JSU CAREER: 2016: Started every game for the third consecutive year…earned HERO Sports FCS All-American honors…selected to the All-OVC first team…a member of a JSU offensive line which every starter earned All-OVC honors…helped paved the way for an offense which tallied over 5,000 yards of total offense…opened lanes for three rushers who finished with 780-or-more yards…powered the Gamecocks to 32 rushing touchdowns…helped the offense average 250.6 rushing yards per game…blocked for former All-American quarterback Eli Jenkins, who passed for 2,107 yards and ran for 984 while tossing 11 touchdowns through the air and scoring 13 more on the ground…helped lead an offensive line that paved the way for the top offense (434.1) and rushing offense (250.6) in the OVC…also named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as well as CoSIDA Academic All-American.
2015: Started every game for the second straight year…one of four JSU lineman named first team all-conference as only the third time in OVC history that four of the five first team lineman came from the same school…opened lanes for an offense that set single season school records in passing yards (3,102) and rushing yards (4,511)…the record 7,613 yards of total offense was the first time JSU had ever eclipsed 7,000 yards…assisted a line that powered through for a school record 53 rushing touchdowns allowed JSU backs to become the fourth best rushing attack in the country…also named first team Academic All-District by CoSIDA grouped with FBS and FCS players from the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
2014: Started every game at tackle for the OVC champion Gamecocks and was a finalist for the Jerry Rice Award, given to the top freshman player in the FCS…was an FCS Freshman All-American, named the OVC’s Freshman of the Year and grabbed spots on the conference’s second team and all-newcomer squad…had the best overall season grade on the Jax State line at 92 percent…helped block for an offense that ranks fourth nationally in total offense (510.5 yards/game), fifth in rushing offense (287.6 yards/game) and 19th in scoring offense (36.0 points/game)…member of the offensive line that allowed just 18 sacks throughout the 2014 season, which was listed third-best in the conference…keyed JSU on third down conversions as a junior as the club ranked second in the OVC in moving the chains on third down.
2013: Sat out the season as a redshirt.
HIGH SCHOOL: Played for head coach Brent Tinker at Ider High School in Ider, Ala…was an All-State selection in each his junior and senior seasons…a four-time All-County and All-Region selection and received All-County honors from the Fort Payne Times-Journal…averaged a 91 percent grade with 44 pancake blocks as a junior and 49 as a senior on the offensive line…intercepted three passes on the defensive front, returning two of them for touchdowns…led the Hornets to their first region title in 13 years as a freshman in 2009…was Ider’s Bryant-Jordan Scholar Athlete and Wendy’s High School Heisman honoree.
PERSONAL: Full name is Justin Alan Lea…son of Jeff and Carrie Lea…born on August 5, 1994, in Chattanooga, Tenn…has one younger brother, Jay…grandfather, Billy Thompson, played football at JSU from 1961-64…in graduate school after earning degrees in emergency management and geography at JSU.
