#26

Brandon Stephens

Former defensive back at SMU. 2020: 1 interception, 10 pass breakups, 43 tackles.

DB · SMU · Sr. · #26

6′0″ · 206 lb · Plano, TX

Baltimore — drafted 2021, Rd 3, Pick 41, #104 overall

The story

Former defensive back at SMU. 2020: 1 interception, 10 pass breakups, 43 tackles.

Drafted round 3 by the Baltimore in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at SMU, 92 tackles — drafted at #104 overall by Baltimore.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2021

Drafted by Baltimoreround 3, pick 104

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2016–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #104

Baltimore · 2021

Coaching lineage · 2016–2020

2 coaches

2016–2017

Chad Morris

SMU

2019–2020

Sonny Dykes

SMU

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Chad Morris → Sonny Dykes. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

BaltimoreEntering 6th NFL season

#104Rd 3 · Pick 41

BaltimoreEntering 6th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2016UCLA4-8HC: Jim Mora · Pass-leaning

2017UCLA6-7HC: Jim Mora · Pass-leaning

2019SMU10-3HC: Sonny Dykes · Balanced, fast tempo

2020SMU7-3HC: Sonny Dykes · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (99th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (92nd percentile). Concern: sacks (27th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Passes defended#11 / 2211 · 99th pct

Solo tackles#162 / 2211 · 92nd pct

Tackles#392 / 2211 · 82nd pct

QB hurries#468 / 2211 · 69th pct

Forced fumbles#39 / 497 · 46th pct

Interceptions#180 / 568 · 34th pct

Tackles for loss#1366 / 2211 · 31st pct

1.0

Sacks#1032 / 2211 · 27th 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

2020 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	2.0	0.2	0.0	0.8
Road6g	5.8	0.0	0.0	1.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	4.2	0.2	0.0	1.4
Weeks 8+5g	4.4	0.0	0.0	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	SMU	43	36	1.0	0.0	10	1	--
2019	SMU	49	38	2.5	0.0	12	--	--
2017	UCLA	--	--	--	--	--	--	1
2016	UCLA	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Career		92	74	3.5	0.0	22	1	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2020

W 30–27

vs Memphis

2 TOT · 1 SOLO · 3 PD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With S. Buechele — 474 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · 27 rush yds (7 car) · C. Naggar — 43 LONG · 100 PCT · 12 PTS

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2020 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 31-24@ Texas State	6	4	0.0	—	2
Wk 3	W 65-35@ North Texas	5	4	0.0	1	2
Wk 4	W 50-7vs Stephen F. Austin	3	3	1.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 30-27vs Memphis	2	1	0.0	—	3
Wk 7	W 37-34@ Tulane	5	5	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 13-42vs Cincinnati	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 51-37vs Navy	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 47-23@ Temple	5	4	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	L 24-28@ Tulsa	8	8	0.0	—	0	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 13	L 38-52@ East Carolina	6	4	0.0	—	2
Total		43	36	1.0	1	10

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