Former Raines star JaQuan Bailey is ready to add to Vikings legacy in the NFL

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – JaQuan Bailey is hard at work preparing for the NFL draft.

After terrorizing quarterbacks here on the First Coast while at Raines High School, Bailey played college football at Iowa State. There, he continued to terrorize quarterbacks in the Big 12.

Bailey left his mark at Iowa State, finishing his career as the program’s all-time leader in sacks.

Now, Bailey has set his sights on the NFL. If all goes well, Bailey would be the 19th Raines graduate to be selected in the NFL draft. Pro Football Reference lists 23 former Vikings players to be credited with playing at least one season in the AFL or NFL.

“I’m just taking it one the day at a time. Working out and training just trying to enjoy the process” he said.

For some, the process of preparing for the NFL draft can be stressful, and, for good reason. Players are training and doing virtual conferences with coaches that they have never met, but Bailey says for him the process has been “fun.”

“It is so crazy because you can train them to have Zoom, then go back to training,” Bailey said. “Then, I’m still trying to learn. It is just crazy.”

Bailey played defensive end in high school and college but said teams have asked him if he would be able to stand up and play outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense.

His response is simple.

“I’m a dog. I’m going to do it all,” Bailey said.

With the NFL draft only a few weeks away, Bailey is on the brink of turning a dream into a reality. His mom asked him “what he would have thought in high school if he could see himself now?”

Bailey’s response: “I’d just be smiling. I’d be happy. I’d just be more hungry.”

That hunger to work hard and develop his craft, that “dog mentality,” is what has helped JaQuan find success on the football field and put him on the NFL’s radar.

While the process of preparing for the draft has not been too stressful, that will be an entirely different story once it begins. Bailey says he does not want a big draft party, he just wants to have a few people around and a TV.

“A lot of people don’t understand. You already got cousins and sisters talking about, ‘let’s throw this party,’” he said. “I’m that type that is like, just leave me alone and let me and momma and my fiancee just sit in front of the TV and chill. Just the family. No phone, no pictures, and let’s just sit and enjoy the moment.”

NFL draft picks from Raines