Rashaan Gaulden

Rashaan Malik Gaulden (born January 23, 1995) is an American football safety for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Tennessee.

Rashaan Gaulden
Rashaan Gaulden in 2018
No. 33 – Las Vegas Raiders
Position:Safety
Personal information
Born: (1995-01-23) January 23, 1995
Spring Hill, Tennessee
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:Independence
(Thompson's Station, Tennessee)
College:Tennessee
NFL Draft:2018 / Round: 3 / Pick: 85
Career history
Roster status:Reserve/Future
Career NFL statistics as of 2020
Total tackles:20
Forced fumbles:0
Fumble recoveries:0
Pass deflections:1
Interceptions:0
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Gaulden attended Independence High School in Thompson's Station, Tennessee.[1] Along with football, he also participated in track and field and was named an All-American after finishing fourth nationally in the 4x400 relay. During his senior football season, he recorded 193 tackles.[2] Gaulden committed to play football for the Tennessee Volunteers on July 20, 2013, choosing the Volunteers over programs such as Vanderbilt and South Carolina.[3]

College career

Gaulden played at the University of Tennessee from 2014–2017 under head coach Butch Jones.[4][5] As a true freshman in 2014, Gaulden played in 11 games, making seven total tackles.[6]

Gaulden missed the 2015 season due to a foot injury suffered during training camp in August and took a medical redshirt.[7]

Gaulden returned in 2016 as a redshirt sophomore and played in all 13 of Tennessee's games, recording 68 tackles (six for loss), four pass breakups and one forced fumble.[8]

As a redshirt junior in 2017, Gaulden played in all 12 games of the season, tallying 65 tackles, one interception, five pass deflections, and three forced fumbles.[9] His interception was the first of his collegiate career and came against the Florida Gators in a 26–20 loss.[10] After the season, he declared for the 2018 NFL Draft.[11]

Professional career

On January 3, 2018, Gaulden released a statement through his Twitter account, announcing his decision to forgo his senior season and enter the 2018 NFL Draft.[12] He attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis and completed all of the combine and positional drills. His 40-yard dash time was described as "not great" by NFL analyst Daniel Jeremiah, but Gaulden managed to perform well and show his agility in positional drills.[13]

External video
Rashaan Gaulden's NFL Combine Workout

On March 19, 2018, Gaulden participated at Tennessee's pro day and weighed in at 191 lbs, which was six pounds lighter than his weight at the NFL Combine. He ran the 40-yard dash (4.69s), 20-yard dash (2.78s), 10-yard dash (1.64s), and short shuttle (4.26s).[14] At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Gaulden was projected to be a second round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the second best free safety prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com, was ranked the 10th best cornerback by Sports Illustrated, and was ranked the 13th best cornerback in the draft by Scouts Inc.[15][16]

“Gaulden, the defensive back, he's kind of interesting. I don't know what he is. I watch him on tape. He plays nickel. He's tough. He hustles to the football. He's got some range. I want to see what he runs. I mean, he's 6-foot-1. He might even play corner, I don't know. If he runs 4.48 or something, he might be interesting as a long corner. He also might be interesting as a free safety, but I know he can play special teams. I kind of feel like right now he's probably an early third-day pick, but I think he could help himself.”[17]

–Mike Mayock

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 in
(1.85 m)		 197 lb
(89 kg)		 30 3⁄4 in
(0.78 m)		 9 3⁄4 in
(0.25 m)		 4.61 s 1.62 s 2.69 s 4.33 s 7.16 s 30 in
(0.76 m)		 9 ft 11 in
(3.02 m)		 8 reps
All values from NFL Combine[18]

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers selected Gaulden in the third round (85th overall) of the 2018 NFL Draft, through a pick traded from the Buffalo Bills for Kelvin Benjamin. He was the seventh safety drafted in 2018.[19]

External video
Panthers draft Rashaan Gaulden 85th overall

On May 12, 2018, the Carolina Panthers signed Gaulden to a four-year, $3.44 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $847,656.[20]

