Cal's Jaylinn Hawkins Goes 4th Round to Atlanta Falcons

In a bit of a surprise, Cal football's productive and athletic safety was drafted this morning in the 4th round of the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

“I can’t thank God, my support cast, my family, my parents, my agent,” said Hawkins. “It was just a blessing to get that call. It’s once in a lifetime. It’s priceless. I can’t even explain it. I’m still in shock. But I’m ready to get to work and go out there and make an impact and do what I do.”

Hawkins was the only Cal player to participate in all 50 games possible from 2016-19 after redshirting ihis first season at Cal in 2015, while also leading all Cal players from 2016-19 with 38 starts including each of his final 20 games in a row.

Over his career, Hawkins had 158 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks,, 10 interceptions that he returned 90 yards, seven pass breakups, 17 passes defended, three forced fumbles and nine kick returns for 129 yards over the last three-plus seasons to total 219 all-purpose yards. Hawkins’ 10 career interceptions ranks him tied for eighth on Cal's all-time list, with nine of those coming over his final two seasons, with a career-high six as a 2018 junior and three more in his 2019 senior season.

Hawkins was part of a defensive backfield that was undoubtedly one of the tightest position group in the nation. Many of them lived together and conducted their own film review and play breakdowns on their apartment whiteboard to continue to hone their skills.

“It’s a blessing,” said Hawkins. “I may end up crying right now (he did). Everything we did with each other, with Coach GA (former DB coach Gerald Alexander). We really put in for this. We’ve really changed the culture there. It’s just in my heart. It’s just the beginning. It just means a lot.”

Asked about the returning Cal DBs, Hawkins is bullish on their future.

“I love them like my brothers,” said Hawkins. “I’m biased because those are my guys but I think they have the best secondary. They work really hard. Elijah (Hicks), Cam (Bynum), Josh (Drayden), Craig (Woodson), MIles (Williams), even some of the new guys like Trey Paster. And my boy DScott, Chigi (Anusiem). I can name all of them. They’re my dawgs. They work extremely hard. We send each others videos of us working out and I know it’s going to pay off.”

As a senior, Hawkins had career highs of 56 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two forced fumbles and 47 kick return yards in a career-high-tying 13 games and a career-high 13 starts as a senior.

As a junior, Hawkins had career highs of 17 tackle for loss yards, six interceptions, three pass breakups, nine passes defended and four kick returns as a junior with the six interceptions also tied for the eighth-most by a Cal player in a single season.

In high school, the 4 star-rated Hawkins was a two-way standout at wide receiver and cornerback for Buena Park High School. He had career defensive numbers of 223 tackles,11 interceptions that he returned for 189 yards, one forced fumble, two fumble recoveries and 21 passes defended.

As a senior, Hawkins earned first-team All-Southern Section Southwest Division, first-team All-County, first-team All-Freeway League and team MVP honors with career highs of 80 catches, 1,476 yards receiving and 16 touchdown catches, while adding three rushes for 36 yards for a team that posted an 11-2 overall record and reached the semifinals of the Southwest Division of the Southern Section playoffs

Hawkins  was one of three former Cal football players that participated in the 2020 NFL Combine along with Ashtyn Davis and Evan Weaver and put up testing marks of 35.5 in the vertical jump and 117.0 in the broad jump. Hawkins also played in the 2020 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl and had three tackles for a National team that was a 30-20 winner over the American squad.

Other stories:

Cal's Ashtyn Davis Goes to Jets in 3rd Round of NFL Draft

Bears Anxiously Await NFL Draft