Claudin Cherelus

American football player

Claudin Cherelus

No. 53 – Carolina Panthers

Position:

Linebacker

Personal information

Born:

(1999-02-09) February 9, 1999 (age 25)
Golden Gate, Florida, U.S.

Height:

6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)

Weight:

230 lb (104 kg)

Career information

High school:

Golden Gate (FL)

College:

UMass (2017–2019)
Alcorn State (2020–2022)

Undrafted:

2023

Career history

New York Jets (2023)*
Carolina Panthers (2023–present)

* Offseason and/or practice squad member only

Roster status:

Active

Career NFL statistics as of 2023

Games played:	6

Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Claudin Cherelus (born February 9, 1999) is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Massachusetts and Alcorn State and has also been a member of the New York Jets.

Early life

Cherelus was born on February 9, 1999, and is of Haitian descent.^[1]^[2] He started playing football in eighth grade and then played three varsity seasons at Golden Gate High School, near Naples, Florida.^[2]^[3] Cherelus played linebacker and safety and twice earned all-conference honors at Golden Gate while also being a team captain.^[2]^[3]^[4] He initially committed to play college football for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, but instead ended up joining the UMass Minutemen after Minnesota retracted their scholarship offer.^[3]^[5]

College career

Cherelus redshirted his true freshman year at UMass, 2017.^[3] The following year, he played in all 12 games and posted 14 tackles.^[4] In 2019, Cherelus appeared in 11 games as a reserve and totaled 39 tackles along with a sack.^[4] He opted to transfer to play for the Alcorn State Braves in 2020, although they did not play that year due to COVID-19.^[6]^[7] Cherelus became a starter for Alcorn State in 2021 and recorded 76 tackles, 11 tackles-for-loss and two sacks.^[8] In his final season, he played nine games and tallied 73 tackles, 14.5 tackles-for-loss, six sacks and an interception on his way to being named second-team all-conference.^[3]^[9] He was invited after the season to the HBCU Legacy Bowl, an all-star game for players from historically black schools.^[3]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
Height	Weight	Arm length	Hand span	40-yard dash	10-yard split	20-yard split	20-yard shuttle	Three-cone drill	Vertical jump	Broad jump	Bench press
6 ft 0+7⁄8 in (1.85 m)	224 lb (102 kg)	32+7⁄8 in (0.84 m)	9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m)	4.54 s	1.69 s	2.58 s	4.47 s	7.56 s	38.0 in (0.97 m)	10 ft 5 in (3.18 m)	18 reps
All values from Pro Day^[10]

New York Jets

Cherelus declined chances to play in the Canadian Football League (CFL) to try to make it in the NFL.^[3] He was signed by the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent, but was released as part of the final roster cuts on August 29.^[11]^[12]

Carolina Panthers

After being released by the Jets, Cherelus was claimed off waivers by the Carolina Panthers.^[13] He was placed on injured reserve on November 3, 2023.^[14]

References

^ "Claudin Cherelus". ESPN.
^ ^a ^b ^c Mull, Cory (July 5, 2016). "Power And Speed Needed For Safety". The News-Press. p. C1, C2 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g DeLuca, Dan (May 9, 2023). "Golden Gate's Claudin Cherelus signs with NY Jets". The Naples Daily News. p. A6 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Claudin Cherelus". UMass Minutemen.
^ Fisher, Adam (February 1, 2017). "National Signing Day 2017: Golden Gate's Claudin Cherelus signs with UMass". The Naples Daily News.
^ Cook, Joe (February 5, 2020). "Alcorn State gets 28 signees on national signing day". WAPT.
^ "Claudin Cherelus". Alcorn State Braves.
^ "Scouting Jets UDFA linebacker Claudin Cherelus". SB Nation. June 20, 2023.
^ Ventre, Ralph (July 12, 2023). "2023 Jets Country Player Profile: LB Claudin Cherelus (41)". Sports Illustrated.
^ "2023 NFL Draft Scout Claudin Cherelus College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ Greenberg, Ethan; Bell, Jack (May 5, 2023). "Jets Sign 13 Undrafted Free Agents". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
^ Lange, Randy; Greenberg, Ethan (August 30, 2023). "Final Cuts: Jets Move 31 More to Get Their Roster to 53 Players". NewYorkJets.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
^ Gantt, Darin (August 30, 2023). "Panthers add three players on waiver claims". Panthers.com. Retrieved August 30, 2023.
^ "Panthers place Claudin Cherelus on injured reserve". Panthers.com. November 3, 2023.