The Miami Dolphins have signed former Illinois Owen Carney Jr. as an undrafted free agent. The Miami-native will join his hometown team and fight for a spot on the roster.

Carney Jr. arrived at Illinois as a four-start recruit as an early enrollee and played in ten games at defensive end as a freshman, recording six tackles.

Come his sophomore season he played in all 12 games for Illinois, starting eight on the defensive line. He recorded 21 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss.

In his third year at Illinois Carney Jr. regressed slightly, while he played in all 13 games at defensive end he only recorded 15 tackles. However, he made up for it in his senior season and dominated, making 28 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks in eight games. For his performance throughout the season he made the All-Big Ten second team (media and coaches).

Carney Jr. decided to return to Illinois for a fifth year, where he started 12 games at outside linebacker. There, he continued to grow, making 46 tackles with eight tackles for loss and led the Illinois defense with 6.5 sacks. He left Illinois ranked ninth in program history with 15 career sacks.

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