FRISCO, Texas–One of the players I was most excited to see at the 2024 East-West Shrine Bowl was Arkansas’ Trajan Jeffcoat. A transfer from Missouri, Jeffcoat was an All-SEC performer as a redshirt sophomore with the Tigers in 2020, racking up six sacks and 23 tackles in eight games during the COVID-shortened season. He would finish his college career with 15.5 sacks, 28 tackles for a loss and 100 total tackles in five seasons, and in his final season at Arkansas, Jeffcoat had 8.5 tackles for a loss and 4.5 sacks.
He also boasts impressive measurables, coming in at 6040 and 266 pounds with 33 4/8″ arms at Shrine Bowl weigh-ins. During an interview with Steelers Depot at the Hyatt Regency in Frisco, Jeffcoat talked about his collegiate journey, his family, and his fear of ignorance.
Jeffcoat is an impressive player on the field, but he’s just as impressive, if not moreso, off it. A three-time SEC All-Honor Roll member, Jeffcoat said a fear of ignorance drives him on the field an in the classroom.
“I’m always a hard worker. Definitely just listening to details because I don’t want to be ignorant. I have a fear of ignorance,” Jeffcoat said. He said it was hard at times, but balancing school and football became easier the more he did and the more he dedicated himself to it.
On the field this week, Jeffcoat excelled in 1v1 reps. Against Anim Dankwah, one of the biggest and most physically imposing linemen at the Shrine Bowl, Jefferson showed he can win with power and that he can win with pass rush moves.
After four successful years at Missouri, Jeffcoat transferred to Arkansas. What stood out to him is that on his recruiting visit, the Arkansas staff wasn’t worried about him as a player, and only wanted to know and talk about him as a person.
“They didn’t even really talk about football. They were talking about me as a person,” Jeffcoat said. “Everyone else was talking about football.”
Off the field, Jeffcoat is a family man. He’s engaged with a son, and he said his family is one of his biggest motivating factors for him to succeed and find success at the next level. On the field, he studies Steelers OLB T.J. Watt, and he talked about what separates Watt from other EDGE rushers.
“Real flexible, real mobile,” Jeffcoat said. “People underestimate him, but he’s real strong,” Jeffcoat said. He specifically mentioned Watt’s flexibility and bend around the edge, saying that Watt’s bend is “crazy” especially when you look at all of his other traits that can make him a complete pass-rusher and player.
One of the things that stood out about watching Jeffcoat on the field during practices and on tape is his hunger on the field. He’s always going 100% and he’s always active and smiling out on the field. He said that just comes from his pure love of football and excitement about getting the chance to play the game at a high level.
And playing football in the SEC is certainly at a high level. He said the physicality of the SEC is something that he thinks will help him translate into a good NFL player.
“Definitely a physical league,” Jeffcoat said. “That definitely teaches you how to be physical. That’s a very important piece,” Jeffcoat said.
After his breakout redshirt sophomore season, Jeffcoat got a lot of attention from opposing offenses, and he was still able to produce at a high level. He said having that breakout season helped him learn how to work harder and find different ways to win.
“Once you make that real breakout year, you gotta work even harder. Because double teams start happening, so you gotta start thinking about playing in different spots, so I feel like that definitely helped me,” Jeffcoat said.
He said adapting and learning how to play in different techniques helped him expand his game and optimized his performance to be the best player he could.
Before the draft, he’s working out with players like OLB Chris Braswell from Alabama, CB Ennis Rakestraw from Missouri and EDGE Jared Verse from Florida State. All those players are projected Day 1 or Day 2 picks, and going up against and working with that level of competition will surely help Jeffcoat’s game develop and evolve.
Jeffcoat was one of the most fun players I was able to talk to in Frisco this week, and his love of football and his family really came through in our conversation. While Pittsburgh has three EDGE players under contract for next season in Watt, OLB Alex Highsmith and OLB Nick Herbig, they could look to target the draft in the middle rounds. If they do, Jeffcoat has the build, production in a Power Five conference and character that the Steelers look for. He’s an impressive player and person and I have little doubt that he’ll be able to find success in the NFL, wherever he ends up.
