A three-school journey ended with a blazing Pro Day that put Jayden Loving in 99th-percentile athletic company among defensive tackles before he signed with Chicago as an undrafted free agent.
Jayden Loving's stock rose fast in the run-up to the 2026 draft after elite testing numbers at Wake Forest's Pro Day turned heads across the league. The well-traveled defensive tackle, who started his career at Bethune-Cookman before stops at Western Kentucky and Wake Forest, signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent and now looks to be a factor along Chicago's interior defensive line.
Path to the league
Loving began his college career at Bethune-Cookman before transferring to Western Kentucky for the 2023 and 2024 seasons, then moved to Wake Forest for his final year of eligibility in 2025. He went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed with the Bears afterward.
Career highlights
Loving's Wake Forest Pro Day performance was the headline moment of his draft process: his 4.82-second 40-yard dash would have tied for third-fastest among defensive tackles at the combine, his 7.15-second 3-cone drill would have been the fastest in his class, and his 35-inch vertical jump would have ranked second-highest among defensive tackles.
2025 season recap
In his lone season at Wake Forest in 2025, Loving played in 13 games and set career highs with 44 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks and one pass defensed. That production, combined with his standout athletic testing, made him one of the more talked-about undrafted defensive tackle signings of the 2026 cycle.
Sources
- Windy City Gridiron: Jayden Loving draft profile
- ESPN: Jayden Loving player page
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- defense
- College
- Wake Forest
- Hometown
- Hamilton, AL, USA
- Age
- 23
- Status
- active
