Andrew Simpson

Senior linebacker for North Carolina. 2025: 59 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 5 sacks.

LB · North Carolina · Sr. · #2

6′0″ · 238 lb · Norwalk, CA

CFB Index 80 · #56 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to North Carolina for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Sacks: 96th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

9 TFL · 5 sacks · 1 PBU

Best game: 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL, vs TCU

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for North Carolina. 2025: 59 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Boise State in 2021.
Transferred from Boise State to North Carolina in 2025.

His career, year by year

Andrew Simpson

LB · North Carolina · Sr · #2

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Andrew Simpson has played for three head coaches across four seasons and two programs. Two straight seasons of it now: All-Mountain West again in 2024. The receipt on tape: 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL against TCU, Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Boise State10-4HC: Andy Avalos · Run-leaning

2023Boise State8-6HC: Spencer Danielson · Run-heavy

2024Boise State12-2HC: Spencer Danielson · Run-leaning

2025North Carolina4-8HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

80All-Conference level #56 of 583?

High confidenceAscending7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (96th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (95th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#102 / 2975 · 96th pct

5.0

QB hurries#117 / 2975 · 95th pct

Tackles for loss#142 / 2975 · 95th pct

9.0

Tackles#413 / 2975 · 86th pct

Solo tackles#515 / 2975 · 82nd pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	5.8	0.8	0.5	0.0
Road5g	4.8	0.8	0.4	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	5.8	1.0	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	0.7	0.5	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

80 · #56 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #56 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #7 of 74 ACC LBs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	North Carolina	59	30	9.0	5.0	1	1	--
2024	Boise State	45	29	10.5	3.0	--	1	--
2023	Boise State	65	41	16.0	6.5	2	2	--
2022	Boise State	28	22	4.0	3.0	3	--	--
Career		197	122	39.5	17.5	6	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 41–6

vs Richmond

7 TOT · 1 SOLO · 0 TFL

Dominant 35-point win at home against Richmond.

With D. June — 148 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD · G. Lopez — 119 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 31.3 · 40 rush yds (11 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-48vs TCU	11	7	1.5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 2	W 20-3@ Charlotte	4	3	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 41-6vs Richmond	7	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 9-34@ UCF	6	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 10-38vs Clemson	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 18-21@ California	3	1	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 16-17vs Virginia	4	1	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 11	W 20-15vs Stanford	6	3	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 12	L 12-28@ Wake Forest	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 25-32vs Duke	6	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 19-42@ NC State	5	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Total		59	30	9.0	5.0	1	1

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

59Tackles

30Solo

9TFL

5Sacks

1Pass def.

1INT

59 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 9 TFL.

Week 21 sack
Week 61 sack
Week 81 PD
Week 91 INT
Week 112 sacks
Week 141 sack

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

North Carolina

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · North Carolina

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -12 net (19 in / 31 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

North Carolina · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #28 · 2026 recruiting class #19

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Maema Njongmeta’s 2023 season.

Maema Njongmeta

82%match

Wisconsin · 2023

Bryce Houston

Ohio · 2022

80%

Trent Hendrick

James Madison · 2024

77%

Corvin Moment

Western Michigan · 2022

All-MAC

74%

Jordan Turner

Michigan State · 2024

71%

Matches Maema on

PD rate

TFL rate

Solo tackle rate

Differs from Maema on

Sack rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to James Gordon Iv's senior season at South Florida (2023).

James Gordon Iv

80%match

South Florida · 2023

Vonta Bentley

Colorado · 2023

79%

Luke Reimer

Nebraska · 2023

All-Big Ten

79%

Jordan Turner

Michigan State · 2024

78%

Ricardo Watson

South Florida · 2025

76%

Matches James on

Weight

Solo tackle rate

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Andrew Simpson

Tray Brown

Coastal Carolina · 2025

72%

Jamon Dumas-Johnson

Georgia · 2023

64%

Andrew Simpson

Boise State · 2024

62%

Desmond Purnell

Kansas State · 2024

61%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Andrew Simpson

2021

202313 games

202412 games

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Andrew Simpson