Jehu Chesson

Jehu Femi Chesson II (born 29 December 1993) is a Liberian former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Michigan, and was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft. He owns the school record for most receiving touchdowns in a game, tied with Derrick Alexander with four. His 207 receiving yards against Indiana during the 2015 season also ranks as the third-highest total in school history.

Jehu Chesson
refer to caption
Chesson while with the Michigan Wolverines in 2016
No. 80, 16
Position:Wide receiver
Personal information
Born: (1993-12-29) 29 December 1993
Monrovia, Liberia
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:204 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High school:Ladue Horton Watkins
(Ladue, Missouri)
College:Michigan
NFL Draft:2017 / Round: 4 / Pick: 139
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:3
Receiving yards:25
Return yards:65
Player stats at NFL.com

Early years

Chesson was born in Monrovia, Liberia, on 29 December 1993, and grew up during the First Liberian Civil War. His father, Jehu Chesson Sr., worked in the financial industry but joined Lutheran World Service as a relief worker during the war.[1] Chesson moved with his family to neighboring Côte d'Ivoire at the age of two and then to St. Louis, Missouri, three years later, where his father took a job working for MasterCard.[2][1]

Chesson grew up in St. Louis and began playing American football in the eighth grade.[3] He attended Ladue Horton Watkins High School where he played at the wide receiver position. He caught 53 passes for 757 yards as a senior,[4] and he was selected as a first-team All-Missouri player. He was also the Missouri high school champion in the 300-meter hurdles in 2011.[5]

College career

Chesson accepted a scholarship to play football at the University of Michigan. As a freshman in 2012, he redshirted and did not see game action.[4] As a sophomore in 2013, he had a 33-yard touchdown on his first collegiate reception and caught 15 passes for 221 yards.[6] As a junior in 2014, he caught 14 passes for 154 yards.[4]

Chesson also saw action on kickoff returns, and in an 10 October 2015, game against Northwestern, he returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown.[7] Chesson's return against Northwestern was the first kickoff returned for a touchdown by a Michigan player since Darryl Stonum accomplished the feat in 2009 against Notre Dame.[8]

On 14 November 2015, Chesson had a breakout game, catching 10 passes for 207 yards and four touchdowns against Indiana.[9] Three of the four touchdowns were scored in the first half,[10] and the fourth came on a fourth-down play with two seconds remaining in regulation and Michigan trailing 34 to 27.[11] Chesson's 207 receiving yards ranks as the third highest single-game total in Michigan football history. He also tied Derrick Alexander's Michigan single-game record of four receiving touchdowns set in 1992.[10][12] He was subsequently named the Co-Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week, along with Jake Rudock. Chesson and Rudock became the second-ever pair of teammates in conference history to share the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award.[13]

During the 2015 season, Chesson led Michigan with 1,085 all-purpose yards and 12 touchdowns. He established new career highs with 50 receptions and 764 receiving yards and nine receiving touchdowns. He also had 166 return yards and one touchdown on four kick returns and 155 rushing yards and two touchdowns on eight carries (19.4 yards per carry).[14] Following the 2015 season, Chesson was named to the All-Big Ten offensive first-team, and was awarded the Bo Schembechler Most Valuable Player Award, by his teammates.[15]

Professional career
Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeightArm lengthHand span40-yard dash20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
6 ft 1+5⁄8 in
(1.87 m)		 204 lb
(93 kg)		 33+1⁄4 in
(0.84 m)		 9+1⁄8 in
(0.23 m)		4.47 s4.09 s6.70 s35.5 in
(0.90 m)		11 ft 0 in
(3.35 m)		10 reps
All values from NFL Combine[16]

Kansas City Chiefs
Chesson with the Chiefs in 2017

Chesson was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fourth round, 139th overall, in the 2017 NFL Draft.[17][18] In Week 9, against the Dallas Cowboys, he recorded a 10-yard reception for the first catch of his NFL career.[19] He finished his rookie season with two receptions for 18 yards and no touchdowns. He was waived on 1 September 2018.[20]

