Chris Covington
{{Short description|American football player (born 1996)}}
{{Distinguish|Christian Covington}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name = Chris Covington
| image = File:Chris Covington.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Covington with the Indiana Hoosiers in 2017
| number = 59
| position = Linebacker
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age |1996|1|3|mf=y}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lb = 245
| high_school = Al Raby (Chicago, Illinois)
| college = Indiana
| draftyear = 2018
| draftround = 6
| draftpick = 193
| pastteams =
- Dallas Cowboys ({{NFL Year|2018}}–{{NFL Year|2019}})
- Indianapolis Colts ({{NFL Year|2020}})*
| highlights =
| statlabel1 = Games played
| statvalue1 = 8
| statlabel2 = Total tackles
| statvalue2 = 3
| pfr = CoviCh01
}}
Chris Covington (born January 3, 1996) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Indiana.
Early life
Covington attended Al Raby High School, where he played as a quarterback and defensive back. As a senior, he posted 1,993 passing yards, 26 passing touchdowns, 657 rushing yards, 13 rushing touchdowns, 6 tackles for loss, 3 interceptions, one forced fumble, while receiving All-city and All-conference honors.{{Cite web |title=How Chicago's Chris Covington Reached Indiana University From The West Side |url=https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161012/garfield-park/chris-covington-indiana-hoosiers-college-football/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180429093101/https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20161012/garfield-park/chris-covington-indiana-hoosiers-college-football/ |archive-date=April 29, 2018 |access-date=April 28, 2020}}
He was considered a two-star recruit as an athlete.{{Cite web |title=Chris Covington profile |url=https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2014/chris-covington-34235 |access-date=April 28, 2020}}
College career
Covington accepted a football scholarship from Indiana University to be a defensive player. As a freshman, he was tried at linebacker and defensive back. After Tre Roberson and Cam Coffman announced they would be transferring to other schools, Covington was moved to be the backup quarterback behind Nate Sudfeld. He appeared in four of the first five games and was used mostly in the Wildcat formation. In the sixth game against the University of Iowa, he saw extensive action after Sudfeld was injured with a separated left shoulder in the second quarter, registering 3 out of 12 completions for 31 yards, 11 carries for 41 yards,{{Cite web |last=Woods |first=David |date=October 13, 2014 |title=With Nate Sudfeld out, IU turns to Chris Covington |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2014/10/13/iu-football/17191945/ |access-date=2023-10-13 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}} but suffered a season-ending torn ACL during the contest.{{Cite web |date=October 18, 2014 |title=The Covington Report: Torn ACL |url=https://247sports.com/college/indiana/Article/The-Covington-Report-Torn-ACL-105144673/ |access-date=April 28, 2020 |website=247sports.com}}
As a sophomore, he was moved to linebacker during spring practice. He appeared in the last 8 contests of the season and tallied 4 tackles (all against Penn State University).
As junior, he played in all 13 games (one start) backing up Marcus Oliver. He posted 29 tackles (19 solo), 2 sacks, one quarterback pressure, 3 tackles for loss, and one forced fumble. He earned his first career start in the eleventh game against the University of Michigan, making 6 tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble.{{Cite web |title=IU's Chris Covington aims to fill big gap left by Marcus Oliver |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2017/08/17/ius-chris-covington-aims-fill-big-gap-left-marcus-oliver/569808001/ |access-date=April 28, 2020}}
As a senior, he started all 12 games at middle linebacker, replacing the recently graduated Oliver. He registered 85 tackles (third on the team), 50 solo tackles (third on the team), 12 tackles for loss (second on the team), 3 sacks, 5 quarterback hurries (second on the team), 5 passes defensed (third on the team), and one fumble recovery. He was named the team's Defensive Player of the Year. He finished his college career with 118 tackles, 70 solo tackles, 5 sacks, and 15 tackles for loss.
