Linebacker, Cincinnati (from Central Arkansas), 2021–25
Jake Golday
Lettered 2024–25 (school media guide)
- Number
- No. 11
- Height
- 6′4″
- Weight
- 240 lb
- Class (2025)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Arlington, TN
- Born
- May 23, 2003
Wikipedia readers: about 2,096 a month over the past year
Jake Golday played linebacker at Central Arkansas (2021–23) and Cincinnati (2024–25). The Minnesota Vikings took Golday in round 2, No. 51 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
14tackles, career highvs. Bowling Green, 2025Honors
Team titles: ASUN champions, 2022
Defense
| Season | Team | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021* | Central Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | Central Arkansas | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | Central Arkansas | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 2024 | Cincinnati | 57 | 28 | 6.5 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| 2025 | Cincinnati | 95 | 36 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 2 |
| Career | 167 | 72 | 10.5 | 4.5 | 5 | 3 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. * That team-season’s player lines are missing part of the team’s yards in our source, so these numbers may be short.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Central Arkansas | 11 | LB | Yr 1 | ||
| 2022 | Central Arkansas | 11 | LB | Yr 2 | ||
| 2023 | Central Arkansas | 11 | LB | Yr 3 | ||
| 2024 | Cincinnati | 11 | LB | Yr 4 | ||
| 2025 | Cincinnati | 11 | LB | Sr. (Yr 5) | 6′4″ | 240 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2025 Cincinnati 12 games, 95 tackles, 3.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 28 | vs. Nebraska | L 17–20 | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 6 | vs. Bowling Green | W 34–20 | 14 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 13 | vs. Northwestern State | W 70–0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 27 | at Kansas | W 37–34 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | vs. Iowa State | W 38–30 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oct 11 | vs. UCF | W 20–11 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 18 | at Oklahoma State | W 49–17 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 25 | vs. Baylor | W 41–20 | 6 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Nov 1 | at Utah | L 14–45 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 15 | vs. Arizona | L 24–30 | 13 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 22 | vs. BYU | L 14–26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 29 | at TCU | L 23–45 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 Cincinnati 11 games, 57 tackles, 1 sack
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 31 | vs. Towson | W 38–20 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 7 | vs. Pittsburgh | L 27–28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 14 | at Miami (OH) | W 27–16 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 21 | vs. Houston | W 34–0 | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 28 | at Texas Tech | L 41–44 | 6 | 4 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 12 | atUCF | W 19–13 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 19 | vs. Arizona State | W 24–14 | 7 | 0 | 0.5 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 26 | at Colorado | L 23–34 | 10 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 9 | vs. West Virginia | L 24–31 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 16 | atIowa State | L 17–34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 30 | vs.TCU | L 13–20 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Central Arkansas 2 games, 9 tackles
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2 | atOklahoma State | L 13–27 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 30 | at Southern Utah | W 29–27 | – | – | – | – | – |
2022 Central Arkansas 1 game, 5 tackles
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10 | at Ole Miss | L 3–59 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2021 Central Arkansas 1 game, 1 tackle
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4 | at Arkansas State | L 21–40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
No box score in the source for Nov 6 vs. Texas Wesleyan; Nov 21 at Tarleton State, so those games are not listed.
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 | Combine or pro day 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′4½″ | |
| Weight | 239 lb | |
| Arm length | 31⅞″ | |
| Hand size | 9½″ | |
| Wingspan | 76⅞″ | |
| 40-yard dash | 4.62 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.60 s | |
| Vertical jump | 39″ | |
| Broad jump | 10′5″ | |
| Bench press | 22 reps | |
| 3-cone drill | 7.02 s | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.34 s |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data).
In the NFL
1 season, 5 games with a stat; latest team: Minnesota Vikings.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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