Justin Hollins (born January 15, 1996) 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 ...

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, ...

for the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

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 ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, and was selected by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

in the fifth round of the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. He has also played for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

Early years

Hollins grew up in

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

and attended

Grace Preparatory Academy Grace Preparatory Academy (GPA) is a private, college-preparatory Christian school located in Arlington, Texas, United States. Founded in 1992, it offers programs for Kindergarten through Twelfth Grade students drawn from the Dallas/Fort Worth ...

before transferring to Martin High School before his senior year. At Martin, Hollins played on the same defensive line as future

2017 NFL Draft The 2017 NFL Draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...

first overall pick

Myles Garrett Myles Lorenz Garrett (born December 29, 1995) is an American football defensive end for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he received unanimous All-American honors in 2016, ...

and recorded 59 tackles and four sacks. He was rated a three-star prospect by several recruiting services and committed to play college football at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

over offers from over a dozen schools including Oklahoma, Baylor, Oklahoma State and Iowa.

College career

Hollins played five seasons for the Oregon Ducks, redshirting his sophomore season. Hollins became a starter on the defensive line for the Ducks following his redshirt season, making 51 total tackles and finishing second on the team in both tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (3). He recorded 59 tackles, 11.5 for a loss, with 4.5 sacks and an interception returned for a touchdown in his redshirt junior season. As a redshirt senior, Hollins was named first-team All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

after making 64 total tackles, including 14.5 for loss, 6.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, an interception and six passes defended. He was the only player in FBS to have at least five sacks, five forced fumbles and one interception. Hollins finished his collegiate career with 184 total tackles (36 for loss), 14 sacks, two interceptions seven forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. After the season, Hollins was invited to participate in the 2019 East–West Shrine Game and was named the game's defensive MVP after making 10 tackles, three of which were for a loss and two of which were sacks.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

Hollins was drafted by the

in the fifth round (156th overall) of the

. The Broncos acquired this selection by trading

Trevor Siemian Trevor John Siemian (born December 26, 1991) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Northwestern and was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the seventh round ...

to 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 ...

. Hollins signed a four-year rookie contract that included $300,000 in guaranteed money on May 14, 2019. Hollins made his NFL debut on September 9, 2019, against the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. Hollins recorded the first career sack on November 3, 2019, against the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Hollins finished his rookie season with 21 tackles, one sack and two passes defended in 15 games played. On September 5, 2020, Hollins was waived by the Broncos.

Los Angeles Rams

On September 6, 2020, Hollins was claimed off waivers by the

. In Week 4 against the

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

, Hollins recorded his first sack as a Ram during the 17–9 win. In Week 13 against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

, Hollins recorded a strip sack on

Kyler Murray Kyler Cole Murray (born August 7, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M, Murray played college football at University of Okl ...

that was recovered by the Rams during the 38–28 win. In Week 3 of the 2021 season, Hollins suffered a partially torn pec and was placed on injured reserve on September 27, 2021. He was activated on December 13. Hollins reached

Super Bowl LVI Super Bowl LVI was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2021 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Los Angeles Rams defeated the American Football Conference ...

where the Rams defeated the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

23–20. Hollins had one tackle in the game. He was waived by the Rams on November 22, 2022.

Green Bay Packers

On November 24, 2022, Hollins was claimed off waivers by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. On March 23, 2023, Hollins was re-signed by the Packers on a one-year, $1.2 million deal. He was released on October 21, 2023.

New York Giants

On October 24, 2023, the

signed Hollins to their practice squad.

Los Angeles Chargers

On November 15, 2023, Hollins was signed by the

off the Giants practice squad.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Postseason

References

External links

Oregon Ducks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hollins, Justin 1996 births Living people Players of American football from Arlington, Texas American football linebackers Oregon Ducks football players Denver Broncos players Los Angeles Rams players Green Bay Packers players New York Giants players Los Angeles Chargers players