Jahlani Karl Tavai was born on September 28, 1996, he is an American football linebacker for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He is the younger brother of J. R. Tavai. He played college football in Hawaii.
College statistics
| Hawaii Rainbow Warriors | ||||||||||||||||
| Year | Class | Position | GP | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Ast | Total | Loss | Sack | Int | Yards | Avg | TD | PD | FR | Yards | TD | FF | |||
| 2014 | Freshman | LB | Redshirted | |||||||||||||
| 2015 | Freshman | 13 | 27 | 29 | 56 | 5.0 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 | Sophomore | 14 | 85 | 43 | 128 | 19.5 | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2017 | Junior | 12 | 66 | 58 | 124 | 11.0 | 5.5 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | Senior | 8 | 42 | 40 | 82 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Tavai was drafted by the Detroit Lions in the second round (43rd overall) of the 2019 NFL Draft. He played in 15 games in six starts, recording 58 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble, two passes defended, and an interception.
He suffered a shoulder injury in Week 16 and was placed on injured reserve on December 23, 2019. On August 31, 2021, Tavai was waived by the Detroit Lions as part of the final pre-season roster cuts.
After being released by Detroit, on September 1, 2021, the New England Patriots signed Tavai to their practice squad, eventually activating him, while reuniting with Matt Patricia, his former head coach in Detroit. He was promoted to the active roster on October 13.