks and was named a freshman All-American. As a sophomore in 2016, he set a single-season school record by recording 12 sacks. He earned first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

honors from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

. As a junior in 2017, Key was limited to 8 games due to injury, but finished with 33 tackles, 4 sacks, and a forced fumble. On January 4, 2018, Key officially announced that he would be entering the

Professional career

Prior to Key's junior season, he was projected as the number one overall prospect for the

by Chris Trapasso of

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the sports division of the American television network CBS. Its headquarters are in the CBS Building on W 52nd Street (Manhattan), 52nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, with programs produced out of Studio 43 at the CBS ...

. In January 2018, he was ranked as the number two draft prospect at the outside linebacker position, behind

Tremaine Edmunds Fe'Zahn Tremaine Edmunds (born May 2, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2018 ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...

, by

Mel Kiper Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...

. Key was projected to be an early first round selection, but his off-the-field issues caused his draft stock to plummet. Key ended up being selected by the

in the third round as the 87th pick overall.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

After having two sacks in the final two games he played in the 2019 season, Key suffered a broken foot and was ruled out the rest of the season. He was placed on injured reserve on November 7, 2019. Key was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

list by the team on November 18, 2020, and activated three days later. On December 26, 2020, in a Week 16 home game against the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pl ...

, Key committed a 15-yard personal foul penalty when he grabbed the facemask of Dolphin QB

Ryan Fitzpatrick Ryan Joseph Fitzpatrick (born November 24, 1982) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. During his career, Fitzpatrick started at quarterback for nine different teams, the most ...

on a play where the Dolphins gained 34 yards; the penalty and catch put Miami in field goal range and Miami hit one from 44 yards to earn a 26-25 win, which eliminated the Raiders from playoff contention. Key was waived on April 15, 2021.

San Francisco 49ers

On April 23, 2021, Key signed a one-year contract with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

Jacksonville Jaguars

On March 30, 2022, Key signed a one-year contract with the

References

External links

*
LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Key, Arden 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Atlanta American football defensive ends American football linebackers LSU Tigers football players Las Vegas Raiders players Oakland Raiders players San Francisco 49ers players Jacksonville Jaguars players