Vernon Hargreaves III (born June 3, 1995) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 11th overall by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...

in the

2016 NFL Draft The 2016 NFL Draft was the 81st annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. As in 2015 NFL Draft, 2015, the draft took place at the Auditorium Theatre and Grant Park (Chicago), ...

Early years

Hargreaves attended Wharton High School in

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, where he played football. As a sophomore in 2010, he had 44 tackles, two sacks, and two interceptions. As a junior in 2011, he had 49 tackles and two interceptions, along with 11 offensive

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. As a senior in 2012, he had 110

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football ** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking u ...

and five

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team ...

s. He was recognized as the most valuable player (MVP) of the 2013

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 U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on Januar ...

. In addition to football, Hargreaves competed in

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

at Wharton. As a senior in 2012, he posted a personal-best time of 22.56 seconds in the

200-meter dash The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slight ...

at the Hillsborough County National Division. At the

FHSAA The Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) is an organization whose purpose is to organize sports competition for high schools in Florida. It is a member of the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). Florida uses ...

District Meet, he placed fourth in the 100-meter dash (11.10 s), second in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

() and twelfth in the high jump (). Regarded as a five-star recruit by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

, Hargreaves was ranked as the nation's best

recruit and the second best player overall.

College career

Hargreaves accepted an athletic scholarship 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 ...

, where he has played for head coaches

Will Muschamp William Lawrence Muschamp (born August 3, 1971) is an American football coach and former player. He is the co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach at the University of Georgia. He served as head football coach at the University of Florida fr ...

and

Jim McElwain James Frank McElwain (born March 1, 1962) is an American football coach who is currently the head coach at Central Michigan University. He previously served as the head coach at Florida from 2015 to 2017, and Colorado State from 2012 to 2014, wh ...

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...

teams in

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 ...

(SEC) competition in 2013, 2014, and 2015. As a true freshman in 2013, he started 10 of 12 games, recording 38 tackles and three interceptions, and received first-team All-SEC honors at the cornerback position. As a sophomore, he played 12 games with three interceptions, 13 passes defended, and two fumble recoveries on 50 tackles. As a junior, he made four interceptions, a forced fumble, and four passes defended on 33 tackles in 12 games. He earned All-SEC honors. After his junior year, he announced his intentions forgo his senior season and enter the

Statistics

Professional career

Hargreaves was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the top cornerback prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and NFL analyst

Daniel Jeremiah Daniel Jeremiah (born December 5, 1977) is an analyst for the NFL Network, and a writer with NFL.com. He also serves as a color commentator for Los Angeles Chargers games on KFI radio. Jeremiah was a starting quarterback at Northeastern Louis ...

, was ranked the second best cornerback in the draft by NFL analysts Mike Mayock,

Lance Zierlein Lance Zierlein is a sports analyst and commentator. He has hosted sports talk shows on KILT 610, KBME 790, KGOW 1560 AM, and KFNC 97.5 FM in Houston, Texas Career Zierlein graduated from Lamar Consolidated High School in 1988. Following high ...

, and

Bucky Brooks William Eldridge "Bucky" Brooks Jr. (born January 22, 1971) is a sportswriter and former professional American football player. He played for five National Football League (NFL) teams in a five-year career, primarily as a kick returner. Brooks ...

, and was ranked the second best defensive back in the draft by ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twi ...

'' and NFL analyst Charles Davis.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

2016

The

selected Hargreaves in the first round (11th overall) of the

. He was the third cornerback to be selected after

Jalen Ramsey Jalen Lattrel Ramsey (born October 24, 1994) is an American football cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars fifth over ...

and

Eli Apple Eli Apple (né Woodard, born August 9, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State, where he was a part of the team that won the 2015 College ...

and the first of seven Florida Gators in 2016. On May 6, 2016, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Hargreaves to fully guaranteed four-year, $14.17 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $8.51 million. Throughout training camp, he participated in an open competition to name a starting cornerback against Brent Grimes, Johnthan Banks,

Alterraun Verner Alterraun Ennis Verner (born December 13, 1988) is a former American football cornerback. He played college football for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round of the 2010 ...

