Clayton Powell-Lee

Senior defensive back on Georgia Tech's 2025 roster.

DB · Georgia Tech · Sr. · #5

6′2″ · 200 lb · Atlanta, GA

CFB Index 49 · #286 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceReturning to Georgia Tech for 2026

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 1090 nationally · Signed with Georgia Tech

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back on Georgia Tech's 2025 roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Georgia Tech in 2022.

His career, year by year

How he projects

Moves between deep coverage and the slot.

The full scouting read

Clayton Powell-Lee

DB · Georgia Tech · Sr · #5

Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Fourth year in the Georgia Tech secondary, same address the whole way. His first career honor landed in 2022: ACC Defensive Back Player of the Week. The receipt on tape: 12 tackles against NC State, Week 10, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Brent Key — 28-23 over that span.

2022Georgia Tech5-7HC: Brent Key · Balanced

2023Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2024Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2025Georgia Tech9-4HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

49Rotational starter #286 of 544?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (89th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (84th percentile). Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#331 / 2975 · 89th pct

Solo tackles#448 / 2975 · 84th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.7	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road5g	6.4	0.0	0.0	0.4

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.7	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	6.2	0.0	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Key

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

49 · #286 of 544 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #286 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #40 of 75 ACC DBs

How the All-ACC 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	Georgia Tech	65	32	0.0	0.0	2	--	--
2024	Georgia Tech	53	32	1.5	1.0	3	--	--
2023	Georgia Tech	62	29	0.5	0.0	2	1	--
2022	Georgia Tech	46	30	1.0	0.0	2	1	--
Career		226	123	3.0	1.0	9	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 24–21

vs Clemson

11 TOT · 4 SOLO

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

With H. King — 211 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 69.1 · 103 rush yds (25 car) · 1 TD · M. Nichols — 46 AVG · 48 LONG · 2 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 27-20@ Colorado	3	3	—	0
Wk 2	W 59-12vs Gardner-Webb	2	1	—	0
Wk 3	W 24-21vs Clemson	11	4	—	0
Wk 4	W 45-24vs Temple	3	2	—	0
Wk 5	W 30-29@ Wake Forest	3	1	—	1
Wk 7	W 35-20vs Virginia Tech	6	5	—	0
Wk 8	W 27-18@ Duke	10	3	—	0
Wk 9	W 41-16vs Syracuse	3	2	—	0
Wk 10	L 36-48@ NC State	12	6	—	0	Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 12	W 36-34@ Boston College	4	2	—	1
Wk 13	L 28-42vs Pittsburgh	4	2	—	0
Wk 14	L 9-16vs Georgia	4	1	—	0
Total		65	32	—	2

How he plays

Play style

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

65Tackles

32Solo

0TFL

0Sacks

2Pass def.

0INT

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

Week 51 PD
Week 121 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

Georgia Tech

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Georgia Tech

Returning around him

2 Georgia Tech players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -1 net (19 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Georgia Tech · Last season: 9-4 (AP #24) · Talent rank #34 · 2026 recruiting class #41

DNA match

Player DNA

Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Andreas Keaton’s 2024 season.

Andreas Keaton

90%match

Temple · 2024

Clayton Powell-Lee

Georgia Tech · 2023

89%

Shyheim Brown

Florida State · 2024

86%

Giovanni Biggers

North Carolina · 2022

85%

Tavian Combs

New Mexico · 2025

84%

Matches Andreas on

Height

Tackle volume

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Shyheim Brown's senior season at Florida State (2024).

Shyheim Brown

93%match

Florida State · 2024

All-ACC

Andreas Keaton

Temple · 2024

92%

Jordan Lovett

Kentucky · 2024

90%

Jalen Huskey

Maryland · 2025

All-Big TenNFL Rd 3 · Pk 36

87%

Ja'Qurious Conley

Charlotte · 2025

86%

Matches Shyheim on

Class year

PD rate

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Clayton Powell-Lee

Devin Turner

Northwestern · 2024

94%

Cameron Smith

Eastern Michigan · 2023

92%

Andreas Keaton

Temple · 2024

90%

Giovanni Biggers

North Carolina · 2023

89%

Clayton Powell-Lee

Georgia Tech · 2025

89%

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

202210 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

Players who play like Clayton Powell-Lee