DaRon Bland
![]() Bland in 2022 | |||||||||
No. 26 – Dallas Cowboys | |||||||||
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Position: | Cornerback | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Modesto, California, U.S. | July 12, 1999||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 197 lb (89 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Central Catholic (Modesto) | ||||||||
College: |
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NFL draft: | 2022 / Round: 5 / Pick: 167 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
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Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Career NFL statistics as of 2023 | |||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
DaRon Bland (/dəˈrɒn/ duh-RON;[1] born July 12, 1999) is an American football cornerback for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Sacramento State before transferring to Fresno State. In 2023, he set the NFL single-season record for most interceptions returned for a touchdown with five.
Early years
[edit]Bland grew up in Modesto, California, and attended Central Catholic High School, during which he also played receiver.[2] He was named the Valley Oak League Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.[3]
College career
[edit]Bland began his college career at Sacramento State. As a junior, he was named first-team All-Big Sky Conference after recording 43 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, one sack, and forced fumbles with two interceptions and eight passes broken up.[4] After his senior season was canceled and moved to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Bland entered the NCAA Transfer Portal.[5] Bland ultimately committed to transfer to Fresno State.[6] In his only season with the Bulldogs he recorded 45 tackles with five passes defended and two interceptions in 13 games played.[7]
College statistics
[edit]Season | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
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Solo | Ast | Cmb | TfL | Sck | Int | Yds | Avg | TD | PD | FR | FF | TD | ||
Sacramento State Hornets | ||||||||||||||
2017 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2018 | 10 | 33 | 11 | 44 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 47 | 47.0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
2019 | 13 | 30 | 13 | 43 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
2020 | 0 | Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||||||||
Fresno State Bulldogs | ||||||||||||||
2021 | 13 | 34 | 11 | 45 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 38 | 19.0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Career | 43 | 102 | 38 | 140 | 10.5 | 1.0 | 5 | 128 | 25.6 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
Professional career
[edit]Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 40-yard dash | 10-yard split | 20-yard split | 20-yard shuttle | Three-cone drill | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 ft 0+1⁄4 in (1.84 m) | 197 lb (89 kg) | 32 in (0.81 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) | 4.48 s | 1.55 s | 2.59 s | 4.15 s | 7.26 s | 35.5 in (0.90 m) | 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m) | 14 reps | |
All values from Pro Day[8] |
2022 season
[edit]Bland was selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft by the Dallas Cowboys.[9][10]
Bland recorded his first career interception on October 2, 2022, versus Carson Wentz. Bland would then have two picks against Matt Ryan on December 4, and another on December 24 against the Philadelphia Eagles for his fifth interception of the season.
2023 Season
[edit]On September 10, 2023, Bland recorded his first interception of the season. It was a pass from New York Giants quarterback, Daniel Jones to Saquon Barkley. Barkley caught the ball, but fumbled it after getting hit by Trevon Diggs. Bland recovered the ball and returned it for his first career touchdown.
On October 1, Bland recorded two interceptions against Mac Jones while facing the New England Patriots, one of which he converted for six points.[11]
On October 29, Bland returned an interception from Matthew Stafford for a touchdown, making it his third of the year; setting the Cowboys single-season pick-six record previously held by five other players.
On November 19, in a game against the Carolina Panthers, Bland intercepted a pass from Bryce Young and returned it for his fourth interception return for a touchdown of the year, tying the NFL single-season record and the Cowboys career record. Bland was named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.[12]
On November 23, during the win over the Washington Commanders, Bland intercepted a pass from Sam Howell and returned it for his fifth interception return for a touchdown of the year, setting the NFL single-season record.[13] Bland was named NFC Defensive Player of the Month for November.[14]
NFL career statistics
[edit]Legend | |
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Led the league | |
NFL record | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||
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GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | TD | PD | ||
2022 | DAL | 17 | 8 | 54 | 38 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
2023 | DAL | 17 | 15 | 69 | 53 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 209 | 5 | 15 |
Career | 34 | 23 | 123 | 91 | 32 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 228 | 5 | 22 |
Postseason
[edit]Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Fumbles | Interceptions | ||||||||||
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GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | FF | FR | Yds | TD | Int | Yds | TD | PD | ||
2022 | DAL | 2 | 2 | 18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
2023 | DAL | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 3 | 3 | 23 | 15 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Notes and references
[edit]- ^ "2022 Dallas Cowboys Media Guide" (PDF). NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
- ^ Licciardi, Anthony (November 21, 2023). "Dallas Cowboys' DaRon Bland Reveals Playing Receiver in High School Key to Pick-Six Prowess". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Burns, James (January 23, 2017). "Cousins Montell and DaRon Bland commit to Causeway Classic". The Modesto Bee. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Moore, Jackson (January 21, 2021). "All-Big-Sky CB transfer Daron Bland commits to Fresno State". 247Sports.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ Salerno, Cameron (June 4, 2021). "Why are so many NCAA football players looking to transfer?". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Fresno State football: 2021 class up to 17, three transfers". The Fresno Bee. February 3, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "Cowboys select Fresno State CB DaRon Bland with No. 167 pick NFL draft". The Dallas Morning News. April 30, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
- ^ "2022 Draft Scout DaRon Bland, Fresno State NFL Draft Scout College Football Profile". draftscout.com. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
- ^ "2022 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved March 26, 2023.
- ^ Galaviz, Anthony (April 30, 2022). "Former Fresno State cornerback DaRon Bland is taken by the Dallas Cowboys in NFL draft". The Fresno Bee. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
- ^ "Cowboys' Bland comes up with second pick-six of 2023". ESPN.com. October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
- ^ Ochoa, RJ. "Dallas Cowboys CB DaRon Bland named NFC Defensive Player of the Week". Blogging the Boys. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
- ^ Silverman, Steve (November 23, 2023). "Lakers' LeBron James honors DaRon Bland after historic pick-6". ClutchPoints. Retrieved November 23, 2023.
- ^ Gordon, Grant (November 30, 2023). "Texans QB C.J. Stroud, Cowboys QB Dak Prescott highlight November Players of the Month". NFL.com. Retrieved November 30, 2023.