Washington Redskins

Chesson was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad on 5 September 2018.[21] He was promoted to the active roster on 12 September 2018, but was waived on 17 September and returned to the practice squad the following day.[22][23][24] He was promoted to the active roster again on 18 October after injuries to Jamison Crowder and Paul Richardson.[25]

Chesson was waived on 31 August 2019, but was signed to the practice squad the following day.[26][27] His practice squad contract with the team expired on 6 January 2020.[28]

New York Jets

Chesson signed a futures contract with the New York Jets on 9 January 2020.[29] He was waived on 5 September 2020.[30]

See also

References
  1. "Lifting Employees of African Descent' at MasterCard". St. Louis American. 26 July 2012.
  2. Angelique S. Chengelis (3 August 2015). "UM's Jehu Chesson living his American dream". The Detroit News.
  3. Steve Kornacki (3 August 2015). "Chesson is Hard to Beat in Many Ways". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan.
  4. "Jehu Chesson Bio". University of Michigan. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
  5. Kyle Meinke (30 May 2012). "Michigan commit Jehu Chesson hopes track exploits translate to football field". The Ann Arbor News.
  6. "Jehu Chesson can't stop scoring touchdowns". ESPN.com. November 2015.
  7. Aaron McMann (10 October 2015). "Watch Jehu Chesson's 96-yard kickoff return for TD to start Michigan-Northwestern". Mlive.com.
  8. Mark Snyder (11 October 2015). "U-M notes: Jehu Chesson's kick return sets tone early". Detroit Free Press.
  9. "Jehu Chesson Game By Game Stats". ESPN.com. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  10. Mark Snyder (15 November 2015). "U-M notes: Chesson catches four TDs, ties school record". Detroit Free Press.
  11. "Chesson saves Michigan with 4th TD". ESPN.com. 14 November 2015. Retrieved 26 November 2019.
  12. "Record Days from Rudock, Chesson Help U-M Outlast IU in Double OT". Mgoblue.com. University of Michigan. 14 November 2015. Archived from the original on 16 November 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2015.
  13. "Rudock, Chesson Share Big Ten Weekly Offensive Honor". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2015.
  14. "2015 Michigan Football: Michigan Overall Team Statistics (as of Jan 01, 2016) All games" (PDF). University of Michigan. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
  15. "Chesson's Selection as Team MVP Highlights Awards at Bust". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  16. "Jehu Chesson Combine Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
  17. "Quartet of Wolverines Go So Far on Third Day of NFL Draft". MGoBlue.com. CBS Interactive. 29 April 2017. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  18. Thorman, Joel (29 April 2017). "NFL draft results: Chiefs trade up and pick Michigan WR Jehu Chesson in fourth round". ArrowheadPride.com. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  19. "Kansas City Chiefs at Dallas Cowboys - November 5th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 6 November 2017.
  20. "Chiefs Roster Down to NFL-Mandated 53". Chiefs.com. 1 September 2018.
  21. "Redskins Sign Josh Keyes, Place Byron Marshall On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  22. "Redskins Sign Jehu Chesson To Active Roster, Place Trey Quinn On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. 12 September 2018.
  23. "9/17: Redskins Make Roster Move". Redskins.com. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
  24. "Redskins Sign Breshad Perriman And Michael Floyd, Place Rob Kelley On Injured Reserve". Redskins.com. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  25. "Redskins Sign Jehu Chesson To The Active Roster". Redskins.com. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  26. "Redskins Make Roster Moves". Redskins.com. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  27. "Redskins Sign Nine Players To Practice Squad". Redskins.com. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  28. @HBalzer721 (7 January 2020). "Redskins practice-squad contracts expired Monday: WR Jehu Chesson; RB Derrick Gore; LBs Cassanova McKinzy, Pete Robertson; TE Keith Trowbridge; DT JoJo Wicker" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 January 2020 – via Twitter.
  29. "Jets Sign WR Jehu Chesson to Reserve/Future Contract". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  30. Lange, Randy (5 September 2020). "Jets Move 27 to Get Their Roster to 53-Player Limit". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved 28 June 2023.
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