, Jude Adjei-Barimah, and

Joel Ross Joel Ross (born Joel Hogg 31 May 1977) is a multi award winning British radio DJ and television presenter. He has worked with a co-host Jason King (known on-air as JK). He currently presents the Rock FM Breakfast Show. Career Best known ...

. Head coach

Dirk Koetter Dirk Jeffrey Koetter ( ; born February 5, 1959) is an American football coach who is currently serving as the interim offensive coordinator at Boise State University. He was the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football Lea ...

named Hargreaves the third cornerback on the depth chart, behind Brent Grimes and

. He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season-opener at the Atlanta Falcons and recorded two combined tackles during a 31–24 victory. He made his first career tackle on wide receiver

Justin Hardy Justin Hardy (born December 18, 1991) is a gridiron football wide receiver for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. He played college f ...

in the first quarter. On October 30, 2016, Hargreaves collected a season-high eight solo tackles and two pass deflections during a 30–24 overtime loss to the Oakland Raiders in Week 8. In Week 14, Hargreaves made three solo tackles, broke up a pass, and made his first career interception off a pass by

Drew Brees Drew Christopher Brees (; born January 15, 1979) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. A member of the New Orleans Saints for most of his career, Brees i ...

in the Buccaneers' 16–11 victory against 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 ...

. He finished his rookie season with 76 combined tackles (68 solo), nine pass deflections, and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts.

2017

Head coach Dirk Koetter retained Grimes and Hargreaves as the starting cornerbacks to begin the 2017 regular season. On October 1, 2017, Hargreaves recorded a career-high nine solo tackles and deflected a pass during a 25–23 victory against the New York Giants in Week 4. In Week 8, he tied his season-high of two pass deflections and recorded six combined tackles during a 17–3 loss to 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 club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

. On November 12, 2017, Hargreaves made three combined tackles before exiting the Buccaneers' 15–10 win against the New York Jets in the third quarter after sustaining a

hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupe ...

injury. He was inactive for the next five games (Weeks 11–15) before the Buccaneers opted to place him on injured reserve on December 20, 2017. He finished his second season with 42 combined tackles (37 solo) and five pass deflections in nine games and eight starts.

2018

In Week 1, against the

, Hargreaves recorded seven combined tackles, one pass defensed and forced a fumble that was recovered by Justin Evans and returned for a touchdown. He suffered a shoulder injury in the game and was placed on injured reserve on September 12, 2018.

2019

On April 24, 2019, the Buccaneers exercised the fifth-year option on Hargreaves contract. In Week 1 against the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

, Hargreaves intercepted

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed Jimmy G, is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he set the school r ...

and returned it 15 yards for a touchdown in the 31–17 loss. In Week 2 against the

, Hargreaves made 12 tackles, including making a pivotal stop during fourth down by pushing running back

Christian McCaffrey Christian Jackson McCaffrey (born June 7, 1996) is an American football running back for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Stanford and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers eighth overa ...

out of bounds short of the first down marker in a 20–14 win. After starting the first nine games of the season, Hargreaves was waived by the Buccaneers on November 12, 2019.

Houston Texans

On November 13, 2019, Hargreaves was claimed off waivers by the Houston Texans. He was released on February 14, 2020, but re-signed with the Texans on April 6. In Week 9 of the 2020 season against 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team pla ...

, Hargreaves recorded his first interception as a Texan off a pass thrown by Jake Luton during the 27–25 win. On March 17, 2021, Hargreaves signed a contract extension with the Texans. He entered the season as a starting cornerback. He started five of eight games played before being released on November 3.

Cincinnati Bengals

On November 4, 2021, Hargreaves was claimed off waivers by the Cincinnati Bengals. Hargreaves was penalized 15 yards for running onto the field in Super Bowl LVI, despite being inactive for the game. Six days later, Hargreaves was fined $5,555.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

His father Vernon Hargreaves Jr. is a college football coach who won a national championship as the linebackers coach for the Miami Hurricanes in 2001.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hargreaves, Vernon 1995 births Living people Players of American football from Tampa, Florida American football cornerbacks Florida Gators football players All-American college football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Houston Texans players Cincinnati Bengals players