Caelen Carson

Former defensive back at Wake Forest. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.

DB · Wake Forest · Jr. · #1

6′0″ · 195 lb · Waldorf, MD

CFB Index 30 · #262 of 339 cornersLow confidenceDallas — drafted 2024, Rd 5, Pick 39, #174 overall

Recruiting

3★

CB recruit

No. 1707 nationally · Signed with Wake Forest

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive back at Wake Forest. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Wake Forest in 2020.
Drafted round 5 by the Dallas in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Wake Forest, 113 tackles — drafted at #174 overall by Dallas.

His career

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

20207 games

Signed with Wake Forest3-star out of North Point

2024

Drafted by Dallasround 5, pick 174

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1707 national

CFB

College

Wake Forest

2020–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

R5 · #174

Dallas · 2024

Coaching lineage · 2020–2023

1 coach

2020–2023

Dave Clawson

Wake Forest

Played his entire career under Dave Clawson.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

DallasEntering 3rd NFL season

#174Rd 5 · Pick 39

DallasEntering 3rd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Dave Clawson — 27-21 over that span.

2020Wake Forest4-5HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Wake Forest11-3HC: Dave Clawson · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Wake Forest8-5HC: Dave Clawson · Balanced

2023Wake Forest4-8HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

30Below cohort / limited sample #262 of 339?

Low confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (93rd percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#158 / 2842 · 93rd pct

Solo tackles#566 / 2842 · 79th pct

Tackles#798 / 2842 · 71st pct

Forced fumbles#54 / 710 · 46th pct

Tackles for loss#1868 / 2842 · 28th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1486 / 2842 · 24th pct

Sacks#1503 / 2842 · 24th 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

2023 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.8	0.0	0.0	1.0
Road5g	3.8	0.2	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	0.0	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	3.4	0.2	0.0	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jake Dickert

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

30 · #262 of 339 corners

Three-star recruit. Now #262 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Wake Forest	42	29	1.0	6	--	--
2022	Wake Forest	15	12	1.0	5	--	--
2021	Wake Forest	31	26	0.5	7	2	--
2020	Wake Forest	25	19	0.0	4	1	--
Career		113	86	2.5	22	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2023

W 37–17

vs Elon

1 TOT

With M. Griffis — 329 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 41.2 · -6 rush yds (11 car) · I. Mora — 43 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 48 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 37-17vs Elon	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 36-20vs Vanderbilt	10	5	0.0	—	1	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 3	W 27-24@ Old Dominion	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 16-30vs Georgia Tech	3	2	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	L 12-17@ Clemson	4	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 13-30@ Virginia Tech	6	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 21-17vs Pittsburgh	2	2	0.0	—	2
Wk 9	L 16-41vs Florida State	5	4	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	L 21-24@ Duke	5	4	1.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 6-26vs NC State	2	1	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 7-45@ Notre Dame	3	2	0.0	—	0
Total		42	29	1.0	—	6

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