Melvin Ingram

Melvin Ingram III (born April 26, 1989) is an American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the University of South Carolina, and earned All-American honors. He was selected by the Chargers in the first round with the 18th overall pick of the 2012 NFL Draft.

Melvin Ingram

Ingram III with the San Diego Chargers in 2015
No. 54 – Los Angeles Chargers
Position:	Outside linebacker
Personal information
Born:	(1989-04-26) April 26, 1989 Hamlet, North Carolina
Height:	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:	247 lb (112 kg)
Career information
High school:	Richmond Senior (Rockingham, North Carolina)
College:	South Carolina
NFL Draft:	2012 / Round: 1 / Pick: 18
Career history
San Diego / Los Angeles Chargers (2012–present)
Roster status:	Active
Career highlights and awards
3× Pro Bowl (2017–2019) Consensus All-American (2011) First-team All-SEC (2011)
Career NFL statistics as of 2019
Total tackles: 350 Sacks: 49.0 Forced fumbles: 13 Fumble recoveries: 7 Interceptions: 2 Defensive touchdowns: 1 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Ingram was born and raised in Hamlet, North Carolina. He attended Richmond Senior High School in Rockingham, North Carolina. As a senior linebacker, he recorded 87 tackles and 2.5 sacks.

College career

Ingram attended the University of South Carolina, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's South Carolina Gamecocks football team from 2007 to 2011. He played linebacker for the Gamecocks before switching to defensive end. As a junior in 2010, he led the team with nine sacks.

In 2011, Ingram registered 10 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and two interceptions. He also scored three touchdowns. Two of his touchdowns came against Georgia in a 45–42 victory in Athens, including a 68-yard fake-punt for a touchdown.[1][2][3] Ingram's strong senior campaign helped propel the Gamecocks defense to a final #4 national poll ranking, and he was a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, and was recognized as a consensus All-American.[4][5]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables

Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand size	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 1 ^1⁄2 in (1.87 m)	264 lb (120 kg)	31 ^1⁄2 in (0.80 m)	9 ^5⁄8 in (0.24 m)	4.79 s	1.62 s	2.63 s	4.18 s	6.83 s	34 ^1⁄2 in (0.88 m)	9 ft 1 in (2.77 m)	28 reps
All values from NFL Combine[6]

Ingram was selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 18th overall pick in the 1st round of the 2012 NFL Draft.

In his rookie campaign, Ingram racked up 18 quarterback pressures, tied for second-most on the squad, along with 12 special teams tackles, which tied for the team lead. He played in all 16 games, with two starts.

On May 14, 2013, Ingram tore his anterior cruciate ligament during the Chargers' organized team activities and was expected to miss the entire 2013 season.[7] On August 26, 2013, he was placed on the Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.[8] On December 7, 2013, Ingram was activated off the PUP list prior to Week 14. In Week 16, Ingram sacked Raiders quarterback Matt McGloin while forcing a fumble. In the wild card game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Ingram picked off Quarterback Andy Dalton for his first postseason Interception. On October 4, 2015, Ingram strip-sacked Josh McCown and recovered the fumble.

On February 27, 2017, the Chargers placed the franchise tag on Ingram.[9][10] On June 11, 2017, Ingram signed a four-year, $66 million contract with $42 million guaranteed with the Chargers.[11][12]

Ingram earned the AFC Defensive Player of the Month for September 2017 after recording 5.5 sacks, including a three-sack game against the Chiefs in Week 3.[13] He finished the season with 56 combined tackles and 10.5 sacks. Ingram was selected to his first career Pro Bowl after the 2017 season, replacing teammate Joey Bosa. He was ranked 76th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[14]

Prior to the start of the 2018 NFL season, Ingram predicted that the Chargers would win Super Bowl LIII and he said that "We're ready. We've got to bring a Super Bowl to the city." He also said that "I was taught you've got to speak stuff into existence. If you want to do something, you've got to say you're going to do it and then you've got to go do it." [15] In the end, Ingram and the Chargers failed to make it to the Super Bowl when they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots by a score of 41-28 in the divisional round of the playoffs.[16]

On June 17, 2019, Ingram predicted that the Chargers would win Super Bowl LIV and stated that “We’re the team to beat in the NFL, not just the AFC West, it’s the NFL. We feel like when we’re going against our offense that we need to beat them because they’re the best. They need to beat us because we’re the best. That’s how we’re going to get better.” [17] In the end, the 2019 Chargers not only failed to go to the Super Bowl, but missed the playoffs entirely after posting a disappointing 5-11 record.

Statistics

Year	Team	Games		Tackles				Fumbles				Interceptions
		G	GS	Comb	Total	Ast	Sack	FF	FR	Yds	TD	Int	Yds	Avg	Lng	TD	PD
2012	SD	16	2	41	27	14	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	5
2013	SD	4	1	8	4	4	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0
2014	SD	9	9	29	21	8	4.0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	2
2015	SD	16	16	65	52	13	10.5	3	1	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	6
2016	SD	16	16	60	46	14	8.0	5	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	5
2017	LAC	16	16	56	43	13	10.5	1	2	39	1	0	0	0.0	0	0	1
2018	LAC	16	16	43	28	15	7.0	1	2	4	0	1	8	8.0	8	0	3
2019	LAC	13	13	48	39	9	7.0	0	1	2	0	1	9	9.0	9	0	5
Career		106	89	350	260	90	49.0	13	7	45	1	2	17	8.5	9	0	27

[18]

References

1. http://espn.go.com/ncf/feature/video/_/id/7324158/2011-all-america-team
2. http://espn.go.com/ncf/recap?gameId=312530061
3. Sport Science - Melvin Ingram
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 25, 2012. Retrieved December 22, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. http://espn.go.com/ncf/feature/video/_/id/7324158/2011-all-america-team
6. "Melvin Ingram Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
7. Hanzus, Dan (May 14, 2013). "Melvin Ingram tears ACL at San Diego Chargers practice". NFL.com. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
8. Gehlken, Michael (August 27, 2013). "Chargers place Willie, 2 others on IR". U-T San Diego. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
9. Henne, Ricky (February 27, 2017). "Chargers Place Franchise Tag on Melvin Ingram". Chargers.com.
10. Wesseling, Chris (February 27, 2017). "Chargers place franchise tag on Melvin Ingram". NFL.com.
11. Henne, Ricky (June 11, 2017). "Chargers Agree to Four-Year Deal with Melvin Ingram". Chargers.com.
12. Wesseling, Chris (June 11, 2017). "Chargers, Melvin Ingram agree to 4-year, $66M deal". NFL.com.
13. Lewis, Edward (September 28, 2017). "Kareem Hunt, Todd Gurley among Players of the Month". NFL.com.
14. NFL Top 100 Players of 2018: No. 76 Melvin Ingram
15. Williams, Eric (June 4, 2018). "Melvin Ingram predicts Super Bowl for Chargers: 'Got to speak stuff into existence'". www.espn.com. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
16. Sessler, Marc (January 13, 2019). "Patriots destroy Chargers to reach AFC title game". www.nfl.com. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
17. Alper, Josh (June 17, 2019). "Melvin Ingram: Chargers are definitely winning the Super Bowl". www.profootballtalk.nbcsports.com. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
18. "Melvin Ingram Stats". ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved May 19, 2016.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NFL.com · ESPN · Pro Football Reference
• Los Angeles Chargers bio
• South Carolina Gamecocks bio