Alabama safety, Quincy native Jaylen Key last pick of NFL Draft, earns Mr. Irrelevant label
Jaylen Key plans to embrace the notoriety as Mr. Irrelevant.
Why not?
“The guys selected in the middle rounds don’t get to embrace it like I do,” Key said and laughed.
“When I saw the New York number come across my phone, I knew.”
The Alabama safety - a Quincy native and son of Gadsden County Superintendent Elijah Key, Jr.- was the last pick of the three-day NFL Draft Saturday, selected in the seventh round (257th overall) by the New York Jets.
As Key followed the final selections of the seven-hour draft day and started to shift his attention to free agency, he stepped into the garage at his Quincy home.
It was a life-changing moment.
“Just as we were having a conversation about Jaylen going undrafted – as I was making that statement – he stepped outside and was on with the Jets,” Elijah Key, Jr. said.
Alabama safety Jaylen Key earns trip to California to celebrate Mr. Irrelevant
Key, 24, played high school football at Gadsden County and Godby High, signing with the University of Alabama-Birmingham following his senior season with the Cougars and coach Corey Fuller in 2018.
He spent five seasons at UAB, where he led the team with three interceptions in 2022, and transferred to Alabama in May 2023. The 6-foot-1, 210-punder earned a starting role in the secondary in his one season. He recorded 60 tackles and one interception and described himself as "a physical playmaker in the (defensive) backfield."
Key was the sixth defensive player from Alabama drafted in 2024..
He also becomes the second Mr. Irrelevant from Alabama, joining cornerback Ramzee Robinson. Robinson was the No. 255 and final pick in the 2007 NFL Draft.
"It (draft) was coming down to the wire and you are trying to work through things," said Key, well-spoken and polite. "When I got the call and saw it was from New York ... It's exciting."
According to ESPN, Jets General Manager Joe Douglas solicited input from his scouts before making the decision to select Key.
The Mr. Irrelevant label, coined in 1976, has grown in significance over the years. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, out of Iowa State, helped his team to the Super Bowl last season after being the final player drafted in 2022.
Key will be the recipient of "Irrelevant Week" this summer in Newport Beach, California, which includes a trip to Disneyland, a trophy presentation and more.
Last year's Mr. Irrelevant, Desjuan Johnson of the Los Angeles Rams, recorded two sacks in his 11 games last season.
Key will join former Florida State quarterback Jordan Travis in New York. Travis was a fifth-round selection of the Jets.
Key was also the second player from a Tallahassee high school to hear his named called in the Draft. Crimson Tide teammate and former St. John Paul II star Terrion Arnold was a first-round selection of the Detroit Lions.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Alabama's Jaylen Key 'Mr. Irrelevant' as last pick in NFL Draft
