From Wikipedia - Reading time: 11 min
Tranquill with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2021 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 23 – Kansas City Chiefs | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | August 15, 1995 Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 234 lb (106 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Carroll (Fort Wayne, Indiana) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Notre Dame (2014–2018) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2019 / round: 4 / pick: 130 | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
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| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 2, 2024 | |||||||||||||||
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Drue Tranquill (born August 15, 1995) is an American professional football linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
Tranquill attended Carroll High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. As a senior in 2013, Tranquill made 75 tackles, including 16 tackles-for-loss, to go with four sacks and an interception as a linebacker. He added 1,420 yards and 28 touchdowns on 114 carries on the ground as a running back, along with 16 receptions for 348 yards and five touchdowns.[1] Tranquill was a four-star recruit coming out of high school, and received offers from several major programs, mostly in the Big Ten Conference.[2][3] He verbally committed to Purdue University to play college football, but later decommitted and ultimately signed with the University of Notre Dame.[4] Tranquill's younger brother, Justin, played safety for Western Michigan University.[5]
Initially committed to Purdue University, Tranquill decommitted when he received an offer from Notre Dame.[6]
As a true freshman at Notre Dame in 2014, Tranquill played in 11 games with three starts and recorded 33 tackles, a tackle for loss, an interception, a fumble recovery, and a blocked punt.[1] He played in three games as a sophomore in 2015, with one start, but was lost for the season due to a torn ACL suffered while celebrating after breaking up a pass against Georgia Tech on September 19. He collected a medical redshirt for the 2015 season, and was able to play as a graduate student during the 2018 season as a result.[7] As a junior in 2016, Tranquill started all 12 games for the Irish, tallying 79 tackles, two tackles for loss, and an interception.[1] During Tranquill's senior year in 2017, he finished the year with 85 tackles, 10.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, four passes defended, one interception and one forced fumble while starting all 13 games.[1] At the end of the 2017 season, Tranquill announced that he would return for a 5th year as a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering for the 2018–19 season.[8]
| 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 2 in (1.88 m) |
234 lb (106 kg) |
31+1⁄2 in (0.80 m) |
9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) |
4.57 s | 1.59 s | 2.65 s | 4.14 s | 6.94 s | 37.5 in (0.95 m) |
10 ft 2 in (3.10 m) |
31 reps | |
| All values from NFL Combine[13][14] | ||||||||||||
The Los Angeles Chargers selected Tranquill in the fourth round (130th overall) of the 2019 NFL draft. He was the 14th linebacker drafted in 2019. Tranquill was reunited with Notre Dame teammate Jerry Tillery, who the Chargers drafted in the first round.[15]

On May 10, 2019, the Los Angeles Chargers signed Tranquill to a four year, $3.17 million contract that includes a signing bonus of $658,808.[16] Throughout training camp, Tranquill competed to be a backup middle linebacker against Nick Dzubnar. Head coach Anthony Lynn named Tranquill the third middle linebacker to begin the regular season, behind Denzel Perryman and Nick Dzubnar.[17]
On September 8, 2019, Tranquill made his regular season debut and recorded one solo tackle during a 30–24 victory against the Indianapolis Colts. On November 7, 2019, Tranquill earned his first career start, replacing Denzel Perryman who was inactive due to an ankle injury, and recorded a season-high 14 combined tackles during a 25–23 loss at the Oakland Raiders. The following week, he was inactive due to a calf injury as the Chargers lost 21–17 to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11. In Week 12, Tranquill started at outside linebacker and made 7 solo tackles and recorded a season-high three tackles for-a-loss during a 23–20 loss at the Denver Broncos. He finished his rookie campaign with 75 combined tackles (61 solo) and four tackles for-a-loss in 15 games and three starts. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team as a special teamer in 2019.[18] The Los Angeles Chargers finished the 2019 NFL season with a 5–11 record and did not qualify for the playoffs.
Tranquill competed against Kyzir White during training camp to be the starting weakside linebacker after the role was left vacant after the departure of Thomas Davis Sr. Defensive coordinator Gus Bradley named Tranquill the backup weakside linebacker behind White to begin the regular season.[19] In Week 1, Tranquill started the season opener and made one tackle before leaving the Chargers 17–16 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals. On September 15, 2020, He was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season after it was discovered he had suffered a broken ankle.[20] On January 4, 2021, the Los Angeles Chargers fired head coach Anthony Lynn and his coaching staff after the Chargers missed the playoffs due to a 7–9 record.
On January 17, 2021, the Los Angeles Chargers hired former Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley as their new head coach. Defensive coordinator Renaldo Hill elected to transition to a base 3-4 defense. During training camp, Tranquill competed against Kyzir White to be one of the starting inside linebackers after long-time veteran Denzel Perryman left via free agency.[21] Head coach Brandon Staley named Tranquill and Kenneth Murray the starting inside linebackers alongside starting outside linebackers Uchenna Nwosu and Joey Bosa.
In the Wild Card Round of the 2022 season against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Tranquill intercepted a tipped pass from Trevor Lawrence.[22]
Tranquill signed with the Kansas City Chiefs on March 21, 2023.[23] He reached Super Bowl LVIII, recording two total tackles in the Chiefs 25–22 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.[24][25][26]
On March 13, 2024, Tranquill signed a three-year, $19 million contract extension with the Chiefs.[27]
Tranquill is a Christian.[28] He and his wife, Jackie, have one son and two daughters.[29]
Tranquill won the Chess.com 2023 BlitzChamps II tournament, beating defending champion Chidobe Awuzie.[30]
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