The Kansas City Chiefs are hosting one of the most dominant defenders in HBCU football last season on a top-30 visit.
As first reported by Scott Kennedy, Jackson State DE/LB James Houston IV is taking his visit with the Chiefs on Wednesday. The report has since been confirmed by Heavy.com’s Devon Clements and Houston himself, who retweeted Kennedy’s initial report.
Houston began his career at the University of Florida, where he played 35 games as an off-ball linebacker. In 2018 and 2019, he was mostly a reservist and special teamer, but he saw some action in 2020 with 37 total tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble.
Houston transferred to Jackson State to play under Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders in 2021. In his lone season at Jackson State in 2021, Houston played with his hand in the dirt as a pass-rusher. He appeared in 13 games with the Tigers, notching 52 total tackles, 24.5 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks, 10 quarterback hits and seven forced fumbles.
James Houston IV (@Jthouston_4) of Jackson State visiting #ChiefsKingdom tomorrow per source. Houston is coming off a terrific pro day including a 39" vertical at 244 pounds. pic.twitter.com/AeBHYrFfbF
— Scott Kennedy (@ScoutKennedy) March 29, 2022
The Chiefs were among the teams who were in attendance for Houston’s phenomenal pro day at Jackson State, during which he impressed scouts with a 4.6s 40-yard dash, 22 repetitions on the bench press and a 39-inch vertical jump. He weighed in at 6-1 and 244 pounds, which is quite undersized for Steve Spagnuolo’s system if he’s putting his hand in the dirt and playing edge rusher.
If you’re unfamiliar with top-30 visits, they’re back in 2022 after being held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These visits serve as an opportunity for prospects to tour team facilities, meet with position coaches, front office executives, scouts and members of the training staff. On occasion, they’ll get a chance to meet with a few players who are working at the team facility, but they won’t do any football activities or workouts themselves. It’s essentially a way for NFL teams to fill in some blank spaces in their scouting reports and get to know how a player will fit within their culture.
