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Illinois Football: Clayton Fejedelem continues to impress with the Bengals

By Rees Woodcock

CINCINNATI, OH - NOVEMBER 26: Cincinnati Bengals strong safety Clayton Fejedelem (42) warms up before the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on November 26th, 2017 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH - NOVEMBER 26: Cincinnati Bengals strong safety Clayton Fejedelem (42) warms up before the game against the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals on November 26th, 2017 at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, OH. (Photo by Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Former Illinois football standout Clayton Fejedelem continues to work his way up the depth chart for the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fejedelem is entering his third season with the Bengals after being drafted in the seventh round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Before he had the opportunity to play in the NFL, Fejedelem’s career path wasn’t like many other talented football players.

The college career for Fejedelem started out at St. Xavier College in Chicago. He played two seasons with this NAIA program before transferring to Illinois. For those of you who don’t know what NAIA is, it isn’t junior college. It is a separate division of athletics that traditionally has the skillset of around DIII programs but allows for scholarships.

After Fejedelem had two great years with St. Xavier, he came to Champaign where he dominated at safety for the Illini. In his final year with Illinois, he finished with 140 tackles, two interceptions and seven pass deflections. This great season enabled him to be drafted into the NFL.

In year one with the Bengals, Fejedelem didn’t play much. He was mainly a special teams guy. But, last season, he broke out and even started five games at safety. He finished the season with 22 tackles and an interception.

Fejedelem is now entering his third year of a four-year, 2.4-million dollar contract. I would say he has lived up to the contract already and the way he is playing, look for an even bigger agreement here in 2020.

You can also look for more of a starting role in 2018 for Fejedelem as well. There looks to be only one player ahead of Fejedelem on the depth chart right now and that is Shawn Williams. But, before he got hurt last season, Williams started 11 games and had the same amount of interceptions and only one more pass deflection than Fejedelem. Look for there to be some serious competition in the Bengals secondary.

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Nonetheless, Fejedelem has done a remarkable thing with his career. He went from playing at the NAIA level in college to becoming an NFL Draft pick and a potential starter. The odds of what he is doing are extremely unlikely. The crazy thing is; Fejedelem is only getting better too. This should be a fun NFL season for Illinois football fans.

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