#52

D.J. Withers

Senior defensive tackle for Kansas. 2025: 2.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 16 tackles.

DT · Kansas · Sr. · #52

6′4″ · 300 lb · Little Rock, AR

CFB Index 65 · #97 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Kansas for 2026

How he plays

Disrupts the pocket from the interior.

Sacks: 85th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

2.5

sacks · 2025

4.5 TFL · 16 tackles · 1 hurries

Best game: 2 sacks, 2 TFL, 2 tackles, vs Wagner

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive tackle for Kansas. 2025: 2.5 sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, 16 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Kansas in 2021.

His career, year by year

D.J. Withers

DT · Kansas · Sr · #52

Disrupts the pocket from the interior. He has spent four seasons in the Kansas defensive front. The receipt on tape: 4 tackles, 1 TFL against Iowa State, Week 13, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Lance Leipold — 25-25 over that span.

2022Kansas6-7HC: Lance Leipold · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Kansas9-4HC: Lance Leipold · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Kansas5-7HC: Lance Leipold · Run-leaning

2025Kansas5-7HC: Lance Leipold · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

65Quality starter #97 of 330?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (85th percentile). Concern: solo tackles (8th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#389 / 2975 · 85th pct

2.5

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct

4.5

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Tackles#2295 / 2975 · 21st pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Solo tackles#2694 / 2975 · 8th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	1.3	0.4	0.3	0.0
Road4g	2.0	0.5	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.5	0.4	0.3	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	1.8	0.5	0.1	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lance Leipold

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

65 · #97 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #97 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #6 of 22 Big 12 DTs

How the All-Big 12 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	Kansas	16	5	4.5	2.5	--	--	--
2024	Kansas	21	16	4.0	3.0	1	--	--
2023	Kansas	10	6	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Kansas	6	4	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		53	31	11.0	5.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 46–7

vs Wagner

2 TFL · 2 SACKS · 2 SOLO

Dominant 39-point win at home against Wagner.

With J. Daniels — 280 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 80.7 · 18 rush yds (3 car) · T. Nagy — 2 rec · 20 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 31-7vs Fresno State	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 1	W 46-7vs Wagner	2	2	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 2	L 31-42@ Missouri	2	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 41-10vs West Virginia	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 34-37vs Cincinnati	3	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 27-20@ UCF	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 17-42vs Kansas State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 38-21vs Oklahoma State	1	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 20-24@ Arizona	1	0	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 13	L 14-38@ Iowa State	4	1	1.0	0.0	—	Season-high 4 tackles
Total		16	5	4.5	2.5	—