CHARLOTTE—When Jaden Crumedy was in middle school, his mom was pulled over. When the cop saw Jaden in the backseat, he thought the fifth-grader was a high-schooler. So he made a deal with Jaden's mom. Sign up your large son with an organized football club, and I won't give you a ticket.
Thus started Crumedy's football career, culminating on Saturday when he was drafted by the Carolina Panthers with the 200th overall pick. The Mississippi State defensive tackle spent the past six years in Starkville, the beneficiary of a redshirt year and a COVID year.
Crumedy was a starter the last five years, but his 2022 campaign was delayed due to injury. In 2023, Crumedy started all 12 games, and accumulated 35 total tackles from his tackle position, with 3.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also added 2.5 pass break-ups.
He'll be 24-years old by training camp, just two years younger than Derrick Brownwho is heading into his fifth year. The wisdom of age—as well as playing under four different head coaches at Miss. St.—is something Crumedy hopes will help him transition quickly to the NFL.
"It just gives me a better way of observing everything," Crumedy explained Saturday afternoon. "I mean, I've been through a lot of different things, and I've seen a lot of different schemes and things like that. So, I'll be able to recognize more things than others, (that) haven't seen it yet. And it just gave me a lot of time and just like a lot of consideration of, you know, what I've seen and it just helps me along the way."
The Panthers addressed the defensive line during free agency, bringing in A'Shawn Robinson to bolster Derrick Brownand Shy Tuttle. Along with Nick Thurman and LaBryan Ray, Crumedy will provide depth along the line.
