Jordan Magee was born in Towson, grew up in Delaware, and starred at Temple – and now he’s back in the DMV as a fifth-round pick of the Commanders.
And unlike some who may be upset about a Day 3 draft stock, Magee told Grant & Danny Friday that he knew it was likely Saturday was his day…and the team that got him is lucky to have him.
“Ready to #RaiseHail!” Magee laughed. “It’s still surreal that I'm in the NFL, but I'm just taking it day by day, continuing to work. Going in I was told I might be a Day 3 pick, but I didn’t know Washington was on me – but they said they were holding out for me until the fifth round. They said maybe if they had a fourth-round pick, they would have chosen me in the fourth, but they were holding out to the fifth to get me. I barely had any communication with them throughout the whole process, but during my senior year, the scouts came in a lot.”
Funny how that all works out sometimes, even knowing what Mike Sainristil had told G&D earlier Friday that he knew Pittsburgh was on him at No. 51, but Washington, who wasn’t on the radar, swooped in at No. 50.
“A former teammate of mine told me that most of the times, the team that you're not in contact with the most is the team that's eyeing to draft you,” Magee laughed.
So what is Washington getting in a guy who had 80 tackles, 14 TFL and 3.5 sacks last year?
“I’m very physical and tough, very rangy sideline to sideline; I used to play quarterback, so I like to use my smarts to really get ahead of what's going on in the play and really diagnose it,” he said. “I watch a lot of film, but it’s just natural ability too.”
That stood out to Grant in watching tape, but so did Magee’s slender body type, which isn’t quite the ‘norm’ for a MIKE – but as they say, never judge a book by its cover.
“Times are changing; I’ve always had a slender build but I've always been very strong for my size, so I can hang in there with offensive linemen and tight ends and things like that,” Magee said. “I feel like that's a good thing about my build; me being able to move how I move, it helps me in that aspect of the game to cover tight ends and running backs, beat tackles and stuff on blocks. But, I'm comfortable coming down and engaging with the big boys in the trenches; I’m someone who's not afraid to put their nose in things and really get after it.”
Just a football player, like Sainristil had also said, and for someone who watched a lot of mid-2000s Ravens defense, playing with (and learning from) the linebacker room here is something he relishes.
“I’ve been talking with Coach Ken Norton, we've been having zoom meetings, just going over install, and they see me as a WILL with the possibility of playing MIKE, so he wants me to cross train and learn both,” Magee said. “Maybe use me from a blitzing aspect, being able to cover running backs and tight ends and things like that, but it’s gonna be crazy playing with these guys. Being able o gain knowledge from (Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu) is just gonna be incredible, especially with coach Norton; he played linebacker back in the day, so just having all those great minds in the room to learn from will be very exciting.”
Take a listen to Magee’s entire visit with G&D above!
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