Jabari Zuniga (born August 14, 1997) 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 wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

for 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 ...

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 ...

(NFL). He played college football at

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and was drafted by the New York Jets in the third round of the 2020 NFL Draft.

Early life and high school

Zuniga grew up in

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth larges ...

, the son of Tammy Thompson and Carlos Zuniga and attended

Sprayberry High School Sprayberry High School is a public high school located in northeastern Cobb County in Marietta, Georgia, United States, a north-northwestern suburb of metro Atlanta. It is a comprehensive senior high school (grades 9–12) with approximately 17 ...

. He originally only played basketball at Sprayberry and did not start playing football until his junior year. Rated a four-star prospect by '' 247Sports.com'', Zuniga initially committed to play college football at NC State. He de-committed and eventually chose to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

over

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

College career

Zuniga redshirted his true freshman season. He played in all 13 of the Gators' games with three starts as a redshirt freshman, recording 25 tackles, 8.5 tackles-for-loss and a team-best 5.0 sacks with 11 quarterback hurries and a forced fumble. As a redshirt sophomore, Zuniga made 34 tackles, 8.0 tackles-for-loss, four sacks in ten games played (six starts). He started all 13 of Florida's games the following season and finished the year 45 tackles and finished second on the team with 11.0 tackles for loss along 6.5 sacks. Zuniga was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Defensive Lineman of the Week for Week 3 after recording 2.5 sacks against Colorado State. He initially contemplated forgoing his final year of NCAA eligibility to enter the 2019 NFL Draft, but ultimately decided to return to Florida for his redshirt senior season. Zuniga entered his redshirt senior season as a preseason first-team All-SEC selection. He was named to the watchlist for the

Chuck Bednarik Award The Chuck Bednarik Award is presented annually to the defensive player in college football as judged by the Maxwell Football Club to be the best in the United States. The award is named for Chuck Bednarik, a former college and professional Ameri ...

midway through the season. Zuniga suffered a high ankle sprain against

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...

, causing him to miss the next two games, and then re-injured his ankle against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and missed the final four games of the regular season. He returned to play in the 2019 Orange Bowl and finished the season with 14 tackles, 7 tackles for a loss, and 3 sacks.

Professional career

New York Jets

Zuniga was selected by the New York Jets in the third round, 79th overall, of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was placed on injured reserve on September 7, 2020. He was designated to return from injured reserve on October 7, and began practicing with the team again. He was activated on October 28. On September 1, 2021, Zuniga was waived by the Jets and re-signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on January 5, 2022. On August 30, 2022, Zuniga was waived by the Jets.

Seattle Seahawks

On September 5, 2022, the Seahawks added Zuniga to their practice squad. He was released on October 12.

New Orleans Saints

On October 18, 2022, Zuniga was signed to the

practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 9, 2023.

References

External links

Florida Gators bioNew York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zuniga, Jabari 1997 births Living people Players of American football from Marietta, Georgia American football defensive ends American football linebackers Florida Gators football players New York Jets players Seattle Seahawks players New Orleans Saints players