Professional career
{{NFL predraft
| height ft = 6
| height in = 2 1/4
| weight = 245
| dash = 4.78
| ten split = 1.63
| twenty split = 2.76
| shuttle = 4.39
| cone drill = 7.02
| vertical = 33.5
| broad ft = 9
| broad in = 8
| bench = 23
| wonderlic =
| arm span = 32 1/2
| hand span = 9 1/4
| note = All values from Pro Day except 40-yd dash and bench press
}}
=Dallas Cowboys=
Covington was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round (193rd overall) of the 2018 NFL draft.{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2018 |title=The Dallas Cowboys select Chris Covington with the 193rd pick in the 2018 NFL draft |url=https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2018/4/28/17295712/the-dallas-cowboys-select-chris-covington-with-the-193rd-pick-in-the-2018-nfl-draft |access-date=May 2, 2020 |website=BloggingTheBoys.com}} As a rookie, he was a backup linebacker and was declared inactive in 11 games. He appeared in five games, playing mostly on special teams and had one tackle.
On August 31, 2019, Covington was waived by the Cowboys and re-signed to the practice squad.{{Cite web |last=Helman, David |date=August 31, 2019 |title=Several Young Draft Picks Among Cowboys' Cuts |url=https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/several-young-draft-picks-among-cowboys-cuts |access-date=May 2, 2020 |website=DallasCowboys.com}}{{Cite web |last=Phillips, Rob |date=September 2, 2019 |title=Initial Practice Squad Includes New QB, TE, WR |url=https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/initial-practice-squad-includes-new-qb-te-wr |access-date=May 2, 2020 |website=DallasCowboys.com}} He was promoted to the active roster on September 10, only to be waived four days later and re-signed back to the practice squad.{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2019 |title=Cowboys roster move: Dallas waiving running back Jordan Chunn, calling up Chris Covington |url=https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2019/9/10/20859614/cowboys-roster-move-dallas-waiving-running-back-jordan-chunn-calling-up-chris-covington |access-date=May 2, 2020 |website=Blogging the Boys |publisher=SB Nation}} He was promoted to the active roster on December 14.{{Cite web |date=December 14, 2019 |title=Cowboys roster move: LB Chris Covington promoted to 53-man roster with Sean Lee questionable for Rams |url=https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2019/12/14/21021965/cowboys-roster-move-lb-chris-covington-promoted-to-53-man-roster-with-sean-lee-questionable-for-rams |access-date=May 2, 2020 |website=Blogging the Boys |publisher=SB Nation}} He appeared in 3 games as a reserve player, making 3 defensive tackles.
Covington was released by the Cowboys on April 30, 2020.{{Cite news |date=April 30, 2020 |title=April 30 Updates |work=DallasCowboys.com |url=https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/updates-april-2020 |access-date=May 2, 2020}}
=Indianapolis Colts=
On December 15, 2020, Covington was signed to the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad.{{Cite news |date=December 15, 2020 |title=Colts Sign LB Chris Covington To Practice Squad |work=Colts.com |url=https://www.colts.com/news/chris-covington-linebacker-practice-squad-dallas-cowboys-indiana-university |access-date=December 17, 2020}} On December 29, he was released.{{Cite news |date=December 29, 2020 |title=Colts Release LB Chris Covington From Practice Squad |work=Colts.com |url=https://www.colts.com/news/chris-covington-linebacker-released-practice-squad-week-17-2020 |access-date=February 10, 2021}}
=NFL career statistics=
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" | |||||||||||||
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Team ! colspan="2"| Games ! colspan="4"| Tackles ! colspan="6"| Interceptions ! colspan="2"| Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmb | Solo | Ast | Sck | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR |
| 2018 | DAL
| 5 || 0 || 1 || 1 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||||
| 2019 | DAL
| 3 || 0 || 2 || 2 || 0 || 0.0 || 0|| 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 | ||||||||||||
| colspan="2"| [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/C/CoviCh01.htm Total] || 8 || 0 || 3 || 3 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0.0 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 0 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/football/roster/chris-covington/7605 Indiana Hoosiers bio]
{{Cowboys2018DraftPicks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Covington, Chris}}
Category:Players of American football from Chicago
Category:American football quarterbacks
Category:American football linebackers
Category:Indiana Hoosiers football players