Jalan McClendon

Jalan McClendon (born October 21, 1995) is an American professional football quarterback for the Columbus Aviators of the United Football League (UFL). Initially committing to NC State and serving as a backup quarterback, he played his final year of college football with the Baylor Bears football program. After spending some time in the offseason with both the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Redskins, McClendon was selected by the Los Angeles Wildcats, where he backed up Josh Johnson at quarterback until the cancellation of the 2020 XFL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

McClendon attended West Mecklenburg High School in Charlotte, North Carolina, playing quarterback for the team, as well as playing some high school basketball. As a junior, he threw for over 1,700 yards and 22 passing touchdowns. As a senior, McClendon led the team to a 9–3 record and the North Carolina 4AA state playoffs, while adding 1,700 passing yards and 17 passing touchdowns.

Graded out as a 3-star quarterback out of high school by Rivals.com, and as a 4-star quarterback by On3.com, and by 247Sports, McClendon received multiple offers and visits from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, East Carolina, Florida State, Miami (FL), NC State, and Virginia, before ultimately committing to the NC State football team on May 15, 2013, and signing his letter of intent on February 5, 2014.

In 2014, McClendon redshirted to preserve his future eligibility.

After Florida transfer quarterback Jacoby Brissett took over the starting quarterback job in 2014, and true freshman quarterback Jakobi Meyers redshirting 2015 and undergoing knee surgery, McClendon played 7 games for NC State as the backup quarterback to Brissett.

Following the 2015 season, Brissett graduated and was selected in the 3rd round of the 2016 NFL draft by the New England Patriots. This opened up a quarterback competition between McClendon and Myers, with Boise State quarterback transfer Ryan Finley joining the NC State football team in 2016. McClendon was able to beat out Myers in the quarterback competition, forcing Meyers to start playing the wide receiver position. However, Finley would win the starting quarterback job, and McClendon for the second season in the row served as the backup quarterback for the NC State football team. McClendon saw more action at quarterback in 2016, scoring his first passing and rushing touchdown in college during September game against the Old Dominion Monarchs, and seeing playing time in 10 games in 2016 at quarterback.

With Finley fully entrenched as the starting quarterback of the NC State, McClendon only appeared in 3 games, and only attempting 3 passes. Following the 2017 season, McClendon graduated from NC State, and transferred to Baylor to play quarterback for the team, with one year of college football eligibility left, and due to Finley being granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA.

Brought in to compete for the starting quarterback job for Baylor in 2018, McClendon competed with returning starter Charlie Brewer in the spring, with Brewer ultimately winning the starting job, but McClendon still seeing action at quarterback for the team. McClendon saw his first start at quarterback on November 3, 2018, against Oklahoma State. Despite McClendon's best efforts, Baylor trailed 24–14 in the 3rd quarter, which lead to head coach Matt Rhule to bench McClendon in favor of Brewer. Baylor would come back from behind, and win on a Charlie Brewer touchdown pass to Denzel Mims with 7 seconds remaining. McClendon would not receive another start in 2018, and remained as the backup quarterback for the rest of the year, playing occasionally in 9 games in 2018.