Over the last few months, we’ve been taking an in-depth look at some of the late season signings who are under contract for 2026, and futures signings after the end of the season. We continue today with defensive tackle Jack Heflin, who signed a futures deal a few weeks ago.
The 27-year old Heflin is listed at 6’3″ and 304 pounds and was undrafted out of Iowa in 2021. Having made the Packers roster as a rookie, he has played for four different NFL teams, appearing in a total of seven regular season
games. He was also an XFL all-star in 2023.
Background
As a high schooler, Heflin was determined to play college football for the Iowa Hawkeyes, but despite being rated as a three-star recruit, he didn’t receive any scholarship offers and ultimately opted to walk on at Northern Illinois.
After red-shirting his first season in 2016, Heflin started all 13 games in 2017. However, he only recorded eight tackles with one tackle for loss.
Heflin’s production improved in 2018, even though he only started five times. He had 33 tackles, eight tackles for loss and six sacks. He then earned second team all Mid-American Conference honors in 2019 as he had 31 tackles and 3.5 sacks. He also led the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and was second in the conference with three forced fumbles.
Ahead of the 2020 season, Heflin entered the transfer portal and was able to attain his dream of playing for the Hawkeyes, although their season was truncated to just eight games because of the pandemic. He started every game but had just 21 tackles and one sack.
Heflin was not invited to the scouting combine and went unselected in the 2021 NFL draft. However, he defied the odds to make the Packers’ opening day roster as an undrafted rookie. He played in four games, recording one tackle, before being released in January.
Having returned to the Packers on a futures deal in 2022, Heflin was released in final cuts and spent time on their practice squad, but by the end of the season he was on the Giants’ practice squad. He made one appearance for them.
In 2023, Heflin signed for the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL and was named as an XFL all-star. In 10 games, he started five and recorded 25 tackles and a sack.
This performance earned him a contract with the Saints, for whom he was released in final cuts but made one appearance off the practice squad in 2023. Having been brought back for 2024, he was again released in final cuts and ended up signing to the Rams’ practice squad in December.
Heflin spent the rest of 2024 with the Rams and then returned on a futures deal and again ended up on the practice squad last season after final cuts. He had made one appearance with the Rams before signing a futures deal with the Jets a few weeks ago.
Let’s move onto some more in-depth analysis of what Heflin brings to the table as a player, based on extensive research and film study.
Measurables/Athleticism
Heflin has a wide-framed body carrying a weight of over 300 pounds but with short arms. He was 150 pounds when he first attended Iowa’s summer camp as a high schooler and decided he wanted to pursue a football career. He was up to 245 by the time he was a high school senior and 275 when he arrived at Northern Illinois.
He only ran a 5.33 in the 40-yard dash at his pro day, but managed 25 bench press reps and his explosiveness and agility numbers were acceptable.
Usage
Heflin has primarily played as a conventional defensive tackle but has lined up all over the line at times, including outside. He’s played a lot of reps as a defensive end in three-man fronts too.
Motor
Heflin has a reputation as a blue-collar worker who will do the dirty work and battle hard in the trenches and in pursuit.
Here’s a play where his relentless effort to get upfield sets up a sack for one of his teammates:
Pass rush
Heflin has never been a particularly productive pass rusher in terms of generating pressure or registering sacks. He did have six sacks in 2018, but only 4.5 other sacks in his other three college seasons.
At the NFL level, he was in on a couple of half-sacks in preseason action and he also only had one sack in his lone season in the XFL.
He isn’t really someone who will win a lot of one-on-ones but will battle to get upfield so he can be in a position to clean up when pressure comes off the edge.
While Heflin’s role will often just be to take on an interior lineman and try to collapse the pocket he can also be effective on stunts.
Run defense
Heflin is a solid run defender and a lot of his tackles in regular season and preseason action at the NFL level have been on running plays close to the line of scrimmage.
He is more of a block-eater who can bottle up runs, but will also shoot gaps and crash downhill. However, he can struggle against double teams and there are also situations where he is controlled at the point of attack.
Technique
Heflin has active hands and will fight for leverage in the trenches but will often struggle to disengage from a blocker.
He doesn’t have an arsenal of pass rush moves but here’s a good pass rush rep where he gets his man’s hands off him and then blows past him on the swim move.
Special teams
Heflin’s primary special teams experience has been rushing kicks and he blocked this field goal in college.
Tackling
Heflin hasn’t been a particularly productive tackler, dating back to his first season in college where he averaged less than one tackle per game despite starting every week.
Perhaps partly due to his short arms, there are situations where he fails to make a diving tackle attempt or can’t disengage cleanly enough to bring down a runner in the hole.
In total, Heflin missed 13 tackles in 2019, but missed tackles weren’t a major issue in any other season.
He needs to do a better job of getting his body in front of ball carriers because his film seems to include a lot of plays where a runner is able to fall forward to get to the marker when he tackles them.
Coverage
Heflin hardly ever dropped into coverage at any level and generally just sat in a shallow zone whenever he did so he wasn’t targeted.
He will hustle to the ball on short passes, though, and got his hand up to deflect this pass in preseason.
Instincts/Intelligence
Heflin seems to carry out his assignments well and doesn’t appear to be easily fooled by misdirection or caught unaware on down blocks. However, there are times where his vision can be suspect in terms of being preoccupied with winning his matchup in the trenches without realizing until it is too late that the ball carrier is headed in his direction.
Here is a terrific play from Heflin as he reads and blows up the screen pass, though.
Attitude/Demeanor
Having been released several times at the NFL level, and coming from a background of being a walk-on in college, Heflin showed terrific determination to get to the NFL level, having already defied the odds to get to Iowa.
He was a respected player in college, and was named as a team captain ahead of the 2019 season.
On field discipline hasn’t been a major issue for Heflin with three penalties in his college career and two in his lone XFL season. He had three in preseason action including one for defensive holding on a run and another for roughing the passer on a low hit.
Injuries
Heflin hasn’t missed much time due to injuries but has had a few issues over the course of his career.
He redshirted his freshman season due to a shoulder injury and had a corrective procedure on a foot condition that had affected him since birth after his rookie season. He had also been questionable with an ankle injury for one game in his rookie year.
Scheme Fit
Heflin’s primary role is as an interior defender but you wonder if he could be effective as an edge setter in running situations.
He’s been in enough systems that he should be able to fit into the Jets’ new system, although we don’t entirely know what it will look like yet. He was actually signed two days before Karl Dunbar was hired.
Heflin has been a teammate of current Jets Josh Myers, Christopher Smith and Tre Brown.
Conclusions
Heflin is an interesting player but his ceiling seems to be that of a hard working role player rather than being an impact defender.
Having played for four different NFL franchises and made at least one appearance for all of them, it would be premature to rule out Heflin competing for a role on the 2026 Jets but you would anticipate a practice squad spot as being a realistic goal for him if he can make an impression in preseason.
