Leander Wiegand

Leander Wiegand (born August 24, 1999) is a German professional American football guard. He previously played in the European League of Football (ELF) for the Cologne Centurions, Rhein Fire and Munich Ravens. He joined the NFL through the league's International Player Pathway (IPP) program in 2025.

Early life Wiegand was born on August 24, 1999, in Henstedt-Ulzburg, Germany. He later became interested in American football and joined the local Aachen Vampires in 2018, at age 19, playing for them until 2019. An offensive lineman, he was noticed at a Gridiron Imports football camp run by Björn Werner in 2019 and was invited to the Gridiron Import College Tour in 2020, though it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Mohr, Wiegand became the first German to receive a scholarship for an NCAA Division I team "without the college ever seeing him play before. It was purely about his athletic ability".

Professional career In 2022, Wiegand signed with the Cologne Centurions of the European League of Football (ELF). After the 2022 season, he was invited to the NFL's International Combine, telling Kicker that "they told me at the time that I had perhaps the best workout of all the players".

NFL predraft height ft = 6 height in = 5 1/2 weight = 318 dash = 5.40 ten split = 1.84 twenty split = 3.03 shuttle = 4.74 cone drill = 7.67 vertical = 32.0 broad ft = 8 broad in = 10 bench = 38 arm span = 33 1/8 hand span = 10 7/8 note = All values from Pro Day At his pro day, he recorded 38 bench press repetitions, five more than anyone who had participated at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. Wiegand recorded his first NFL Snaps during Week two of the 2025 Preseason in the New York Jets game against the New York Giants. He was waived on August 26 as part of final roster cuts and re-signed to the practice squad the next day.