Daron Payne

Daron Payne
refer to caption
Payne with the Commanders in 2022
No. 94 – Washington Commanders
Position:Defensive tackle
Personal information
Born: (1997-05-27) May 27, 1997 (age 27)
Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:320 lb (145 kg)
Career information
High school:Shades Valley (Irondale, Alabama)
College:Alabama (2015–2017)
NFL draft:2018 / round: 1 / pick: 13
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 15, 2024
Tackles:379
Sacks:34
Forced fumbles:6
Fumble recoveries:6
Pass deflections:19
Interceptions:1
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Daron Payne (/dəˈrɒn/ də-RON; born May 27, 1997) is an American professional football defensive tackle for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide, where he won national championships in 2015 and 2017. Payne was selected by Washington in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.

Early life

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Payne was born on May 27, 1997, in Birmingham, Alabama. He attended Shades Valley High School in Irondale, Alabama, where he played football.[1] He was rated as a five-star recruit and committed to the University of Alabama to play college football.[2]

College career

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As a true freshman at Alabama in 2015, Payne had 13 tackles and half a sack.[3] As a sophomore in 2016, he had 36 tackles and 1.5 sacks.[4][5] In the National Championship Game against Clemson, he recorded five tackles and a half sack.[6]

As a junior in 2017, Payne was named the defensive MVP of both postseason games that Alabama played.[7][8] In the Sugar Bowl versus Clemson, he intercepted a ball and scored an offensive receiving touchdown on the resulting drive. In the National Championship Game against Georgia, Payne had six tackles to help lead Alabama to their second national championship in three seasons.[9] After his junior year, Payne declared his intentions to enter the 2018 NFL draft.[9] During his time at Alabama, Payne's given name was commonly misspelled as Da'Ron, which he requested to change back to Daron for his professional career.[10][11]

College statistics
Season GP Tackles Interceptions Fumbles
Solo Ast Cmb TfL Sck Int Yds Avg TD PD FR FF TD
2015 8 6 7 13 0.5 0.5 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
2016 13 12 24 36 3.5 1.5 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1
2017 14 21 32 53 1 1 1 21 21 0 3 1 0 0
Career 35 39 63 102 5 3 1 21 21 0 5 2 1 1

Professional career

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Pre-draft measurables
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 2+1⁄2 in
(1.89 m) 		311 lb
(141 kg) 		33 in
(0.84 m) 		9+3⁄8 in
(0.24 m)		 4.95 s 1.67 s 2.84 s 4.71 s 7.58 s 28.5 in
(0.72 m)		 8 ft 11 in
(2.72 m)		 27 reps
All values from NFL Combine[12][13]
Payne sacking Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in the 2020–21 Wild Card Playoff game

Payne was selected by the Washington Redskins in the first round (13th overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.[14][15] On May 10, 2018, Payne signed a four-year contract worth US$14.4 million featuring a $8.56 million signing bonus.[16] He recorded his first career sack in Week 3 against the Green Bay Packers.[17] He finished his rookie season with 56 tackles, five sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery, and was named to the 2018 PFWA All-Rookie Team as a result.[18]

In Week 14 of the 2020 season against the San Francisco 49ers, Payne forced a fumble on quarterback Nick Mullens, which was recovered and returned for a touchdown by Chase Young and would also recover a forced fumble by Young.[19] In Week 15 against the Seattle Seahawks, Payne recorded his first career interception off a pass thrown by Russell Wilson during the 20–15 loss.[20] Payne finished the 2020 NFL season playing 880 snaps and recording 54 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and an interception. He also recorded two sacks against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the wild-card round of the playoffs.[21]

The team exercised the fifth-year option on Payne's contract on April 27, 2021,[22] which guarantees a salary of $8.529 million for the 2022 season.[23] He was added to the COVID-19 reserve list on August 1, 2021,[24] before being re-activated on August 5.[25] Payne and defensive end James Smith-Williams sealed the Week 11 win over the Carolina Panthers after they sacked quarterback Cam Newton on fourth down with less than a minute and a half left in the game.[26]

By Week 9 of the 2022 season, Payne accumulated a new career-high of 5.5 sacks.[27] With 58 seconds remaining in the Week 12 game against the Atlanta Falcons, he deflected a touchdown pass attempt from Marcus Mariota which cornerback Kendall Fuller intercepted in the end zone in a 19–13 win.[28] He finished the season having set new career highs with 64 tackles, 11.5 sacks, and five pass deflections.[29] In January 2023, Payne was named as a replacement player for Aaron Donald to the 2023 Pro Bowl, his first Pro Bowl.[30]

The Commanders placed a non-exclusive franchise tag on Payne before him signing a four-year, $90 million extension with the team on March 13, 2023.[31][32]

