Jordan Nikemian Akins (born April 19, 1992) 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in 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 ...

at UCF.

Early life

Akins graduated from Union Grove 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 earned All-State honors as both a junior and senior, as well as All-Conference as a sophomore. He committed and signed to play football for the

UCF Knights The UCF Knights are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Central Florida in unincorporated Orange County, Florida near Orlando, Florida, Orlando. The Knights participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NC ...

, choosing the Knights over schools such as

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 ...

and

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 ...

. However, after being drafted by the Texas Rangers in the third round of the

2010 MLB Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team picking first. ;Key ...

, he chose to pursue a baseball career instead of attending UCF and signed with the Rangers. Akins struggled in the

minor leagues Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

, hitting .218 over four seasons and never rising above high-A ball. He retired from baseball after the 2013 season and returned to play football at UCF.

College career

As a

true freshman The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see '' Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

in 2014, Akins played in all 13 of UCF's games, catching 12 passes for 135 yards along with returning 15 kickoffs for 363 yards. Akins started the 2015 as a starter, but suffered a season-ending injury in UCF's third game against Furman. He elected to take a medical redshirt. As a redshirt sophomore in 2016, Akins once again played in all 13 of UCF's games, tallying 23 receptions for 347 yards and two touchdowns. Prior to the 2017 season, Akins was named to the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

watch list. He played in 12 of UCF's 13 games, catching 32 passes for 515 yards and four touchdowns. After the season, Akins declared for the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

College statistics

Professional career

Pre-draft

On January 3, 2018, Akins announced his decision to forgo his remaining eligibility and enter the

. On January 13, 2018, it was announced that Akins had accepted an invitation to play in the

2018 Senior Bowl The 2018 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2018 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game was the last ...

. On January 27, 2018, Akins played in the 2018 Reese's Senior Bowl and caught two passes for 31 yards as part of

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 ...

head coach Bill O'Brien's South team that defeated

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 ...

head coach Vance Joseph's North team 45–16. Akins sustained a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury ten days before the NFL Scouting Combine in

Indianapolis 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 ...

and was unable to perform any drills and chose to skip the bench press. He attended private workouts and meetings with the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

, and

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Akins was projected to be a sixth round pick or priority

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the eighth best tight end prospect in the draft by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc., that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN ...

and was ranked the 16th best tight end by DraftScout.com.

Houston Texans (first stint)

The

selected Akins in the third round (98th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft. Akins was the fifth tight end drafted in 2018. He became the highest drafted tight end in UCF's history. On May 10, 2018, the Texans signed Akins to a four-year, $3.32 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 $761,520. In the season opener against 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 ...

, Akins had two receptions for 11 yards in his NFL debut. He played in 16 games with six starts, recording 17 receptions for 225 yards. In Week 3 of the 2019 season against the Chargers, Akins caught three passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns in the 27–20 win. Overall, Akins finished the 2019 season with 36 receptions for 418 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. In Week 1 of the 2020 season against the Chiefs, Akins recorded two receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown in the 34–20 loss.

New York Giants

On April 22, 2022, 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 ...

signed Akins to a one-year contract. On August 24, 2022, Akins was released.

Houston Texans (second stint)

On August 31, 2022, Akins was signed to the Texans practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 12.

Cleveland Browns

On March 18, 2023, Akins signed a two-year contract with 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 ...

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio

UCF Knights bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Akins, Jordan 1992 births Living people African-American baseball players American football tight ends Arizona League Rangers players Baseball outfielders Cleveland Browns players Players of American football from Fulton County, Georgia Hickory Crawdads players Houston Texans players Baseball players from Fulton County, Georgia Spokane Indians players UCF Knights football players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen