D.J. Wonnum

Former linebacker at South Carolina. 2019: 37 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

LB · South Carolina · Sr. · #8

6′5″ · 260 lb · Stone Mountain, GA

Minnesota — drafted 2020, Rd 4, Pick 11, #117 overall

Recruiting

3★

WDE recruit

No. 1230 nationally · Signed with South Carolina

Statement game5 tackles · 3 TFL · 3 sacksvs Kentucky (FBS) · W 24-7

Top 1% sacks game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former linebacker at South Carolina. 2019: 37 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to South Carolina in 2016.
Drafted round 4 by the Minnesota in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at South Carolina, 136 tackles — drafted at #117 overall by Minnesota.

His career

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

201613 games

Signed with South Carolina3-star out of Stephenson

2020

Drafted by Minnesotaround 4, pick 117

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1230 national

CFB

College

South Carolina

2016–2019

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #117

Minnesota · 2020

Coaching lineage · 2016–2019

1 coach

2016–2019

Will Muschamp

South Carolina

Played his entire career under Will Muschamp.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

MinnesotaEntering 7th NFL season

#117Rd 4 · Pick 11

MinnesotaEntering 7th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2019 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Will Muschamp — 26-25 over that span.

2016South Carolina6-7HC: Will Muschamp · Run-leaning

2017South Carolina9-4HC: Will Muschamp · Balanced, slow tempo

2018South Carolina7-6HC: Will Muschamp · Balanced

2019South Carolina4-8HC: Will Muschamp · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (93rd percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (93rd percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#164 / 2688 · 93rd pct

4.5

Tackles for loss#171 / 2688 · 93rd pct

9.5

QB hurries#308 / 2688 · 85th pct

Solo tackles#952 / 2688 · 64th pct

Tackles#1086 / 2688 · 59th pct

Interceptions#301 / 779 · 31st pct

Passes defended#1690 / 2688 · 19th 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

2019 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.0	0.8	0.7	0.0
Road5g	3.8	0.9	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	1.1	0.6	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	3.0	0.6	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Shane Beamer

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

Awards

Player standing · 2019

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2019	South Carolina	37	24	9.5	4.5	--	1	--
2018	South Carolina	10	6	3.0	2.0	--	--	--
2017	South Carolina	57	32	13.0	6.0	5	--	--
2016	South Carolina	32	15	3.5	1.5	--	--	--
Career		136	77	29.0	14.0	5	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2019

W 20–17

at Georgia

6 TOT · 3 SOLO · 0 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With J. Charlton — 45 AVG · 58 LONG · 7 NO · R. Hilinski — 116 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.4

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week