Jackson Hawes ’24 has been critical in shaping the Buffalo Bills’ offense. Other Yale football alumni, including Foyesade Oluokun ’18 and Rodney Thomas II ’22, have made their marks on the National Football League.
Audrey Kim 3:06 am, Oct 30, 2025
Contributing Reporter
Yale Athletics
Five Yale alumni currently hold spots on National Football League rosters, one of the most notable being Jackson Hawes ’24, the rookie tight end for the Buffalo Bills.
The NFL is now in Week 9, marking the halfway point of the 18-week regular season.
“Hawes has fit seamlessly with the Bills in his rookie season,” Pro Football Focus analyst Lauren Gray wrote to the News. “Hawes has 146 run blocking snaps, with only their starting offensive linemen receiving more, and he has been impressive, earning a 69.5 PFF run blocking grade. That ranks third among 38 tight ends with at least 100 blocking snaps.”
Pro Football Focus named Hawes as their top NFL rookie in Week 3 and has continued to rank him as one of the best rookies this season.
Gray wrote that Hawes’ physicality lets the Bills be more flexible with how they play and allows them to take advantage of their versatile talent in the tight end department. Hawes is currently Buffalo’s third string tight end — behind Dalton Kincaid and Dawson Knox — and when all three of them take the field, Hawes’ blocking talent allows Kincaid to be an additional receiving option.
“I think it’s been really impressive the way that Jackson has been able to step into not only the NFL, but a Super Bowl contending team as quickly as he has, and fill the role that they’re asking him to play,” former ESPN play-by-play announcer Justin Gallanty said in a phone interview. “He’s got a couple catches this year, and he does have a touchdown, but for the most part, it is that 13 personnel that they’re using him in, and you can see the success that they’re having as the top rushing team in the NFL.”
The Bills currently have the most rushing yards in the league, with 1,151 yards so far. In the 2024 season, they ended the regular season with 2,230 rushing yards, the ninth most in the league.
“That’s another trend we’ve seen over the last few years, which is teams running the ball a bit more because it’s been more efficient,” NFL analyst Mina Kimes ’07 said in a phone interview.
A team’s move to utilize the run game more often also comes with utilizing heavier offensive formations, known as 12 and 13 personnel. The most common grouping for an offense to use is 11 personnel, where one tight end and three receivers take the field. In 12, two tight ends and two receivers take the field, and in 13, three tight ends play on the field at once.
“Both 12 and 13 personnel have been on the rise now,” Kimes said. “I think there’s a number of reasons for it, but one is that defenses started trending lighter about five, seven years ago, and so by putting bigger bodies on the field, offenses can either find mismatches running the football if defenses stay light, or force them to match those multiple tight end groupings with players that they don’t want to put on the field in coverage.”
Foyesade Oluokun ’18, linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars, faced a 13 personnel offense in his Week 7 game, when the Jaguars fell 7-35 to the Los Angeles Rams.
Oluokun has played 100 percent of defensive snaps for the Jaguars’ past three games in a row, including their Week 5 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. He picked up a season high of 14 tackles in his game against the Chiefs and has accumulated 55 total and 29 solo tackles in the season so far.
Rodney Thomas II ’22 also plays on the defensive side of the ball and has totaled 14 tackles this season as a safety for the Indianapolis Colts, who are currently ranked first in the American Football Conference southern division with a record of 7–1.
Kiran Amegadjie ’24 is currently on injured reserve for the Chicago Bears, and Mason Tipton ’24 plays as a wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints. Neither has gotten significant time on the field this season.
These five teams will play their Week 9 games on Sunday.
AUDREY KIM