A rare two-sport national champion who won a College World Series title with Ole Miss baseball and a football national championship at Ohio State, Tywone Malone Jr. signed with Carolina as an undrafted free agent.
Tywone Malone Jr. has one of the more unusual resumes in this rookie class, having won championships in two different college sports before settling in as a defensive tackle. A former four-star recruit, he went undrafted in 2026 but brings the pedigree of a national title program to Carolina's defensive line.
Path to the league
Malone was a four-star recruit out of Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, New Jersey, ranked among the top defensive tackles nationally in the 2021 class. He signed with Ole Miss, where he played both football and baseball, before transferring to Ohio State in 2023 to focus solely on football. He went undrafted in the 2026 NFL Draft and signed with Carolina as a free agent.
Career highlights
Malone holds the rare distinction of winning national championships in two different sports at two different schools: a College World Series title with Ole Miss baseball in 2022, and a football national championship as a backup defensive tackle with Ohio State in 2024. Across three seasons at Ohio State, he totaled 39 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and two pass deflections.
2025 season recap
Malone played a rotational role on Ohio State's defensive line in his final college season in 2025 without recording a sack, a factor that contributed to him going undrafted. He signed with an NFL team as an undrafted free agent after the 2026 draft before landing with Carolina, where he will compete for a depth role along the interior defensive line.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Tywone Malone Jr.
- Eleven Warriors: New Orleans Saints Sign Ohio State Defensive Tackle Tywone Malone Jr. As Undrafted Free Agent
Player Profile
Background
- Position
- Defensive Tackle
- Group
- defense
- College
- Ohio State
- Hometown
- Jamesburg, NJ, USA
- Age
- 23
- Status
- active
