Ja'Wuan Amir James (born June 3, 1992) is an American former 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 ...

. He was selected by the

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

in the first round of the 2014 NFL draft. 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

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. He has also played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

Early life

James attended

North Gwinnett High School North Gwinnett High School is a public high school in Suwanee, Georgia, United States. It is part of the district Gwinnett County Public Schools. The school's principal is Nathan Ballantine. History North Gwinnett High School was established ...

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. In 2020, its population was 20 ...

, where he was teammates with Austin Shepherd. In his sophomore season, North Gwinnett advanced to the GHSA Class 5A state championship game with 13–2 record, where they lost 34–6 to Valdosta Lowndes led by Greg Reid and Telvin Smith. As a junior, James helped North Gwinnett to a berth in state quarterfinals behind 10–3 finish, where they lost 20–3 to Alec Ogletree's Newnan. In James's senior season, North Gwinnett finished with a 13–1 mark, earning Region 7-5A championship while advancing to the state quarterfinals, where they lost 35–0 to Camden County. After the season, James was selected Class 5A All-State by Georgia Sportswriters, and was invited to play in the 2010 Under Armour All-America Game in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. Considered a four-star recruit by '' Rivals.com'', he was rated the eighth best

prospect in his class and the sixth best prospect from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. He was such a highly sought after prospect that Tennessee's head coach

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC Trojans football, USC from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the National Foo ...

wanted to land a helicopter on North Gwinnett's softball field in an attempt to impress James, but was unable to receive clearance from the high school.

College career

James attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

from 2010 to 2013. He started 49 consecutive games for the Volunteers, all at right tackle. His 49 starts set a record for career starts by an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

in Tennessee history (passing Jeff Smith's 48 starts from 1992 to 1995). He played on an elite offensive line that produced four NFL offensive linemen with three of them going on to become starters.

Professional career

Pre-draft

On December 9, 2013, it was announced that James and teammate Daniel McCullers had accepted their invitations to the 2014 Senior Bowl. On January 24, 2014, it was reported that James would unfortunately miss the Reese's Senior Bowl after suffering a sprained knee during practice. His performances at practice were well-received and helped his draft stock. James was one of 50 collegiate linemen to attend the

NFL Scouting 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 ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

. Tennessee had a record four offensive linemen attend the combine, that include James, James Stone, Antonio Richardson, and

Zach Fulton Zachery Quinn Fulton (born September 23, 1991) is a former American football Guard (American football), guard who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft. H ...

. He performed all of the combine drills well and finished sixth among all offensive linemen in the three-cone drill and ninth in the short shuttle. On April 2, 2014, he attended Tennessee'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 ...

, along with Fulton, Richardson, Stone, McCullers, Jacques Smith, Rajion Neal, Michael Palardy, and seven other prospects. He opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills for scouts and representatives from all 32 NFL teams, that included

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

' offensive line coach Tom Cable. During the draft process, James had private workouts and meetings with a few teams, including the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

and

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, James projected to be a first to third round pick by

NFL draft 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 ...

experts and scouts. He was ranked the sixth best offensive tackle prospect by NFLDraftScout.com, the ninth best offensive tackle in the draft by NFL 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 ...

, and 15th best offensive linemen by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with a circulation of over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellen ...

''.

Miami Dolphins

2014

The

selected James in the first round (19th overall) of the 2014 NFL draft. He was the fourth offensive linemen selected in 2014. James was the highest selected Tennessee Volunteers offensive lineman since Charles McRae and Antone Davis in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

. On June 19, 2014, the Dolphins signed James to a fully guaranteed four-year, $8.42 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $4.44 million. James entered

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events ...

slated as the starting right tackle with newly acquired free agent Branden Albert starting on the blindside. Head coach Joe Philbin named James the official starting right tackle to begin the regular season. He made his first career start and professional regular season debut in the Dolphins' season-opening 33–20 victory over the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

. In the first four games, James yielded only one

sack A sack usually refers to a rectangular-shaped bag. Sack may also refer to: Bags * Flour sack * Gunny sack * Hacky sack, sport * Money sack * Paper sack * Sleeping bag * Stuff sack * Knapsack Other uses * Bed, a slang term * Sack (band), ...

and ranked as the tenth best run blocker and 20th best offensive tackles overall among the 67 offensive tackles that qualified. He was considered an improvement over former starting right tackles Tyson Clabo and Jonathan Martin. In Week 10, he was moved to left tackle after starter Albert was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury. He started 16 games for the Dolphins in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

2015

James returned to the starting right tackle position to start training camp and remained the starter to begin the regular season. He started the first seven games of the 2015 season before suffering a toe injury and being placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season. James finished with seven starts on the 2015 season.

2016

James remained the starting right tackle, opposite Albert, to begin the season under new head coach Adam Gase. The Dolphins drafted the top ranked offensive tackle prospect Laremy Tunsil with the 13th overall pick, but opted to use him as an offensive guard for his first season. He started 16 consecutive games at right tackle and helped the Dolphins achieve a 10–6 record and place second in the

AFC East The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four Division (sport), divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in th ...

. On January 8, 2017, James started in his first career playoff game as the Dolphins were defeated 30-12 by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the AFC Wild Card Round.

2017

On May 1, 2017, the Miami Dolphins exercised the fifth-year, $9.34 million option on James' rookie contract for the 2018 season. He started the first eight games of the season at right tackle before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 9 against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

on '' Sunday Night Football''. He was placed on injured reserve on November 11, 2017.

2018

James started 15 games at right tackle in 2018, missing one game with a knee injury.

Denver Broncos

On March 13, 2019, James signed a four-year, $51 million deal with the

. He only played in three games in 2019 due to a knee injury suffered in Week 1. On August 3, 2020, James announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On May 4, 2021, James tore his Achilles tendon while training away from the team facility. He was placed on the reserve/ non-football injury list on May 7, 2021. and released from the list on May 14, 2021.

Baltimore Ravens

On June 10, 2021, James signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the

. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on August 31, 2021, to start the season. On December 8, 2021, James was designated to return to practice from reserve/non-football injury list. On September 14, 2022, the Ravens placed James on injured reserve after he tore his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcane ...

again in the 2022 season opener against the

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

NFL career statistics

Personal life

James grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

and moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, in eighth grade. He was raised by his mother, Nichelle James-Mickens, and his father, Burkley James. Throughout his childhood he mainly played basketball and briefly played baseball before becoming bored with it. He decided to play football after moving to Georgia. On July 12, 2017, James announced via

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he became engaged to his longtime college girlfriend Rainey Gaffin. She was a member of the Tennessee Volunteers softball team from 2013 to 2016.

References

External links

*
Tennessee Volunteers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ja'Wuan 1992 births Living people Players of American football from Suwanee, Georgia North Gwinnett High School alumni American football offensive tackles Tennessee Volunteers football players Miami Dolphins players Denver Broncos players Baltimore Ravens players 21st-century African-American sportsmen Under Armour All-American football players