Jaleel McLaughlin

Jaleel McLaughlin ( ; born September 13, 2000) is an American professional football running back for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Falcons and Youngstown State Penguins and is the NCAA's all-time leading rusher. McLaughlin was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in 2023.

Early life McLaughlin was born on September 13, 2000, and is a native of Marshville, North Carolina. One of four children, he was raised by his mother and battled poverty and homelessness growing up. He also played several sports starting at a young age, including football, basketball and track. Despite his performance, McLaughlin received no offers to play college football from NCAA Division I teams, with the only interest coming from teams in Division II. Several weeks later, he managed to break the record again by posting 340 yards and three touchdowns against West Liberty, even though he played just three quarters.

As a sophomore, McLaughlin led Division II in rushing, scoring and yards with an NCAA-leading 2,316 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns. He transferred to play with the FCS Youngstown State Penguins for his junior season. In his first year at Youngstown State, the spring 2021 season (postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19), McLaughlin earned second-team All-Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) honors while running for 691 yards and five scores in seven games.

Professional career

Denver Broncos Despite his college performance, McLaughlin went unselected in the 2023 NFL draft. Afterwards, he was signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent. After a standout preseason, he made the team's final roster. He scored his first career touchdown on a five-yard rush against the Washington Commanders in week 2. In week 4, he ran for 72 yards, averaging 10.3 yards-per-carry, and caught all three targets for 32 yards and a touchdown, being given the game ball afterwards. As a rookie, he appeared in all 17 games and made three starts. He finished the 2023 season with 76 carries for 410 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go with 31 receptions for 160 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns.

Despite being a restricted free agent, the Broncos decided not to tender McLaughlin during the 2026 offseason. However, they later re-signed him to a one-year, $1.145 million contract on March 13, 2026. On August 30, McLaughlin was waived as a part of final roster cuts.

Cleveland Browns On September 1, 2026, McLaughlin signed with the Cleveland Browns' practice squad.