# Jalen Pitre

Jalen Pitre (/ˈpiːtri/ PEE-tree; born June 3, 1999) is an American professional football safety for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Baylor Bears and in 2021, he was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and a consensus All-American.

## Early life

Pitre attended Stafford High School in Stafford, Texas. He committed to Baylor University to play college football.

## College career

As a true freshman at Baylor in 2017, Pitre started eight of 12 games, recording 37 tackles and one sack. As a sophomore he started one of 13 games and had 11 tackles. In 2019, he played in four games and took a redshirt. He finished the season with 12 tackles. As a redshirt junior in 2020, Pitre started all nine games, recording 60 tackles, two interceptions and two sacks. He returned as a starter in 2021 and was named a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award. He was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and earned Consensus All-American honors.

## Professional career
### Pre-draft

Kevin Hanson of Sports Illustrated ranked Pitre as the fourth best safety prospect in the draft. NFL media analyst Daniel Jeremiah ranked him as the fourth best safety (41st overall) in the draft. Bleacher Report and Zach Patraw of Sports Illustrated had Pitre ranked fifth among all safety prospects. NFL analyst Lance Zierlein projected him to be selected in the third round. The majority of NFL draft analysts projected Pitre to be a second or third round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.
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 |
| 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | 198 lb (90 kg) | 30+5⁄8 in (0.78 m) | 9 in (0.23 m) | 4.46 s | 1.53 s | 2.57 s | 4.15 s | 6.74 s | 35.0 in (0.89 m) | 9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) | 16 reps |
| All values from NFL Combine/Pro Day ||||||||||||
The Houston Texans selected Pitre in the second round (37th overall) of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was the fourth safety drafted in 2022.

### 2022

On May 11, 2022, the Houston Texans signed Pitre to a four–year, $8.95 million rookie contract that includes $6.23 million guaranteed upon signing and an initial signing bonus of $3.69 million.
He entered training camp projected to become the starting free safety following the departure of Justin Reid. He competed for a starting role against Eric Murray, Jonathan Owens, and M. J. Stewart. Head coach Lovie Smith named him the starting free safety to begin the season and paired him with strong safety Jonathan Owens.
On September 11, 2022, Pitre made his professional regular season debut and earned his first career start in the Houston Texans' home-opener against the Indianapolis Colts and made ten combined tackles (five solo) during a 20–20 tie in overtime. On September 25, 2022, Pitre made eight combined tackles (five solo), two pass deflections, a fumble recovery, a sack, and a career-high two interceptions as the Texans lost 23–20 at the Chicago Bears. He had his first career sack on quarterback Justin Fields for an eight–yard loss and made his first career interception on a pass by Fields to tight end Cole Kmet. In Week 13, he collected a career-high 16 combined tackles (nine solo), made a pass deflection, and intercepted a pass by Deshaun Watson to wide receiver Amari Cooper during a 14–27 loss to the Cleveland Browns. In Week 17, Pitre racked up a season-high 11 solo tackles (13 combined), broke up a pass, and set a career-high with his fifth interception of the season on a pass attempt by C. J. Beathard to wide receiver Marvin Jones during a 3–31 loss against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He started in all 17 games as a rookie and recorded a total of 147 combined tackles (99 solo), one sack, five interceptions, and eight passes defended. He was named to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

### 2023

On January 8, 2023, the Texans fired head coach Lovie Smith after they finished the 2022 NFL season with a 3–13–1 record. On January 31, 2023, the Texans hired San Francisco 49ers' defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as their new head coach. Pitre entered training camp slated as the de facto starting strong safety under defensive coordinator Matt Burke. Head coach DeMeco Ryans named Pitre and Eric Murray as the starting safeties to begin the season.
He was inactive for two games (Weeks 2–3) after injuring his chest. On October 8, 2023, Pitre collected a season-high 13 combined tackles (nine solo) and made a pass deflection during a 19–23 loss at the Atlanta Falcons. In Week 15, he made four combined tackles (one solo) and a season-high two pass deflections during a 19–16 overtime victory at the Tennessee Titans. He finished the 2023 NFL season with 84 combined tackles (58 solo), five passes defended, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery in 15 games and 15 starts.

### 2024

He retained his role as the starting strong safety, alongside Eric Murray, to begin the 2024 NFL season. In Week 2, Pitre racked up a season-high ten combined tackles (eight solo) during a 19–13 win against the Chicago Bears. On October 27, 2024, Pitre made four combined tackles (three solo), a pass deflection, and had his only interception of the season on a pass by Anthony Richardson to wide receiver Josh Downs as the Texans defeated the Indianapolis Colts 23–20.
Pitre started 12 games for Houston in 2024, compiling one interception, one forced fumble, eight pass deflections, and 65 combined tackles. On December 11, 2024, it was announced that Pitre would undergo season–ending surgery to repair a partially–torn pectoral muscle.