NFL career statistics

[edit]
Legend
Bold Career high
Year Team Games Tackles Fumbles Interceptions
GP GS Cmb Solo Ast Sck Sfty FF FR Yds TD PD Int Yds Avg Lng TD
2018 WAS 16 16 56 35 21 5.0 0 1 1 9 0 3 0 0 0.0 0 0
2019 WAS 15 9 56 32 24 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.0 0 0
2020 WAS 16 16 54 27 27 3.0 0 3 1 0 0 4 0 0 0.0 0 0
2021 WAS 17 17 61 35 26 4.5 0 0 1 6 0 0 1 0 0.0 0 0
2022 WAS 17 17 64 32 32 11.5 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 0.0 0 0
2023 WAS 17 17 53 32 21 4.0 0 2 2 0 0 4 0 0 0.0 0 0
Career 98 92 344 193 151 30.0 0 6 6 15 0 18 1 0 0.0 0 0

References

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  1. ^ Blanton, Al (January 7, 2018). "The Man with the Gold Hands: Da'Ron Payne, a coach's love, and the Catch Heard 'Round the World". Saturday Down South. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  2. ^ "Five-star defensive tackle Daron Payne commits to Alabama". SI. January 3, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Zenitz, Matt (March 29, 2016). "Alabama's two rising stars along defensive line are freakish athletes". AL.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  4. ^ Zenitz, Matt (August 7, 2017). "Alabama freakish defensive lineman Da'Ron Payne preparing for expanded role". AL.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  5. ^ Zenitz, Matt (March 24, 2017). "Alabama rising star Da'Ron Payne slimming down, still freakishly strong". AL.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  6. ^ "Clemson vs. Alabama – Box Score – January 9, 2017". ESPN. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  7. ^ Allstate Sugar Bowl [@SugarBowlNola] (January 2, 2018). "Congratulations to tonight's Most Outstanding Defensive Player, Da'Ron Payne! #SugarSemi" (Tweet). Retrieved May 6, 2022 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ College Football Playoff [@CFBPlayoff] (January 9, 2018). "The Crimson Tide stuffed the Georgia run down the stretch to will @AlabamaFTBL back into the game. For his efforts in the trenches, senior DL Da'Ron Payne is the 2018 CFP National Championship Defensive MVP" (Tweet). Retrieved May 6, 2022 – via Twitter.
  9. ^ a b Scarborough, Alex (January 10, 2018). "Calvin Ridley declares for draft; RB Damien Harris to stay at Bama". ESPN. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  10. ^ Lewis Jr, Lake (May 11, 2018). "Notes from Redskins' rookie minicamp". USA Today. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  11. ^ Keim, John (August 29, 2018). "No apostrophe, no hype, no problem for Redskins' Daron Payne". ESPN. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  12. ^ "DaRon Payne Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. March 1, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  13. ^ "Alabama DT DaRon Payne : 2018 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". NFLDraftScout. Retrieved May 12, 2018.
  14. ^ Czarda, Stephen. "Redskins Select Alabama Defensive Lineman Da'Ron Payne". Washington Commanders. Archived from the original on April 27, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
  15. ^ Gruden, Jay. "Quotes: Head Coach Jay Gruden, DL Da'Ron Payne 04–26–18". Washington Commanders. Archived from the original on May 1, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  16. ^ Teope, Herbie (May 10, 2018). "Washington Redskins sign first-rounder Daron Payne". NFL.com. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  17. ^ Inabinett, Mark (September 24, 2018). "Alabama NFL roundup: Jonathan Allen, Da'Ron Payne sack Packers". AL.com. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  18. ^ "Daron Payne Named To PFWA 2018 All-Rookie Team". Washington Commanders. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  19. ^ Jhabvala, Nicki (December 13, 2020). "Washington's defense fuels 23–15 win over 49ers, and team takes over first place in NFC East". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 14, 2020.
  20. ^ "Seattle Seahawks at Washington Football Team – December 20th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  21. ^ "Football Team's Daron Payne: Starts 16 games". CBSSports.com. January 18, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  22. ^ Stackpole, Kyle (April 27, 2021). "Washington Exercises Fifth-Year Option On Daron Payne". Washington Commanders. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  23. ^ Alper, Josh (April 26, 2021). "Washington exercises Daron Payne's fifth-year option". NBC Sports. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  24. ^ Jhabvala, Nicki. "Daron Payne is added to the Washington Football Team's expanding covid-19 list". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 2, 2021.
  25. ^ "Roundup: Washington activates Brandon Scherff, Daron Payne from reserve/COVID-19 list". NFL.com. August 5, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2024.
  26. ^ "Heinicke, Washington spoil Newton's homecoming 27–21". ESPN. November 21, 2021. Retrieved November 23, 2021.
  27. ^ Washington Commanders Public Relations (November 7, 2022). "Commanders-Vikings Stats & Snaps". Commanders.com. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  28. ^ "Commanders outrun Falcons, intercept Mariota in 19–13 win". ESPN. November 27, 2022.
  29. ^ Manning, Bryan (January 13, 2023). "Daron Payne makes it clear what he's looking for this offseason". USAToday.com. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  30. ^ Washington Commanders Public Relations (January 19, 2023). "Defensive tackle Daron Payne named to the 2023 Pro Bowl". Commanders.com. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  31. ^ Washington Commanders Public Relations (February 28, 2023). "Commanders place franchise tag on Daron Payne". Commanders.com. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  32. ^ Benjamin, Cody (March 12, 2023). "2023 NFL free agency: Commanders sign star defender Daron Payne to four-year, $90M extension". CBS Sports. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
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