Ja'Marcus Ingram (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional football

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create turnove ...

for the

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

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 for the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan. The school fields 16 sports teams – seven men and nine women – and compete in the Mountain West Conference. Sports spons ...

, later transferring to

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas ...

before joining

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * Bubalina, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York Buffalo or buffaloes may also refer to: Animals * Bubalina, a subtribe of the tr ...

as a graduate transfer. He signed with the Bills as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on May 16, 2022.

Early life and college career

One of nine siblings, Ingram played receiver in high school, not making his varsity team until his senior year due to his small, 5'10", 140 lb. frame as a junior. After being unrecruited, he walked on at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Uta ...

, where he would play 37 games in two years with the Aggies as a starter. He later transferred to Texas Tech, following head coach Matt Wells there, obtaining playing time as a backup for the Red Raiders and earning a degree in sociology before working on a master's degree. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Ingram was granted one final year of eligibility, which he chose to play at Buffalo over

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state o ...

as a graduate transfer. Ingram started 11 games for the Bulls.

Professional career

Ingram signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2022. Throughout his first two years, Ingram was mainly on the practice squad, being elevated to the active roster five times. In his two games in 2022, Ingram logged three total tackles, but failed to record stats in 2023 and mainly played on special teams. After a strong preseason in 2024, Ingram finally made the Bills' initial 53-man roster alongside rookie linebacker and fellow undrafted UB alumnus Joe Andreessen. He made a crucial defensive play at the end of the Bills' season opener against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

, denying a last-second

Hail Mary pass A Hail Mary pass is a very long forward pass in American football, typically made in desperation, with an exceptionally small chance of achieving a completion. Due to the difficulty of a completion with this pass, it makes reference to the Catho ...

attempt from

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M, Murray played college football at Oklahoma, where he won the Heisman Trop ...

and allowing Buffalo to hold on and win 34–28, thus preventing a repeat of the

Hail Murray The Hail Murray was a play during an American football game between the Buffalo Bills and Arizona Cardinals on November 15, . The game took place at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. With eleven seconds remaining in regulation play, Cardin ...

from four years earlier between the two teams. The following Thursday 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 ...

, Ingram, starting in place of injured slot corner

Taron Johnson Taron Johnson (born July 27, 1996) is an American football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Weber State. He played high school football at Sheldon High School in Sacramento, ...

, recorded his first two career interceptions off of Dolphins quarterback

Tua Tagovailoa Tuanigamanuolepola Tagovailoa ( ; born March 2, 1998) is an American football quarterback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Alabama, where he was the Offensive MVP of the 2018 College Foo ...

, including one for his first career touchdown, as Buffalo won 31–10.

References

External links

Buffalo Bills bioBuffalo Bulls bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Ja'Marcus 1997 births Living people American football cornerbacks Buffalo Bulls football players Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Dallas Utah State Aggies football players Texas Tech Red Raiders football players