Damon Payne Jr. is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Michigan.
Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. The four seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer and Biff Poggi. A game that shows it: 3 tackles against Michigan State — Week 9, 2025.
Play style
The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
16 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 2 TFL.
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-17vs New Mexico | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-24@ No. 18 Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 63-3vs Central Michigan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 24-10vs Wisconsin | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 24-7vs Washington | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-20@ Michigan State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 24-22vs Northwestern | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 9-27vs No. 1 Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 27-41vs No. 14 Texas | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 16 | 9 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
12%2 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries16 tackles · 2 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road2g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.8 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Biff Poggi
Pass share
40.9%
340 pass / 492 run
Plays / game
64.0
13 games
Team sack rate
5.8%
326 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former five-star. Now #290 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #63 of 69 Big Ten DLs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
A stat line in 27 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer and Sherrone Moore.
