Photo: Arlington National Cemetery, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons²

Jeffrey M'ba

Defensive Tackle, Detroit Lions.

Player facts

Team: Detroit Lions
Position: Defensive Tackle
Born: Sep 14, 1999 (age 27)
Birthplace: Libreville, Gabon
Height: 6' 6"
Weight: 312 lbs
College: SMU
Experience: Rookie
Status: Practice Squad

Stats

2026 Stats

	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	FR	YDS	INT	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	PD	STF	STFYDS	KB
Regular Season	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

About

Jeffrey M'Ba (born September 14, 1999) is a Gabonese professional football nose tackle for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). M'Ba played college football for the Auburn Tigers, Purdue Boilermakers, and SMU Mustangs. M'Ba signed with the Washington Commanders as an undrafted free agent following the 2026 NFL draft.

From Wikipedia’s article on Jeffrey M'Ba, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

M'Ba was born in Libreville, Gabon, and grew up in France and Cameroon. After moving to the United States, he attended Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore, Maryland for his senior year. Coming out of high school, he was rated as a four-star recruit and committed to play college football for the Virginia Cavaliers over offers from other schools such as Oregon, Ohio State, Tennessee, Michigan, Penn State, North Carolina, West Virginia, Florida, and Florida State. However, M'Ba later de-committed and enroll to play at Independence Community College due to academic transcript issues.

Independence CC

M'Ba spent two seasons at Independence Community College from 2020 through 2021, where he finished as the top overall JUCO recruit.

Auburn

M'Ba transferred to play for the Auburn Tigers. In his lone season at Auburn in 2022, he played in six games, totaling seven tackles, a sack, and a forced fumble. After the season, M'Ba entered the NCAA transfer portal.

Purdue

M'Ba transferred to play for the Purdue Boilermakers. In 2023, he totaled 16 tackles with two being for a loss and a sack. In 2024, M'Ba played in all 12 games, notching 30 tackles. After the season he once again entered the transfer portal.