Sheldon Taylor Rankins (born April 2, 1994) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

defensive tackle for the New York Jets 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 at

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

. He was drafted in the first round (12th overall) by the

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 league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park in Chicago. The draft be ...

, and played for the team from 2016 to 2020.

Early years

Rankins attended Eastside High School in

Covington, Georgia Covington is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia and the seat of Newton County, and is part of the Atlanta metropolitan area. As of the 2010 Census, its population 14,113. History Covington was founded by European immigrants to the United Stat ...

. He committed to the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

to play college football.

College career

At Louisville, Rankins was mostly a backup during his freshman and sophomore years, recording 22 tackles and four sacks. As a junior, in 2014, Rankins started in all 13 games and had 53 tackles, eight sacks, and two

interceptions In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

. As a senior, in 2015, he had 58 tackles, six sacks, and a fumble return

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

On April 28, 2016, Rankins was drafted as the 12th overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the

. On May 9, 2016, the Saints signed Rankins to a four-year, 12.8 million dollar contract.

2016

On August 16, 2016, Rankins suffered a broken fibula during practice. The injury required surgery with up to 6 weeks to recover. On September 6, 2016, he was placed on injured/designated for return list. He was activated off injured reserve on November 5, 2016 prior to Week 9. During his rookie year, he played 9 games and finished with 20 tackles, four sacks, and a forced fumble.

2017

During his second season, Rankins started all 16 regular season games to help a scoring defense go from 31st in the NFL to tenth in the league. Rankins recorded 16 solo tackles (26 total), one forced fumble, one interception, and one pass defensed.

2018

In 2018, Rankins started all 16 games, recorded 40 tackles and eight sacks, which was second best on the team behind

Cameron Jordan Cameron Tyler Jordan (born July 10, 1989) is an American football defensive end for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California, and was drafted by the Saints in the first round of th ...

. In the divisional round of the playoffs, against the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

, Rankins suffered a torn Achilles and was placed on injured reserve on January 15, 2019.

2019

On April 24, 2019, the Saints picked up the fifth-year option on Rankins' contract. He was placed on injured reserve on December 11, 2019 with an ankle injury. He finished the season with 10 tackles and two sacks through 10 games.

2020

On November 6, 2020, Rankins was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. He was activated on December 5, 2020.

New York Jets

On March 23, 2021, Rankins signed a two-year, $17 million contract with the New York Jets.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bioLouisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rankins, Sheldon 1994 births Living people People from Covington, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American football defensive tackles American football defensive ends Louisville Cardinals football players New Orleans Saints players New York Jets players Ed Block Courage Award recipients