Ja'Wuan Amir James (born June 3, 1992) 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 ...

offensive tackle who is a free agent. He was drafted by the

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

in the first round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. He has also played for 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 headquar ...

High school career

James attended

North Gwinnett High School North Gwinnett High School is a public high school outside the city limits of Suwanee, Georgia, United States. It is part of the district Gwinnett County Public Schools. The school's principal is Nathan Ballantine. History North Gwinnett High ...

Suwanee, Georgia Suwanee is a city in Gwinnett County and a northeastern suburb of Atlanta in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,355; this had grown to an estimated 20,907 as of 2019. Portions of Forsyth and Fulton counties ...

, where he was teammates with Austin Shepherd. In his sophomore season, North Gwinnett advanced to the GHSA Class 5A state championship game with 13–2 record, where they lost 34–6 to Valdosta Lowndes led by

Greg Reid Greg Reid (born September 8, 1990) is a professional gridiron football cornerback for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He led college football in yards per punt return in 2009, and was named defensive MVP of the 2010 ...

and Telvin Smith. As a junior, James helped North Gwinnett to a berth in state quarterfinals behind 10–3 finish, where they lost 20–3 to Alec Ogletree's

Newnan Newnan is a city in Metro Atlanta and the county seat of Coweta County, Georgia, about southwest of Atlanta. Its population was 42,549 at the 2020 census, up from 33,039 in 2010. History Newnan was established as county seat of Coweta Coun ...

. In James's senior season, North Gwinnett finished with a 13–1 mark, earning Region 7-5A championship while advancing to the state quarterfinals, where they lost 35–0 to Camden County. After the season, James was selected Class 5A All-State by Georgia Sportswriters, and was invited to play in the 2010 Under Armour All-America Game in St. Petersburg, Florida. Considered a four-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 ...

'', he was rated the eighth best offensive tackle prospect in his class and the sixth best prospect from

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He was such a highly sought after prospect that Tennessee's head coach Lane Kiffin wanted to land a helicopter on North Gwinnett's softball field in an attempt to impress James, but was unable to receive clearance from the high school.

College career

James attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state ...

from 2010 to 2013. He started 49 consecutive games for the Volunteers, all at right tackle. His 49 starts set a record for career starts by an offensive lineman in Tennessee history (passing Jeff Smith's 48 starts from 1992 to 1995). He played on an elite offensive line that produced four NFL offensive linemen with three of them going on to become starters.

Professional career

200px, James at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine. On December 9, 2013, it was announced that James and teammate

Daniel McCullers Daniel Ray McCullers-Sanders (born August 11, 1992) is an American football nose tackle who is a free agent. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tennessee. Early years ...

had accepted their invitations to the 2014 Senior Bowl. On January 24, 2014, it was reported that James would unfortunately miss the Reese's Senior Bowl after suffering a sprained knee during practice. His performances at practice were well-received and helped his draft stock. James was one of 50 collegiate linemen to attend the

NFL Scouting Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foo ...

Indianapolis, Indiana Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...

. Tennessee had a record four offensive linemen attend the combine, that include James, James Stone,

Antonio Richardson Antonio James "Tiny" Richardson (born February 24, 1992) is a former American football offensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee. High school career Richardson s ...

, and Zach Fulton. He performed all of the combine drills well and finished sixth among all offensive linemen in the three-cone drill and ninth in the short shuttle. On April 2, 2014, he attended Tennessee's pro day, along with Zach Fulton, Antonio Richardson, James Stone, Daniel McCullers, Jacques Smith,

Rajion Neal Rajion Lashad Neal (born March 28, 1992) is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. He played college football at Tennessee. Neal was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2014, and has also bee ...

Michael Palardy Michael Albert Palardy (born July 6, 1992) is an American football punter who is a free agent. He played college football at Tennessee and was signed by the Oakland Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2014. He has also been a member of the ...

, and seven other prospects. He opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills for scouts and representatives from all 32 NFL Teams, that included Seattle Seahawks' offensive line coach

Tom Cable Thomas Lee Cable Jr. (born November 26, 1964) is an American football coach who last was the offensive line coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the Seattle Seahawks assistant head ...

. During the draft process, James had private workouts and meetings with a few teams, including 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 club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

and

. At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, James projected to be a first to third round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked the sixth best offensive tackle prospect by NFLDraftScout.com, the ninth best offensive tackle in the draft by NFL analyst Mike Mayock, and 15th best offensive linemen 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 ...

''.

