#28

Darius McKenzie

Senior linebacker for South Alabama. 2025: 71 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · South Alabama · Sr. · #28

6′2″ · 230 lb · Ottawa, ON

CFB Index 47 · #317 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to South Alabama for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7 pm ETvs OhioHancock Whitney StadiumSouth Alabama by 4.5

The numbers

tackles · 2025

4 TFL · 1 sacks · 1 PBU

Best game: 6 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sacks, at UL Monroe

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for South Alabama. 2025: 71 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Transferred from Maine to South Alabama in 2024.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

Tackles: 91st percentile.

The full scouting read

Darius McKenzie

LB · South Alabama · Sr · #28

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. He got to South Alabama by way of Maine. The receipt on tape: 11 tackles against Louisiana, Week 10, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Major Applewhite — 11-14 over that span.

2024South Alabama7-6HC: Major Applewhite · Balanced

2025South Alabama4-8HC: Major Applewhite · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

47Rotational starter #317 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (91st percentile). Strength: solo tackles (83rd percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#253 / 2975 · 91st pct

Solo tackles#483 / 2975 · 83rd pct

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct

4.0

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	7.5	0.2	0.0	0.2
Road5g	5.2	0.6	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.7	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	8.6	0.6	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Major Applewhite

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

47 · #317 of 583 LBs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #32 of 63 Sun Belt LBs

How the All-Sun Belt 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	South Alabama	71	31	4.0	1.0	1	--	--
2024	South Alabama	72	20	3.5	0.5	4	--	--
Career		143	51	7.5	1.5	5	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 38–21

vs Morgan State

1 SOLO · 5 TOT

With D. Voisin — 7 rec · 69 yds · 1 TD · A. Pulkkinen — 42 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 55 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 38-21vs Morgan State	5	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 31-33vs Tulane	11	5	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 3	L 15-31@ Auburn	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 20-38vs Coastal Carolina	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 22-36@ North Texas	6	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 24-31@ Troy	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 14-15vs Arkansas State	10	4	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 38-31@ Georgia State	10	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 22-31vs Louisiana	11	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 26-14@ UL Monroe	6	5	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 42-35vs Southern Miss	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		71	31	4.0	1.0	—	1

How he plays

Play style

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

71Tackles

31Solo

4TFL

1Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

71 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4 TFL.

Week 121 sack
Week 131 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

South Alabama

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · South Alabama

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -18 net (12 in / 30 out)

2026 Award watch

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

South Alabama · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #107 · 2026 recruiting class #77

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Wayne Matthews III’s 2025 season.

Wayne Matthews III

93%match

Michigan State · 2025

Daniel Jackson

Florida International · 2021

87%

Baylon Spector

Clemson · 2021

NFL Rd 7

86%

Andrew Parker

App State · 2022

86%

Stephen Forester

UTEP · 2020

All-Conference USA

85%

Matches Wayne on

Solo tackle rate

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Andrew Parker's junior season at App State (2022).

Andrew Parker

92%match

App State · 2022

Khadry Jackson

Georgia Southern · 2022

87%

Jordan Stringer

Troy · 2023

All-Sun Belt

87%

DJ Taylor

Bowling Green · 2022

86%

Keyshaun Elliott

Arizona State · 2024

All-Big 12NFL Rd 5

86%

Matches Andrew on

TFL rate

Solo tackle rate

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Darius McKenzie

Wayne Matthews III

Michigan State · 2025

93%

Kenny Soares Jr.

NC State · 2025

82%

Nic Mitchell

Mississippi State · 2024

77%

The linebacker corps · South Alabama

#28Darius McKenzieLB · Sr.71 tackles · 2025
#20Tirrell Johnson Jr.LB · Sr.54 tackles · 2025
#22Caleb DozierLB · Jr.39 tackles · 2025
#16Seidrion LangstonLB · Sr.36 tackles · 2025
#46Terry Kirksey Jr.LB · Sr.18 tackles · 2025

17 more on the roster · South Alabama team page

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

202413 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Darius McKenzie

The linebacker corps · South Alabama