Jon Gaines II

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft out of UCLA. Became the first Bruins O-Lineman drafted by Arizona since the team selected Luis Sharpe 16th overall in 1982.
• After spending his rookie season in 2023 on injured reserve (knee), has appeared in 30 games (five starts) over the last two seasons (2024-25). Has seen action on the offensive line, at fullback and on special teams.
• Earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and enrolled in the Transformative Coaching and Leadership graduate program in the School of Education at UCLA. Named to the UCLA Athletic Director's Honor Roll six times and also earned a spot on the 2021-22 Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.

NoteCARDS:

• Selected by the Cardinals in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft out of UCLA. Became the first Bruins O-Lineman drafted by Arizona since the team selected Luis Sharpe 16th overall in 1982.
• After spending his rookie season in 2023 on injured reserve (knee), has appeared in 30 games (five starts) over the last two seasons (2024-25). Has seen action on the offensive line, at fullback and on special teams.
• Earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and enrolled in the Transformative Coaching and Leadership graduate program in the School of Education at UCLA. Named to the UCLA Athletic Director's Honor Roll six times and also earned a spot on the 2021-22 Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.

Pro Career:

Drafted by the Cardinals in the fourth round (122nd overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft out of UCLA.

2025: Saw action in all 17 games on offense and special teams including starting the final five games ... made his season debut @ NO (9/7) and saw action on special teams ... saw action on offense for the first time this season in the win vs. CAR (9/14) and helped block for RB James Conner's 38th rushing TD as a member of the Cardinals ... played on offense as a FB and special teams in Week 3 @ SF (9/21) ... saw action on special teams vs. Sea (9/25) ... made his season debut at right guard and helped block for an offense that recorded 168 rushing yards vs. Ten (10/5) ... appeared on offense and special teams @ Ind (10/12) ... saw action on special teams vs. GB (10/19) ... played on offense and special teams in the win @ Dal (11/3) ... appeared on offense and special teams @ Sea (11/9) ... saw time on offense and special teams vs. SF (11/16) ... played on offense and special teams vs. Jax (11/23) ... appeared on special teams @ TB (11/30) ... made his first career start at LG vs. LAR (12/7) and protected Brissett as he passed for 271 yards and two touchdowns ... started and blocked for Brissett as he passed for three touchdowns for the first time this season @ Hou (12/14) ... started and blocked for the offense that recorded 300+ yards for the 11th consecutive game vs. Atl (12/21) ... started and protected Brissett as he passed for 200+ yards and 2+ TDs for the ninth time this season @ Cin (12/28) ... started and blocked for the offense that recorded 300+ yards for the 12th time this season @ LAR (1/4/26).

2024: Played in 13 games, seeing time on the offensive line, at FB and on special teams ... made his NFL debut in the win @ SF (10/6), seeing action on special teams ... saw a snap at FB and played on special teams in the victory vs. Chi (11/3) ... played on offense and special teams in the win vs. NYJ (11/10) ... appeared at FB and on special teams vs. Sea (12/8) ... played on offense and special teams in the win vs. NE (12/15) ... saw action on offense and special teams @ LAR (12/28) and in the season finale win vs. SF (1/5/25).

2023: Spent the season on injured reserve.

College:

During his five years (2018-22) with the Bruins, appeared in 45 games (30 starts), including starts at right guard (27), center (2) and right tackle (1) … started all 25 games played - at three different positions - during his final two seasons (2021-22) … in his final three seasons (2020-22), the Bruins averaged 200.0+ rushing yards per game each year, marking first time since 1985-87 the team accomplished that feat ... earned honorable mention All-Pac-12 honors after starting all 13 games at RG … helped pave the way for the Bruins to average over 200 yards rushing for the third straight season, with their 237.2 rushing yards per game average ranking sixth in the FBS ... Bruins produced a 1,000-yard rusher for the second straight season ... team had nine 200-yard rushing games, including three of 300-plus, during the regular season ... named Pac-12 Offensive Lineman of the Week for his play against ASU when the Bruins racked up 402 rushing yards ... part of an O-Line that was selected as a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award which goes annually to the toughest, most physical O-Line in the country ... started all 12 games along the offensive line … started the first two games of the season at center and then at right tackle against Utah followed by guard in the remaining games ... helped pave the way for the Bruins to average over 200 yards per game on the ground for the second straight season (215.1 ypg) and produce a 1,000-yard rusher in Zach Charbonnet (1,137) ... part of an offense that ranked 17th nationally in rushing and that led the Pac-12 in scoring (36.5 ppg) ... saw action in all seven games with four starts at RG ... UCLA had a rushing average of 230.6 yards per game which ranked second in the Pac-12 ... marked just the fourth time since 1990 that a Bruins team averaged 200.0+ rushing yards per game ... the average of 5.1 yards per rush attempt was the team's highest since 1976 ... opponent sacks dropped by over one per contest from the previous season to 1.7 per game ... saw action in 12 games and made his first career start at RG vs. Cincinnati … helped block for Joshua Kelley who became the 8th running back in UCLA history to record back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons ... Bruins put together a streak of five straight 200-yard rushing games for the first time since 1978 ... saw action in one game (at RG) in the final game of the season against Stanford.

Personal:

Attended Marquette University (Milwaukee, WI) High School where was ranked the #10 recruit in the state after earning all-state honors in each of his final two seasons … served as a team captain as a junior (2016) and senior (2017) … named to the Wisconsin Football Association all-state team and was an honorable mention all-state selection in 2017 … earned all-state honors and was chosen to the All-Greater Milwaukee Metro team as a junior in 2016 ... lettered two years in football and three years in track and field (throwing events).