Indiana defensive lineman James Carpenter has signed with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent according to his instagram account Sunday morning.
Indiana defensive lineman James Carpenter has signed with the Jaguars as an UDFA. pic.twitter.com/7OzNgH8EtI
— Nash Henry (@NashJagsNats22) April 27, 2025
James Carpenter is a 6-foot-2, 288-pound defensive tackle who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and will try to make the 53 man roster or the practice squad this upcoming season.
Carpenter started at defensive tackle for one season with the Hoosiers along side CJ West who was drafted in the 4th round by the San Fransisco 49ers.
The James Madison transfer had 38 tackles, six sacks, 10.5 tackles for loss, five QB hurries, two pass deflections, and one blocked field goal. Carpenter was also a big part of Indiana’s top run defense, in 2024-25 Indiana only allowed 81.2 rushing yards per game which was the best in all of FBS.
Carpenter came to Indiana with coach Curt Cignetti from James Madison aong with the majority of the coaching staff and players like D'Angelo Ponds, Mikail Kamara and Aiden Fisher. Carpenter played in 40 career games, and he recorded 141 tackles, 28 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 11 pass deflections, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble at James Madison.
Carpenter was named Second Team All-Sun Belt in 2022 and 2023. The Roanoke, Virginia, native was also a Burlsworth Trophy in 2024, which goes to the Most Outstanding player who began his career as a Walk-On.
"I'm proud of him and how far along he's come. I could have never seen this six years ago in 2019 when I recruited him out of Roanoke Catholic High School. I'm proud of his journey. Same for a lot of these guys.”"Indiana DC Bryant Haines