Jehu Chesson
Jehu Femi Chesson II (born December 29, 1993) is a Liberian professional American football wide receiver for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Michigan, and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He owns the school record for most receiving touchdowns in a game, tied with Derrick Alexander with four. His 207 receiving yards against Indiana during the 2015 season also ranks as the third-highest total in school history.
Chesson with the Chiefs in 2017 | |||||||||||
No. 86 – New York Jets | |||||||||||
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Position: | Wide receiver | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Monrovia, Liberia | December 29, 1993||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 204 lb (93 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Ladue Horton Watkins (Ladue, Missouri) | ||||||||||
College: | Michigan | ||||||||||
NFL Draft: | 2017 / Round: 4 / Pick: 139 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of 2019 | |||||||||||
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Early years
Chesson was born in Monrovia, Liberia on December 29, 1993, and grew up during the First Liberian Civil War. His father, Jehu Chesson I, worked in the financial industry, but joined Lutheran World Service as a relief worker during the war.[1] Chesson moved with his family to Ivory Coast at age two and to St. Louis, Missouri, at age five.[2] His father worked for MasterCard Worldwide in the St. Louis area.[1]
Chesson grew up in St. Louis and began playing American football in the eighth grade.[3] He attended Ladue Horton Watkins High School where he played at the wide receiver position. He caught 53 passes for 757 yards as a senior,[4] and he was selected as a first-team All-Missouri player. He was also the Missouri high school champion in the 300-meter hurdles in 2011.[5]
College career
Chesson accepted a scholarship to play football at the University of Michigan. As a freshman in 2012, he redshirted and did not see game action.[4] As a sophomore in 2013, he had a 33-yard touchdown on his first collegiate reception and caught 15 passes for 221 yards.[6] As a junior in 2014, he caught 14 passes for 154 yards.[4]
Chesson also saw action on kickoff returns, and in an October 10, 2015, game against Northwestern, he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.[7] Chesson's return against Northwestern was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by a Michigan player since Darryl Stonum accomplished the feat in 2009 against Notre Dame.[8]
On November 14, 2015, Chesson had a breakout game, catching 10 passes for 207 yards and four touchdowns against Indiana.[9] Three of the four touchdowns were scored in the first half,[10] and the fourth came on a fourth-down play with two seconds remaining in regulation and Michigan trailing 34 to 27.[11] Chesson's 207 receiving yards ranks as the third highest single-game total in Michigan football history. He also tied Derrick Alexander's Michigan single-game record of four receiving touchdowns set in 1992.[10][12] He was subsequently named the Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, along with Jake Rudock. Chesson and Rudock became the second-ever pair of teammates in conference history to share the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award.[13]
During the 2015 season, Chesson led Michigan with 1,085 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns. He established new career highs with 50 receptions and 764 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. He also had 166 return yards and one touchdown on four kick returns and 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns on eight carries (19.4 yards per carry).[14] Following the 2015 season, Chesson was named to the All-Big Ten offensive first-team, and was awarded the Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player Award, by his teammates.[15]
Professional career
Chesson was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round, 139th overall, in the 2017 NFL Draft.[16][17] In Week 9, against the Dallas Cowboys, he recorded a 10-yard reception for the first catch of his NFL career.[18] He finished his rookie season with two receptions for 18 yards and no touchdowns. He was waived on September 1, 2018.[19]
Washington Redskins
Chesson was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad on September 5, 2018.[20] He was promoted to the active roster on September 12, 2018, but was waived on September 17 and returned to the practice squad the following day.[21][22][23] He was promoted to the active roster again on October 18 after injuries to Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson.[24]
Chesson was waived on August 31, 2019, but was signed to the practice squad the following day.[25][26] His practice squad contract with the team expired on January 6, 2020.[27]
New York Jets
Chesson signed a futures contract with the New York Jets on January 9, 2020.[28]
References
- "Lifting Employees of African Descent' at MasterCard". St. Louis American. July 26, 2012.
- Angelique S. Chengelis (August 3, 2015). "UM's Jehu Chesson living his American dream". The Detroit News.
- Steve Kornacki (August 3, 2015). "Chesson is Hard to Beat in Many Ways". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan.
- "Jehu Chesson Bio". University of Michigan. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- Kyle Meinke (May 30, 2012). "Michigan commit Jehu Chesson hopes track exploits translate to football field". The Ann Arbor News.
- "Jehu Chesson can't stop scoring touchdowns". ESPN.com. November 2015.
- Aaron McMann (October 10, 2015). "Watch Jehu Chesson's 96-yard kickoff return for TD to start Michigan-Northwestern". Mlive.com.
- Mark Snyder (October 11, 2015). "U-M notes: Jehu Chesson's kick return sets tone early". Detroit Free Press.
- "Jehu Chesson Game By Game Stats". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
- Mark Snyder (November 15, 2015). "U-M notes: Chesson catches four TDs, ties school record". Detroit Free Press.
- "Chesson saves Michigan with 4th TD". ESPN.com. November 14, 2015. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
- "Record Days from Rudock, Chesson Help U-M Outlast IU in Double OT". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. November 14, 2015.
- "Rudock, Chesson Share Big Ten Weekly Offensive Honor". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. November 16, 2015. Retrieved November 16, 2015.
- "2015 Michigan Football: Michigan Overall Team Statistics (as of Jan 01, 2016) All games" (PDF). University of Michigan. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
- "Chesson's Selection as Team MVP Highlights Awards at Bust". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
- "Quartet of Wolverines Go So Far on Third Day of NFL Draft". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. April 29, 2017. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved April 29, 2017.
- Thorman, Joel (April 29, 2017). "NFL draft results: Chiefs trade up and pick Michigan WR Jehu Chesson in fourth round". ArrowheadPride.com. Retrieved May 7, 2017.
- "Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys - November 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 6, 2017.
- "Chiefs Roster Down to NFL-Mandated 53". Chiefs.com. September 1, 2018.
- "Redskins Sign Josh Keyes, Place Byron Marshall On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
- "Redskins Sign Jehu Chesson To Active Roster, Place Trey Quinn On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. September 12, 2018.
- "9/17: Redskins Make Roster Move". Redskins.com. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
- "Redskins Sign Breshad Perriman And Michael Floyd, Place Rob Kelley On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
- "Redskins Sign Jehu Chesson To The Active Roster". Redskins.com. October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
- "Redskins Make Roster Moves". Redskins.com. August 31, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- "Redskins Sign Nine Players To Practice Squad". Redskins.com. September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 2, 2019.
- @HBalzer721 (January 7, 2020). "Redskins practice-squad contracts expired Monday: WR Jehu Chesson; RB Derrick Gore; LBs Cassanova McKinzy, Pete Robertson; TE Keith Trowbridge; DT JoJo Wicker" (Tweet). Retrieved January 9, 2020 – via Twitter.
- "Jets Sign WR Jehu Chesson to Reserve/Future Contract". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.