#44

Damon Payne Jr.

Senior defensive lineman on Michigan's 2025 roster.

DL · Michigan · Sr. · #44

6′4″ · 311 lb · Belleville, MI

CFB Index 21 · #290 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Michigan for 2026

The numbers

sacks · 2025

2 TFL · 16 tackles

Best game: 1 TFL, 2 tackles, vs Texas

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman on Michigan's 2025 roster.

Signed as a 5-star recruit to Alabama in 2021.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Controls the point of attack and doesn't move.

Passes defended: 48th percentile.

The full scouting read

Damon Payne Jr.

DL · Michigan · Sr · #44

Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Across four seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Nick Saban, Kalen DeBoer and Biff Poggi. The receipt: 3 tackles against Michigan State — Week 9, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Alabama11-2HC: Nick Saban · Balanced

2023Alabama12-2HC: Nick Saban · Run-heavy

2024Alabama9-4HC: Kalen DeBoer · Run-leaning

2025Michigan9-4HC: Biff Poggi · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

21Below cohort / limited sample #290 of 330?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (21st percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct

2.0

Solo tackles#2127 / 2975 · 26th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Tackles#2295 / 2975 · 21st 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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	1.8	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road4g	1.8	0.2	0.0	0.2

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

2026 season

Head Coach

Kyle Whittingham

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

21 · #290 of 330 interior linemen

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

How the All-Big Ten 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	Michigan	16	9	2.0	0.0	1	--	--
2024	Alabama	14	5	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Alabama	9	1	1.0	0.5	--	--	--
2022	Alabama	5	3	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		44	18	4.0	0.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 24–7

vs Washington

1 TOT · 1 SOLO

With B. Underwood — 230 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 63.7 · 25 rush yds (7 car) · J. Marshall — 133 rush yds (25 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 34-17vs New Mexico	3	2	1.0	—	0	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 2	L 13-24@ Oklahoma	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 63-3vs Central Michigan	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 24-10vs Wisconsin	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 24-7vs Washington	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 31-20@ Michigan State	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 24-22@ Northwestern	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 9-27vs Ohio State	2	2	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 27-41@ Texas	2	1	1.0	—	1
Total		16	9	2.0	—	1

How he plays

Play style

The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

9 games

16Tackles

9Solo

2TFL

0Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

16 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2 TFL.

Week 11 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

Michigan

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Michigan

Returning around him

6 Michigan players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -16 net (17 in / 33 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Michigan · Last season: 9-4 (AP #18) · Talent rank #11 · 2026 recruiting class #12

DNA match

Player DNA

Nose Anchor

The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tiaoalil Savea’s 2022 season.

Tiaoalil Savea

87%match

Arizona · 2022

Naejuan Barber

Florida Atlantic · 2025

87%

Micah Dew-Treadway

Minnesota · 2021

86%

Payton Page

Clemson · 2024

All-ACC

85%

Kyonte Hamilton

Rutgers · 2021

NFL Rd 7

85%

Matches Tiaoalil on

Height

Hurry rate

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Immanuel Hickman Sr.'s senior season at South Florida (2023).

Immanuel Hickman Sr.

90%match

South Florida · 2023

Payton Page

Clemson · 2024

All-ACC

88%

Devin Brandt-Epps

New Mexico · 2024

86%

LeDarrius Cox

UAB · 2024

82%

Zion Logue

Georgia · 2023

NFL Rd 6

82%

Matches Immanuel on

Class year

Hurry rate

TFL rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Damon Payne Jr.

Sawyer Goram-Welch

Coastal Carolina · 2024

90%

Naejuan Barber

Florida Atlantic · 2025

87%

Bryson Eason

Tennessee · 2025

85%

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