On November 25, 2019, Gaulden was waived by the Panthers.[21]

New York Giants

On December 4, 2019, Gaulden was signed to the New York Giants practice squad.[22] He was promoted to the active roster on December 18, 2019.[23] He was waived on August 2, 2020.[24]

Gaulden had a tryout with the Pittsburgh Steelers on August 17, 2020,[25] and with the Tennessee Titans on August 23, 2020.[26]

Las Vegas Raiders

On November 9, 2020, the Las Vegas Raiders signed Gaulden to their practice squad.[27] He was elevated to the active roster on December 17 for the team's week 15 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, and reverted to the practice squad after the game.[28] On December 26, 2020, Gaulden was elevated for week 16 against the Miami Dolphins. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 5, 2021.[29]

References
  1. Fortenberry, Paul. "Gaulden living up to expectations". The Daily Times. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  2. "Rashaan Gaulden groomed to take over UT Vols' nickel spot". Times Free Press. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  3. "Independence's RaShaan Gaulden commits to Tennessee Vols". USA TODAY High School Sports. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  4. "Rashaan Gaulden College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  5. "Tennessee Volunteers Football Record By Year". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  6. "Rashaan Gaulden 2014 Player Statistics". cfbstats.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  7. "Tennessee cornerback Rashaan Gaulden out for the season". Times Free Press. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  8. "Rashaan Gaulden 2016 Player Statistics". cfbstats.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  9. "Rashaan Gaulden 2017 Player Statistics". cfbstats.com. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  10. "Tennessee at Florida Box Score, September 16, 2017". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  11. "Tennessee in more need of CB commits after Rashaan Gaulden declares for NFL draft". My Dayton Daily News. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  12. Baker, Sam (January 3, 2018). "Tennessee CB Rashaan Gaulden declares for NFL draft". seccountry.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  13. Brown, Patrick (March 5, 2018). "Vols NFL Combine Recap: Rashaan Gaulden". 247sports.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  14. Simonton, Jesse (March 19, 2018). "How did Tennessee's prospects preform at Pro Day?". tennessee.rivals.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  15. "NFL Rashaan Gaulden-ESPN". espn.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  16. "The 2018 NFL Draft Big Board, Vol. 2". si.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  17. Brown, Patrick (March 2, 2018). "Mayock: Versatile Gaulden an 'interesting' NFL prospect". 247Sports.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  18. "NFL Draft Profile: Rashaan Gaulden". National Football League. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  19. Strickland, Bryan (April 27, 2018). "Panthers draft Rashaan Gaulden in third round". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on May 21, 2018. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  20. "Spotrac.com: Rashaan Gaulden contract". Spotrac.com. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
  21. Henson, Max (November 25, 2019). "Panthers waive defensive back Rashaan Gaulden". Panthers.com.
  22. "Giants Sign DB Rashaan Gaulden To Practice Squad". NFL Trade Rumors. December 4, 2019.
  23. Eisen, Michael (December 18, 2019). "Giants sign DB Rashaan Gaulden off practice squad". Giants.com.
  24. Eisen, Michael (August 2, 2020). "Giants reach NFL's new 80-man roster limit". Giants.com.
  25. @AlbertBreer (August 17, 2020). "Today's tryout list" (Tweet). Retrieved August 21, 2020 – via Twitter.
  26. @AlbertBreer (August 23, 2020). "And here's today's tryout/visit list. Ex-Ohio State QB Cardale Jones and ex-Lions RB Theo Riddick worked out for Vegas" (Tweet). Retrieved August 24, 2020 – via Twitter.
  27. @Raiders (November 9, 2020). "We have signed DB Rashaan Gaulden to the practice squad" (Tweet). Retrieved December 15, 2020 – via Twitter.
  28. @Raiders (December 17, 2020). "We have activated DB Rashaan Gaulden and LB Javin White from the practice squad" (Tweet). Retrieved February 3, 2021 – via Twitter.
  29. "Raiders sign 11 players to Reserve/Future contracts". Raiders.com. January 5, 2021.
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