Jordan Mims (born June 16, 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 ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

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 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 ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

Early life

Mims grew up in

East Palo Alto, California East Palo Alto (abbreviated E.P.A.) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of East Palo Alto was 30,034. It is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, roughly halfway between the cities of ...

and attended high school at Menlo-Atherton. In Mims career, he rushed for 4,080 yards and 46 touchdowns on 474 carries, he also caught 50 passes for 687 yards and five touchdowns. Mims would decide to commit to play

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

over other schools such as

Eastern Washington Eastern Washington is the region of the U.S. state of Washington located east of the Cascade Range. It contains the city of Spokane (the second largest city in the state), the Tri-Cities, the Columbia River and the Grand Coulee Dam, the Hanfor ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, and

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

College career

In Mims first three seasons, he rushed 291 times for 1,203 yards and 13 touchdowns, while also bringing in 45 passes for 521 yards and three touchdowns. However, in

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Mims would breakout. Mims had a breakout game in week nine, where he rushed for 186 yards and two touchdowns to help upset #21 San Diego State and hand them their first loss of the year, beating them 30–20. Mims also had a stellar performance in the team's

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

where he rushed for 165 yards and two touchdowns along with hauling in five passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. For his performance on the game he was named the

New Mexico Bowl The New Mexico Bowl is an NCAA-sanctioned post-season college football bowl game that has been played annually since 2006 at University Stadium, on the campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Owned and operated by ESPN ...

Offensive MVP. Mims finished the 2021 season with 710 yards and six touchdowns while also racking up 25 receptions for 324 yards and four touchdowns. Mims opened up the season hot, having a standout game in week two against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, where he rushed 21 times for 122 yards and two touchdowns. However the Bulldogs would fall 35-32 as Oregon State fullback

Jack Colletto Jack Colletto (born November 19, 1998) is an American football linebacker and Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Oregon State Beavers football, Oregon State Beavers. He was the recipient of the 2022 Paul Hornung Award, given to the mos ...

scored a game winning touchdown. In week seven Mims had his best regular season performance as he would have 26 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown, as Mims helped the Bulldogs beat

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...

41–9. Then four weeks later in Week 11, Mims had another great performance rushing 19 times for 156 yards and a touchdown as he helped lead Fresno State to another win beating

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

41–14. Just a week later in Fresno State's season finale Mims rushed for three touchdowns to help beat

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

30–0. In the

Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game The Mountain West Conference Football Championship Game is an annual postseason college football game played to determine the champion of the Mountain West Conference (MW). History From 1999 to 2012, the champion of the Mountain West was determi ...

, Mims had an excellent game running for 83 yards and two touchdowns, as he helped the Bulldogs beat

Boise State Boise State University (BSU) is a public research university in Boise, Idaho. Founded in 1932 by the Episcopal Church, it became an independent junior college in 1934 and has been awarding baccalaureate and master's degrees It became a publ ...

, 28–16. In Fresno State's bowl game, Mims had the best game of his career rushing for 205 yards and two touchdowns, as Fresno State defeated

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

29–6 to win the

LA Bowl The LA Bowl is an annual NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football bowl game played at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, first played in December 2021. The bowl has tie-ins with the Mountain West Conference, Mountain ...

. For his performance on the game he was named the LA Bowl offensive MVP. Mims finished the year with his best year ever, carrying the ball 261 times for 1,372 yards and 18 touchdowns, while also bringing in 21 receptions for 126 yards and a touchdown. For his performance on the year he was named First Team All Mountain West. Mims finished his career in the Fresno State record books multiple times ending up 5th in all purpose yards, 4th all time in receptions by a running back, 4th all time in rushing yards, tied for 3rd all time in rushing touchdowns, tied for 3rd all time in 150 yard rushing games, 2nd all time in rushing attempts, and 2nd all time scoring leader.

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

After not being selected in the

2023 NFL draft The 2023 NFL Draft will be the 88th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in the plaza outside of Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 27–29, ...

, Mims signed with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player 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 contract at present but who is a ...

. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

New Orleans Saints

On August 30, 2023, Mims was signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

of the

. He was promoted to the active roster on October 14 and made his regular season debut in the Saints 20–13 loss to the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, where he recorded one tackle in a special teams role. Mims was waived five days later after running back

Jamaal Williams Jamaal Malik Williams (born April 3, 1995) is an American football running back for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at BYU and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round of the ...

was activated from

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 ...

. On October 23, 2023, Mims again signed to the Saints practice squad. Following the end of the 2023 regular season, the Saints signed him to a reserve/future contract on January 8, 2024.

References

External links

Fresno State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mims, Jordan 1999 births Living people American football running backs Fresno State Bulldogs football players Players of American football from East Palo Alto, California Menlo-Atherton High School alumni Buffalo Bills players New Orleans Saints players