Ajani James Cornelius (born May 21, 2002) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Oregon Ducks The Oregon Ducks are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Oregon, located in Eugene, Oregon, Eugene. The Ducks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCA ...

and the

Rhode Island Rams The Rhode Island Rams are the intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Rhode Island, based in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. The Rams compete in the NCAA's Division I as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conferenc ...

, with whom he earned first-team All-

Colonial Athletic Association The Coastal Athletic Association (CAA), formerly the ECAC South Conference and the Colonial Athletic Association, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA' ...

(CAA) honors. Cornelius was selected by the Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft.

Early life

Cornelius attended

Archbishop Stepinac High School Archbishop Stepinac High School is an American Single-sex education, all-boys' Catholic Church, Roman Catholic high school in White Plains, New York. It was operated by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York until the 2009–2010 school yea ...

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

. During his time there he was a back-to-back state and league champion in both 2018 and 2019, he also was named team captain and the 2019 Catholic High School Football League (CHSFLAAA) Offensive Lineman of the Year. Cornelius committed to the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

on February 3, 2020.

College career

Rhode Island

Cornelius made his collegiate debut at right tackle against No. 11 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens in reserve during the 2020–21 spring season. In first fall season as a freshman, he started all eleven games for the Rams. His first start came against the Bryant Bulldogs where the team rushed for a season-high 235 yards without allowing a single sack in a 45–21 win. He helped lead the Rams to average 133.6 rushing yards per game. In 2022, Cornelius once again started all eleven games for the Rams. He helped the team have eight games where the team tallied over 150 yards, including 288 yards and three touchdown against the team's

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

. The team ranked fifth in the

(CAA) sacks allowed with 21. The team also finished fourth in the CAA in both rushing yards per game with 168.8, and in passing yards per game with 235.5, alongside also being the third-highest scoring offense averaging 30.6 points per game. After the season, Cornelius received First Team All-CAA football honors. He entered the transfer portal on December 1, 2022.

Oregon

On December 21, 2022, Cornelius transferred to the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

to play for the

Ducks Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

under coach

Dan Lanning Daniel Arthur Lanning (born April 10, 1986) is an American college football coach who serves as the head football coach at the University of Oregon. He was previously the defensive coordinator and outside linebackers coach at the University o ...

. Prior to the season, he was named as an honorable mention for the preseason All

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

team.

Professional career

Cornelius was selected by the

with the 204th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL draft.

References

External links

Dallas Cowboys bio

Rhode Island Rams bio

Oregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornelius, Ajani 2002 births Living people Players of American football from New York City Sportspeople from Manhattan American football offensive linemen Archbishop Stepinac High School alumni Rhode Island Rams football players Oregon Ducks football players Dallas Cowboys players