Jaylinn
Hawkins.
Jaylinn
Hawkins.
California· 6'1"· 208 lb
"A four-star receiver who was moved to safety against his will and left Cal tied for eighth in school history with ten interceptions — ball skills first, coverage technique later."Pre-draft read
Hawkins is a 6-1, 208-pound safety who still plays like the wide receiver he was recruited to be. He tracks the ball in the air better than almost anyone in the class, high-points throws over the top and attacks the catch point instead of waiting to tackle, which is how he collected ten interceptions in three seasons at Cal.
He is a downhill, high-energy player who closes fast and drops into the box comfortably, with body control through his backpedal, and he reads the quarterback's eyes in zone. What he lacks is recovery speed and tackling discipline. He arrives with force but not always under control, and he can be beaten deep when his first read is wrong. The signature is ball skills.
A zone-heavy defense with a single-high or split-safety structure that lets him read the quarterback and drive on throws rather than running with receivers man to man.
Year 1 third safety and four-phase special teamer, with a ceiling as a starting zone safety who produces four or more interceptions in a season.
A man-coverage defense that asks its safeties to travel with tight ends and slot receivers across the field on an island.
A Different Breed - Jaylinn Hawkins Cal Career Highlights
Career reel of the ball skills and downhill closing speed at Cal.
Study: New Falcons Safety Jaylinn Hawkins VERY intriguing
Post-draft film study of his coverage instincts and positional fit.
Hawkins is a converted receiver who never wanted to play defense. He came to Cal as a four-star wideout chasing the lineage of DeSean Jackson and Keenan Allen, and his coaches moved him to safety almost immediately. He was devastated. Then he got good at it.
He was the only Cal player to appear in all fifty possible games from 2016 through 2019 after redshirting in 2015, and he led every Cal player over that stretch with 38 starts, including each of his final twenty games in a row. His career line reads 158 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, ten interceptions returned for 90 yards, seven pass breakups and three forced fumbles. Nine of those ten interceptions came in his final two seasons, with a career-high six as a junior in 2018 and three more as a senior. Ten career picks put him tied for eighth on Cal's all-time list.
He came out of a defensive backfield that was one of the tightest position groups in the country, a unit that lived together and ran its own film sessions on an apartment whiteboard. The board had him as a versatile developmental safety and a special teams contributor, and Atlanta's selection at 134 was described locally as a mild surprise.
- 01
Ball skills from receiver
Ten career interceptions, tied for eighth in Cal history, and he attacks the catch point rather than playing the receiver's back.
- 02
Anticipation in zone
Reads the quarterback's eyes and breaks early, which is how nine of his ten picks arrived in his final two seasons.
- 03
Complete availability
The only Cal player to appear in all fifty possible games from 2016 through 2019, and he started his last twenty in a row.
- 04
Box versatility
At 6-1 and 208 he has the size to drop into the box and the instincts to play deep, which lets a defense disguise coverage.
- 05
Functional athleticism
Keeps his body over his feet through the backpedal and closes downhill quickly, traits Atlanta's staff singled out immediately.
- 01
Recovery speed
Lacks the long speed to make up ground when his first read is wrong, which shows up on double moves and deep crossers.
- 02
Tackling control
Arrives with force but not always under control, and the aggressive downhill trigger produces misses in space.
- 03
Late to the position
A converted receiver whose technique lagged his instincts, meaning the coverage detail still needed years of work.
- 04
Modest run-support production
Only 9.5 career tackles for loss across 38 starts, so the box value was more about willingness than impact.
— — — positional median (p50)
- 40 yd
- —s
- Vertical
- 35.5inp50
- Broad jump
- 117inp50
- Three-cone
- —s
- Shuttle
- —s
- Bench
- —rep
| Yr | Team | G | Tkl | Sk | Int | PD | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | California | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | California | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | California | — | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 2019 | California | — | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | — | 50 | 158 | 2 | 10 | 7 | 3 |
Career totals come from the Bear Insider draft report citing Cal figures: 50 games, 38 starts, 158 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, ten interceptions for 90 return yards, seven pass breakups and three forced fumbles. The same source gives his interception splits, six as a junior in 2018 and three as a senior, leaving one earlier in his career, which is shown against 2017. Per-season tackle, tackle-for-loss and games figures were not published and are left empty rather than estimated, so the seasons shown do not add to the career line. He redshirted in 2015.
A dash means the figure is not published by a source we trust — never a zero we invented.
A ball-hawking rotational safety who starts in stretches and keeps finding work on new defenses.
The ceiling: a rangy zone safety whose ball production turns a mid-round pick into a long-term starter.
A safety whose instincts never overcome the speed limits, leaving him a special teams player only.
Everything above is the pre-draft evaluation. This section is what actually happened — updated year over year.
Hawkins took six years to become what the draft profile hinted at. He played twelve games as a rookie in 2020 with twelve tackles, then fourteen games in 2021 with two interceptions in a rotational role, then got his real opportunity in 2022 and produced his best Atlanta season: sixteen games, 80 tackles, six passes defended, two interceptions and a forced fumble. The Falcons let him go during 2023, and he split that year between Atlanta and the Chargers with fourteen combined tackles.
New England signed him in 2024 and he played all seventeen games with 38 tackles. Then 2025 became the year everything he was drafted for finally paid: fifteen games, 70 tackles, 1.5 sacks, six passes defended, four interceptions and a forced fumble. Baltimore signed him for 2026. Through seven seasons he had 92 games, 241 tackles, seventeen passes defended and eight interceptions. In hindsight the pick worked out well for a fourth-rounder. The ball skills the scouting reports loved are exactly what produced eight NFL interceptions, and the speed limitations are exactly why he needed the right defense to do it.