Jake Brendel

Early life

A native of Plano, Texas, Brendel attended Plano East Senior High School, where he played as a defensive tackle in his first 2 years.

He was moved to the offensive line as a junior. He served as a team captain and was a two-time first-team All-district at the offensive line. He was regarded as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com and was listed as the No. 15 center prospect in his class.

College career

After redshirting his initial year at the University of California, Los Angeles, Brendel became a fixture at center after spring practice and started all 14 games for the Bruins in 2012. He was named first-team Freshman All-America by The Sporting News, CBSSports.com, and Football Writers Association of America, and second-team Freshman All-America by College Football News.

As a junior in 2014, he was the team's most experienced offensive lineman. After missing the season opener against Virginia with a knee injury, he returned to start the rest of the season. Brendel was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference second-team.

He requested an evaluation of his NFL draft stock, but decided to return for his senior year, when he again earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors. The three-time team captain finished his UCLA career with a school record of 52 starts. Brendel graduated from UCLA in Spring 2015 with a degree in Business Economics. He was named to the first-team All-Pac-12 Academic team.