K'Lavon Chaisson (born July 25, 1999) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the

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of the

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(NFL). He played

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for the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers (also known as the Fighting Tigers) are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiat ...

and was selected by the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in the first round of 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 ...

Early years

Chaisson was born and grew up in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

and attended North Shore Senior High School. He quit playing football as a freshman in order to focus on basketball, but returned to football as a junior. He became an immediate starter at defensive end for the Mustangs, leading Texas high schoolers with 15.5 sacks along with 50 tackles, including 13 for loss, and forced three fumbles and helped lead North Shore to the Class 6A Division I state championship game and was named first-team All-State by the

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. Chaisson was named the defensive MVP of the game after recording two sacks, four tackles for loss, a blocked kick and a forced fumble in the game and making a game-saving tackle at fourth and goal to preserve a 21–14 win over

Todd Dodge Todd Russell Dodge (born July 21, 1963) is an American football coach and former player, and current head coach at Lovejoy High School in Lucas, Texas. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin where he played quarterback for the ...

's Westlake High School. As a senior, Chaisson was named the 21-6A district defensive MVP as well as included on the '' Scout.com'' All-Midlands team and was invited to the 2017

Under Armour All-America Game The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game wa ...

. In the game he recorded six tackles, five of which were for loss, and tied the game's record with three sacks. Rated a five star recruit by ''Scout.com'' and four star by ''247Sports'', ''ESPN'' and ''Rivals'', Chaisson committed to play college football at LSU over offers from Florida and Texas.

College career

As a true freshman, Chaisson started the first game of the Tigers' season against BYU and recorded his first two career sacks in the next game during a 45–10 win over

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. He was named to the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

All-Freshman team after finishing the season with 27 tackles, two sacks, and 4.5 tackles for loss in 12 games played (three starts). Named a starter at outside

going into his sophomore season, Chaisson made five tackles with a sack, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hurry in the season opener against

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

before suffering a knee injury in the fourth quarter. He was diagnosed with a torn ACL the following day, ending his season and forcing him to use a medical

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. Chaisson was chosen to wear the No. 18 Jersey by the Tigers' coaching staff going into his redshirt sophomore season. He finished the season with 60 tackles and led the team with 6.5 sacks, 13.5 tackles for loss, and six quarterback hurries along with two passes broken up and a forced fumble and was named first-team All-SEC. Chaisson was named the Defensive MVP of the

2019 Peach Bowl The 2019 Peach Bowl (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2019 Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl) was a college football bowl game played on December 28, 2019, at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, with kickoff at 4:00 p.m. EST on ESPN. It was the 52nd ...

after a six-tackle, two-sack performance against

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Chaisson had two tackles in LSU's 42–25 win over Clemson in the 2020 National Championship Game. On January 17, 2020, Chaisson announced that he would forgo his remaining two years of eligibility and enter the

. He finished his college career with 92 total tackles, including 19 for loss, 9.5 sacks, and 1 forced fumble.

Professional career

Jacksonville Jaguars

Chaisson was selected with the 20th pick in the

by the

, using a pick previously acquired from the

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

in a trade for

Jalen Ramsey Jalen Ramsey ( ; born October 24, 1994) is an American professional football cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles and was selected by the Jacksonvill ...

. He made his debut in the 2020 season opener against the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

, making two tackles. Chaisson recorded the first and only sack of the season in the following week against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. On October 11, 2022, Chaisson was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. He was activated on December 10. On May 1, 2023, the Jaguars declined the fifth-year option of Chaisson's rookie contract, making him a free agent in the 2024 offseason.

Carolina Panthers

On March 16, 2024, Chaisson signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

. He was released on September 3.

Las Vegas Raiders

On September 10, 2024, Chaisson signed with the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on October 5.

New England Patriots

On March 17, 2025, Chaisson signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the

NFL career statistics

Regular Season

Postseason

Personal life

Chaisson's father, Kelvin Chaisson, played linebacker at

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

. Kelvin Chaisson was shot and killed in 2014 at the age of 33 when K'Lavon was a sophomore in high school.

References

External links

New England Patriots bioLSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaisson, K'Lavon 1999 births Living people Players of American football from Houston American football outside linebackers American football defensive ends North Shore Senior High School (Texas) alumni LSU Tigers football players Under Armour All-American football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Carolina Panthers players Las Vegas Raiders players New England Patriots players