Dalvin Tomlinson (born February 28, 1994) 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 ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

Alabama Crimson Tide The Alabama Crimson Tide refers to the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic varsity teams that represent the University of Alabama, located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide teams compete in the Na ...

. He was selected by the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

in the second round of the

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, and played for the team from 2017 to 2020.

Early life

Tomlinson attended Henry County High School in

McDonough, Georgia McDonough is a city in Henry County, Georgia, United States. It is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. Its population was 29,051 in 2020. The city is the county seat of Henry County. The unincorporated communities of Blacksville, Flippen, ...

. He played

and was a wrestler in high school, winning three state titles.

College career

Tomlinson began attending

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 2012 and

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 ...

his first season while still recovering from a torn ACL he suffered playing for his soccer team in high school. Throughout Alabama's fall camp in 2013, Tomlinson competed with Ed Stinson, Jeoffrey Pagan, and A'Shawn Robinson for the starting defensive end position. Head coach

Nick Saban Nicholas Lou Saban Jr. ( ; born October 31, 1951) is an American sportscaster and former Professional gridiron football, professional and college football coach. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's ''College GameDay (football TV program), Colleg ...

named him the backup right defensive end behind Jeoffrey Pagan to begin his freshman season. On August 31, 2013, Tomlinson made his collegiate debut during Alabama's 35–10 victory over

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. He recorded four combined

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

, but left after suffering a knee injury that caused him to miss the entire 2013 season. He had a surgery to repair the knee injury and was due to miss 5–6 months. He returned to fall camp in 2014 and competed with Jonathan Allen and D. J. Pettway for the job as the starting defensive end. On August 30, 2014, Tomlinson recorded five combined tackles during Alabama's season-opening 33–23 victory over

West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...

. On October 25, 2014, he recorded two solo tackles and sacked Tennessee's quarterback

Joshua Dobbs Robert Joshua Dobbs (born January 26, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, and was selected by the Pitt ...

for the first one of his career during a 34–20 victory. On November 15, 2014, he recorded a season-high seven combined tackles, two tackles Mississippi, and made the second sack of his career, as Alabama defeated

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, United States. It is classified among "R ...

. He finished his sophomore season in 2014 with 22 combined tackles (8 solo), two sacks, and 5.5 tackles for a loss in 14 games. Tomlinson returned to fall camp in 2015, competing for the starting defensive end position with A'Shawn Robinson, Jarran Reed, Jonathan Allen, and Da'Shawn Hand. He was named the backup right defensive end behind Jarran Reed to begin his third season. In Alabama's season-opener against

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, Tomlinson made two solo tackles and a career-high three pass deflections during Alabama's 35–17 victory. On September 26, 2015, Tomlinson recorded a season-high five combined tackles in a 35–0 defeat over Louisiana-Monroe. During a Week 8 contest against

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

, he collected four combined tackles and was credited for half a sack on Brandon Harris in a 30–16 victory. Tomlinson completed the 2015 season with 34 combined tackles (22 solo), a half a sack, and led the Crimson Tide with five pass deflections in 14 games. He was a part of a highly touted defensive front in 2015, that consisted of four future NFL players that would all be taken in the first two rounds of the

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

and

. Along with him and nose tackle Daron Payne, the defensive line included A'Shawn Robinson (46th overall, 2016), Jarran Reed (49th overall, 2016), and Jonathan Allen (17th overall, 2017). In 2016, Tomlinson competed with Jonathan Allen, Dakota Ball, and Da'Shawn Hand for the vacant defensive end positions throughout fall camp. Head coach Nick Saban named him the right defensive end opposite Jonathan Allen, to begin the 2016 season. He made his first career start during Alabama's season-opener against

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

and helped hold the Trojans to 64 rushing yards and recorded one tackle during the 52–6 victory. He played both defensive tackle and defensive end throughout the game. The following week against Western Kentucky, he recorded three combined tackles, a tackle for a loss, and his first sack of the season, as the Crimson Tide defeated the Hilltoppers 38–10. On November 19, 2016, Tomlinson collected a career-high eight combined tackle and was credited with an assist for a tackle for a loss during a 31–3 win against

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. He finished his senior season a total of 62 combined tackles (45 solo), 5.5 tackles for a loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble in 14 games and 14 starts. During his career, he had 122 tackles and four sacks.

Professional career

Pre-draft

Tomlinson received an invitation to the

Senior Bowl The Senior Bowl is a post-season college football all-star game played annually in late January or early February in Mobile, Alabama, which showcases the best NFL Draft prospects of those players who have completed their college eligibility. Pr ...

and helped the South defeat the North 16–15 with four combined tackles. The

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

all met and interviewed Tomlinson during the week of the Senior Bowl. He attended the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

and performed all of the combine and positional drills except for the bench. He also participated at Alabama's

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

and opted to only run positional drills and perform the bench press for scouts and team representatives. The majority of NFL draft experts and analysts projected him to be selected anywhere from the second to fourth round. He was ranked the fifth best defensive tackle in the draft by NFLDraftScout.com and NFL media analyst

Mike Mayock Michael Francis Mayock Sr. (born August 14, 1958) is an American former professional football executive and player in the National Football League (NFL). He played as a safety with the New York Giants. After his playing career, he was a draft ...

, ranked the sixth best defensive tackle by

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, and was ranked the ninth best defensive tackle by ''

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''.

New York Giants

The

selected Tomlinson in the second round with the 55th overall pick in the

. On May 10, 2017, the New York Giants signed Tomlinson to a four-year, $4.57 Million contract that includes $2.13 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $1.46 million. He competed with Robert Thomas, Jay Bromley, Jarron Jones, Jordan Williams, and Corbin Bryant throughout training camp for the role as the starting defensive tackle. Head coach Ben McAdoo named Tomlinson the right defensive tackle, along with Damon Harrison, to begin the regular season. He made his professional regular season debut during the Giants' season-opener against 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 ...

and made four combined tackles in the Giant's 3–19 loss. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team. He originally began the 2018 season at defensive end. After Damon Harrison was traded to the Detroit Lions, Tomlinson was named starting nose tackle.

Minnesota Vikings

On March 17, 2021, Tomlinson signed a two-year, $22 million contract with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

Cleveland Browns

On March 15, 2023, Tomlinson signed a four-year, $57 million contract with the

. He started 32 games in two years with the Browns, recording six sacks and 54 tackles. Tomlinson was released by Cleveland on March 12, 2025.

Arizona Cardinals

On March 12, 2025, Tomlinson signed a two-year, $29 million contract with the

References

External links

*
Cleveland Browns bioAlabama Crimson Tide bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomlinson, Dalvin 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from McDonough, Georgia Players of American football from Henry County, Georgia American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Alabama Crimson Tide football players New York Giants players Minnesota Vikings players Cleveland Browns players Arizona Cardinals players