Miami Dolphins

2014

The

selected James in the first round (19th overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft. He was the fourth offensive linemen selected in 2014. James was the highest selected Tennessee Volunteers offensive lineman since

Charles McRae Charles Edward McRae (born September 16, 1968) is Senior VP Operations for Radiology Partners and a former American football offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He spent five seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, starting ...

and Antone Davis in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

. On June 19, 2014, the Dolphins signed James to a fully guaranteed four-year, $8.42 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $4.44 million. James entered training camp slated as the starting right tackle with newly acquired free agent Branden Albert starting on the blindside. Head coach

Joe Philbin Joseph Anthony Philbin (born July 2, 1961) is an American football coach who, until recently, served as the offensive line coach for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League. He was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, a position he h ...

named James the official starting right tackle to begin the regular season. He made his first career start and professional regular season debut in the Miami Dolphins' season-opening 33–20 victory over the New England Patriots. In the first four games, James yielded only one sack and ranked as the tenth best run blocker and 20th best offensive tackles overall among the 67 offensive tackles that qualified. He was considered an improvement over former starting right tackles

Tyson Clabo Tyson Clabo (born October 17, 1981) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He played college football at Wake Forest. Clabo is the nephew of retired NFL punter N ...

and Jonathan Martin. In Week 10, he was moved to left tackle after starter Branden Albert was placed on injured/reserve for the remainder of the season after suffering a knee injury. He started 16 games for the Dolphins in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. James played poorly in the last eight games and received an overall grade of -28.4 from

Pro Football Focus Pro Football Focus (also written as ProFootballFocus, and often referred to by its initials, PFF) is a sports analytics company that focuses on thorough analysis of the National Football League (NFL) and NCAA Division-I football in the United Sta ...

. He received a grade of +0.3 in run blocking.

2015

James returned to the starting right tackle position to start training camp and remained the starter to begin the regular season. He started the first seven games of the 2015 season before suffering a toe injury and being placed on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Head coach

was fired after Week 4. Tight end coach

Dan Campbell Daniel Allen Campbell (born April 13, 1976), nicknamed "Motor City Dan Campbell", or "MCDC" for short, is an American football coach and a former tight end who is the head coach for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He pr ...

was named interim head coach for the rest of the season as James finished with only seven starts and was ranked the 33rd best offensive tackle by

. Pro Football Focus graded him at 70 overall, 79 at pass blocking, and 35 at run blocking.

2016

James remained the starting right tackle, opposite Branden Albert, to begin the season under new head coach

Adam Gase Adam Joseph Gase (born March 29, 1978) is a former American football coach in the National Football League (NFL). He came to prominence as the offensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos from 2013 to 2014, whose offense set the NFL record for ...

. The

drafted the top ranked offensive tackle prospect

Laremy Tunsil Laremy Alexander Tunsil (born August 2, 1994) is an American football offensive tackle for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ole Miss. High school career A native of Lake City, Florida, T ...

with the 13th overall pick, but opted to use him as an offensive guard for his first season. He started 16 consecutive games at right tackle and helped the Dolphins achieve a 10–6 record and place second in the AFC East. On January 8, 2017, James started in his first career playoff game as the Dolphins were defeated 30-12 by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wildcard Playoffs.

ranked James 32nd among all offensive tackles with a grade of 78.0 in 2016 and Branden Albert ranked 65th. James was the Miami Dolphins' highest graded offensive lineman of the season as the entire line ranked 30th overall. He also received a grade of 81.0 for run blocking which ranked 18th among all offensive tackles.

2017

On May 1, 2017, the Miami Dolphins exercised the fifth-year, $9.34 million option on James' rookie contract for the 2018 season. He started the first eight games of the season at right tackle before suffering a hamstring injury in Week 9 against the Oakland Raiders on '' Sunday Night Football''. He was placed on injured reserve on November 11, 2017.

2018

James started 15 games at right tackle in 2018, missing one game with a knee injury.

Denver Broncos

On March 13, 2019, James signed a four-year, $51 million deal with the

. He only played in three games in 2019 due to a knee injury suffered in Week 1. On August 3, 2020, James announced he would opt out of the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. On May 4, 2021, James tore his Achilles tendon while training away from the team facility. He was placed on the reserve/

non-football injury list Non-football injury and non-football illness (NFI) are roster designations used in the National Football League (NFL) for players who are unable to practice as a result of conditions unrelated to football, or injuries that did not occur during NFL g ...

on May 7, 2021. and released from the list on May 14, 2021.

Baltimore Ravens

On June 10, 2021, James signed a two-year, $9 million contract with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...

. He was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list on August 31, 2021 to start the season. On December 8, 2021, James was designated to return to practice from reserve/non-football injury list. On September 14, 2022, the Ravens placed James on injured reserve after he tore his

Achilles tendon The Achilles tendon or heel cord, also known as the calcaneal tendon, is a tendon at the back of the lower leg, and is the thickest in the human body. It serves to attach the plantaris, gastrocnemius (calf) and soleus muscles to the calcaneus ( ...

again in the 2022 season opener against the New York Jets.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

James grew up in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, in eighth grade. He was raised by his mother, Nichelle James-Mickens, and his father, Burkley James. Throughout his childhood he mainly played basketball and briefly played baseball before becoming bored with it. He decided to play football after moving to Georgia. On July 12, 2017, James announced via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he became engaged to his longtime college girlfriend Rainey Gaffin. She was a member of the Tennessee Volunteers softball team from 2013 to 2016.

References

External links

*
Baltimore Ravens bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ja'Wuan 1992 births Living people People from Suwanee, Georgia Players of American football from Gwinnett County, Georgia North Gwinnett High School alumni African-American players of American football American football offensive tackles Tennessee Volunteers football players Miami Dolphins players Denver Broncos players Baltimore Ravens players 21st-century African-American sportspeople