#44

Branden Jennings

Senior linebacker for Mississippi State. 2025: 44 tackles.

LB · Mississippi State · Sr. · #44

6′3″ · 240 lb · Jacksonville, FL

CFB Index 31 · #452 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Mississippi State for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

QB hurries: 88th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

2 PBU

Best game: 10 tackles, vs Tennessee

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Mississippi State. 2025: 44 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Mississippi State in 2024.

His career, year by year

Branden Jennings

LB · Mississippi State · Sr · #44

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Branden Jennings has played for three head coaches across four seasons and three programs. The receipt on tape: 10 tackles against Tennessee, Week 5, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Maryland7-6HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced, fast tempo

2022UCF9-5HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2024Mississippi State2-10HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning

2025Mississippi State5-8HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

31Below cohort / limited sample #452 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (88th percentile). Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct

Tackles#756 / 2975 · 74th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct

0.0

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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	3.9	0.0	0.0	0.2
Road5g	2.6	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.1	0.0	0.0	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Lebby

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #452 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #452 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-SEC

Based on 2025: #65 of 76 SEC LBs

How the All-SEC estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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	Mississippi State	44	11	0.0	0.0	2	--	--
2024	Mississippi State	56	10	5.0	1.5	2	--	--
2022	UCF	3	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Maryland	23	17	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		126	38	6.0	1.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2025

W 38–35

at Arkansas

3 TOT · 1 SOLO · 2 QB HUR

Edged out Arkansas on the road in a shootout.

With B. Shapen — 242 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 72.2 · 16 rush yds (10 car) · A. Evans III — 16 rush yds (1 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 34-17@ Southern Miss	3	0	—	0
Wk 2	W 24-20vs Arizona State	7	0	—	0
Wk 3	W 63-0vs Alcorn State	1	0	—	0
Wk 4	W 38-10vs Northern Illinois	2	0	—	0
Wk 5	L 34-41vs Tennessee	10	2	—	1	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 6	L 9-31@ Texas A&M	4	2	—	0
Wk 8	L 21-23@ Florida	2	1	—	0
Wk 9	L 38-45vs Texas	2	2	—	0
Wk 10	W 38-35@ Arkansas	3	1	—	0
Wk 11	L 21-41vs Georgia	1	0	—	0
Wk 12	L 27-49@ Missouri	1	1	—	0
Wk 14	L 19-38vs Ole Miss	6	0	—	1
Bowl	L 29-43vs Wake Forest	2	2	—	0
Total		44	11	—	2

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

13 games

44Tackles

11Solo

0TFL

0Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

44 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0 TFL.

Week 51 PD
Week 141 PD

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

Mississippi State

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Mississippi State

Returning around him

2 Mississippi State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -12 net (28 in / 40 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Mississippi State · Last season: 5-8 · Talent rank #20 · 2026 recruiting class #23

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Aakil Washington’s 2024 season.

Aakil Washington

77%match

South Alabama · 2024

Lander Barton

Utah · 2023

64%

Jayden McDonald

Virginia Tech · 2023

64%

K.C. Ossai

Louisiana · 2022

63%

Matches Aakil on

Sack rate

Solo tackle rate

Hurry rate

Differs from Aakil on

PD rate (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Dalton Hughes's senior season at South Alabama (2025).

Dalton Hughes

77%match

South Alabama · 2025

Reid Carrico

West Virginia · 2024

74%

J.P. Purvis

Mississippi State · 2023

71%

Kyle Arnholt

App State · 2025

69%

Gerrell Johnson

Massachusetts · 2023

69%

Matches Dalton on

TFL rate

Weight

Solo tackle rate

Differs from Dalton on

Hurry rate (higher)

PD rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Branden Jennings

Justin Wright

Oklahoma State · 2024

82%

VanDarius Cowan

West Virginia · 2021

79%

Kain Medrano

UCLA · 2022

77%

Jack Colletto

Oregon State · 2022

75%

Kieren Douglas

Purdue · 2022

75%

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

202412 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Branden Jennings