James Husker Lynch (born January 20, 1999) 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 with ...

nose tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

for the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

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 College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at Baylor.

Early years

Lynch grew up in

Round Rock, Texas Round Rock is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, in Williamson County (with a small part in Travis County), which is a part of the Greater Austin metropolitan area. Its population is 119,468 as of the 2020 census. The city straddles the Bal ...

and attended

Round Rock High School Round Rock High School is a public high school located in Round Rock, Texas, a suburb of North Austin. Founded in 1867, it is the oldest high school in the Round Rock Independent School District. As of 2021, it is the largest high school in the Gr ...

, playing defensive line and punter on the school's football team. He was named the District 13-6A lineman of the year in each of his final two high school seasons. As a senior, Lynch recorded 46 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 3 pass breakups, 3 fumbles recoveries and a forced fumble and punted 27 times for an average of 43.7 yards. He initially committed to play

at Texas Christian before switching his commitment to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. Lynch de-committed again during his senior year before deciding to play at Baylor.

College career

Lynch played in 11 games during his true freshman season as a member of the Bears' defensive tackle rotation and was named a Freshman All-American by ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

'' after making 20 tackles (five for loss), three sacks (most among

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

freshmen) and a fumble recovery. As a sophomore, he led the team with 5.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss and was named first-team All-Big 12 by the

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and to the second-team by the league's coaches. Lynch was named preseason first-team All-Big 12 and to 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 Ame ...

watchlist entering his junior season. Lynch was named first-team All-Big 12, the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, the conference Defensive Player of the Year and was a unanimous All-America selection after finishing the regular season with 41 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss and a conference-high 13.5 sacks along with three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, five passes defended and two blocked kicks. Lynch announced that he would forgo his senior season to enter the

2020 NFL Draft The 2020 NFL Draft was the 85th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2020 NFL season. The first round was held on April 23, followed by the second and third rounds on April 24. The d ...

Professional career

Lynch was selected by the

with the 130th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He made his NFL debut on October 11, 2020, against the

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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

on '' Sunday Night Football'' and recorded his first career sack on

Russell Wilson Russell Carrington Wilson (born November 29, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL). He previously played his first 10 seasons for the Seattle Seahawks. Wilson is widely regarded ...

during the 27–26 loss. On August 4, 2023, it was announced that Lynch had suffered a torn ACL in practice and would miss the entirety of the 2023 season. He 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 th ...

two days later.

Personal

Lynch's father, Tim, played linebacker for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and gave him the middle name "Husker" after the school's mascot.

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioBaylor Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, James 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Round Rock, Texas American football defensive tackles Baylor Bears football players All-American college football players Minnesota Vikings players