Former Logger Jake Hanson gets primetime action with New York Jets

While former Humboldt State football player and current Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Alex Cappa is the last player in the NFL to come from the ‘Jacks, he’s not the only NFL player with ties to Humboldt County. Former Eureka Logger Jake Hanson made an appearance on Sunday Night Football this past week entering the game at right guard in New York’s 37-15 loss.

Hanson is now with his second NFL team, joining the Jets during the 2023 season after playing with the Green Bay Packers for his first two seasons. He was selected by the Packers in the sixth round (No. 208 overall) in the 2020 NFL draft.

In his time with Green Bay, Hanson played with 4-time NFL MVP winner Aaron Rodgers, who won the award during Hanson’s rookie season. Hanson appeared in 11 games with one start over two seasons. Hanson didn’t commit a single penalty in 75 snaps with the Packers.

Green Bay cut Hanson due to an injury in August 2023, but the Jets signed Hanson to their practice squad that November and then was elevated for the Jets’ Week 11 loss against the Buffalo Bills, where Hanson played three snaps before bouncing back-and-forth from the Jets’ practice squad to their active roster. Hanson played a total of 246 snaps for the Jets last year over seven games, four of which were starts and committed just one penalty on the season.

This season, the Jets assigned Hanson to their practice squad in August, but activated the 6’5” Hanson the day of the season-opener against San Francisco and Hanson has remained on the active roster for the Jets. Hanson didn’t get any action until Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh versus the Steelers where he entered the game to replace New York’s starting right guard Xavier Newman who suffered a neck injury, reuniting Hanson with Aaron Rodgers and playing 20 clean snaps for the Jets in the loss.

Hanson graduated from Eureka High in 2015, after helping lead the Loggers to an undefeated league record and a Big 5 title as a junior with the Loggers. Following his time as a Logger, Hanson, the four-star recruit headed north to Eugene, Oregon, to play for the Ducks at the University of Oregon. With the Ducks, Hanson started 49 games at center, missing just three while being named second-team All-Pac-12 two times in his collegiate career.

In his four seasons as a Duck, Hanson and Oregon went 41-24 which included a Rose Bowl win in 2019. Hanson played with several NFL stars during his time in college, including Pro Bowl quarterback Justin Herbert, All-Pro offensive tackle Penei Sewell and top-five pick Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Hanson’s not the first Eureka Logger to appear in the NFL, he’s the eighth Eureka High grad to reach the league, with the first being Al Norgard who played for Green Bay in 1934, the most recent Logger before Hanson was linebacker Rey Maualuga who played with the Bengals and Miami Dolphins from 2009-17.

Dylan McNeill can be reached at 707-441-0526.