Evan Weaver
Evan Weaver (born August 11, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at California and was drafted by the Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
.jpg) | |||
| No. 50 – Arizona Cardinals | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Linebacker | ||
| Personal information | |||
| Born: | August 11, 1998 Spokane, Washington | ||
| Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||
| Weight: | 235 lb (107 kg) | ||
| Career information | |||
| High school: | Gonzaga Prep (Spokane, Washington) | ||
| College: | California | ||
| NFL Draft: | 2020 / Round: 6 / Pick: 202 | ||
| Career history | |||
| |||
| Roster status: | Active | ||
| Career highlights and awards | |||
| |||
| Career NFL statistics | |||
| |||
Early life and high school
Weaver was born and raised in Spokane, Washington and attended Gonzaga Preparatory School, where he played baseball and football. He was named first team All-State and the Inland Northwest Defensive MVP after making 123 tackles, 36 for a loss, with 14 sacks and six forced fumbles.[1] Rated a three-star prospect by most recruiting services, Weaver committed to play college football at California over offers from Arizona, Boise State, Utah, Washington and Washington State.[2] As a senior, Weaver was named the State Defensive Player of the Year after recording 125 tackles, 1 int, 5 forced fumbles, 37 tackles for loss, 24 sacks, and two safeties.[3] He finished high school career with 393 tackles, 78.0 tackles for loss, 45.0 sacks, and 14 forced fumbles.[4]
College career
Weaver played in 11 games as a true freshman as a reserve defensive end, making 16 tackles with 1.5 sacks. Weaver moved from defensive end to outside linebacker during spring camp and then moved to inside linebacker going into his sophomore year.[5] He became a starter midway through the season and finished with 55 tackles, two for loss, and two passes broken up.
As a junior, Weaver started all 13 of the Golden Bears games and led the FBS with 159 tackles (9.5 for loss) with 4.5 sacks, two interceptions, and six passes broken up. He was named the Pac-12 Conference player of the week on October 29, 2018 for an 11-tackle (one for loss) performance with a pass broken up and an interception return for a touchdown in Cal's 12-10 upset of #15 Washington.[6] Weaver was named a second team All-American by Pro Football Focus, first team All-Pac-12 by the Associated Press and second team All-Pac-12 by the league's coaches.[7]
Weaver entered his senior season on the watchlists for the Butkus Award and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy.[8] He was named a midseason All-American by the Associated Press and CBS Sports.[9][10] At the end of the season, Weaver was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year and earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors after leading the nation with a school-record and Pac-12-record 182 tackles.[11][12] He also became the first Cal player to earn consensus first-team All-American honors since Daymeion Hughes and DeSean Jackson in 2006.[13]
| Year | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comb | Total | Ast | Sck | PDef | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | ||
| 2016 | 11 | 16 | 9 | 7 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 12 | 55 | 30 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 13 | 155 | 88 | 67 | 4.5 | 6 | 2 | 47 | 23.5 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | 13 | 181 | 103 | 78 | 2.5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | 49 | 384 | 213 | 171 | 8.5 | 11 | 2 | 47 | 23.5 | 37 | 1 | 3 | 0 [14] |
Professional career
Weaver was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round with the 202nd overall pick of the 2020 NFL Draft.[15]
References
- Closky, Evan (August 14, 2015). "Gonzaga Prep standout Evan Weaver commits to Cal". KREM.com. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- Kunnath, Avinash (August 15, 2015). "Cal football recruiting commit: Evan Weaver, Spokane defensive end". CaliforniaGoldenBlogs.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
- Gorcey, Ryan (October 13, 2017). "Evan Weaver: It Only Looks Easy". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Simmons, Rusty (September 7, 2018). "After career game, Cal's Evan Weaver looks for more against BYU". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Triebwasser, Melissa B. (December 24, 2018). "Better Know a Guy: Cal LB Evan Weaver". FrogsOWar.com. SB Nation. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- Bialaszek, Sean (October 29, 2018). "Cal Football: Evan Weaver Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week". GoldenGateSports.com. FanSided. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Curtis, Jake (December 6, 2018). "Cal Football: Evan Weaver, Ashtyn Davis named AP First-Team All-Pac-12". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Yuen, Josh (July 23, 2019). "Cal linebacker Evan Weaver increases preseason stock with Butkus, Nagurski watchlist nominations". The Daily Californian. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Hellman, Sam (October 15, 2019). "CBS Sports names college football midseason All-Americans". 247Sports.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- Russo, Ralph (October 15, 2019). "AP Midseason All-America Team: Burrow, Taylor lead 1st team". APNews.com. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
- "Pac-12 Football All-Conference honors announced". pac-12.com. Pac-12. December 10, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2019.
- "Bears Overwhelm Illinois To Win Redbox Bowl". calbears.com. Cal Athletics. December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
- "Evan Weaver's All-America Status: Consensus". calbears.com. Cal Athletics. December 19, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2019.
- {cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/4035875/type/college}
- Newman, Logan (April 25, 2020). "Cards draft pick Evan Weaver has desire for 'taking the soul out of people'". ArizonaSports.com. Retrieved April 26, 2020.