Cooper Hodges (born July 13, 2000) is an American professional

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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 of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the Appalachian State Mountaineers and was selected in the seventh round of the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL draft was the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2023 NFL season, 2023 season. The NFL draft, draft was held outside of Kansas City Union Station, Union Station i ...

by the Jaguars.

Early life

Hodges was born on July 13, 2000, and grew up in Glen St. Mary, Florida. He attended Baker County High School, being a Super 24 pick and helping the team reach the state championship match in his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season. A two-star recruit, Hodges committed to play

for the Appalachian State Mountaineers.

College career

As a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

at Appalachian State in 2018, Hodges

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

and saw no action due to an injury. The following season, he became their starting

right tackle A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and Defensive tackle, defense. In the modern system of ...

and was named second-team all-conference after starting all 14 games. In 2020, Hodges started all 11 games and was named second-team all-conference for the second consecutive year. Hodges continued as a starter in 2021 and was named first-team All-

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that has been affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football confe ...

. As a senior in 2022, he appeared in 12 games and earned third-team

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honors from Pro Football Focus, additionally being an All-Sun Belt choice for the fourth-straight season. He finished his stint at Appalachian State with 51 consecutive starts, over 3,500 snaps played and only seven sacks allowed.

Professional career

Hodges was selected in the seventh round (226th overall) of the

by his hometown

, who originally acquired the pick in a trade with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

in exchange for

Laviska Shenault Laviska Terrell Shenault Jr. (born October 5, 1998) is an American professional football wide receiver and kickoff returner for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes. Earl ...

. Although a right tackle at Appalachian State, he was announced as a

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when selected. He was placed on injured reserve on August 31, 2023. On June 4, 2025, Hodges was waived by the Jaguars following a failed physical and reverted to the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list the following day.

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars bioAppalachian State Mountaineers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hodges, Cooper 2000 births Living people People from Baker County, Florida Players of American football from Florida American football offensive guards Appalachian State Mountaineers football players Jacksonville Jaguars players