David Bailey: LB · Texas Tech · #31.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
David Bailey
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Played for three head coaches across four seasons and two programs. All-America (Consensus) in 2025 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. One game to point at: 9 tackles and 2 tackles for loss against Oregon — Bowl, 2025.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
51 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 19.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Yahoo Sports Nov 3
On3 Oct 28
Heartland College Sports Oct 24Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 51 | 32 | 19.5 | 14.5 | 3 |
| 2024 | Stanford | 31 | 22 | 8.0 | 6.0 | -- |
| 2023 | Stanford | 31 | 19 | 6.0 | 5.0 | -- |
| 2022 | Stanford | 43 | 28 | 7.5 | 1.5 | -- |
| Career | 156 | 101 | 41.0 | 27.0 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 67-7vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 62-14vs Kent State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 45-14vs Oregon State | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-10@ No. 16 Utah | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 35-11@ Houston | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 7 | W 42-17vs Kansas | 6 | 3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | 3 sacks |
| Wk 8 | L 22-26@ Arizona State | 5 | 3 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 9 | W 42-0vs Oklahoma State | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 43-20@ Kansas State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 29-7vs No. 8 BYU | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 48-9vs UCF | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 49-0@ West Virginia | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | W 34-7vs No. 11 BYU | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 0-23vs No. 5 Oregon | 9 | 5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 2 | |
| Total | 51 | 32 | 19.5 | 14.5 | — | 3 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
51tackles this seasonTFL rate
38%20 TFLSack rate
28%14 sacksPD rate
6%3 pass breakups51 tackles · 19.5 for loss · 14.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 14 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| Road5g | 3.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 3.6 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Joey McGuire
Pass share
47.6%
484 pass / 532 run
Plays / game
72.6
14 games
Team sack rate
4.6%
482 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
First team on every major selector list.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #1 at the position.
Selector Grid · 2025
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
Career, closed
Gone at #2 overall.
How it ended
Four seasons, at Stanford and Texas Tech, 156 tackles, a Unanimous All-American season (2025) — drafted at #2 overall by the New York Jets.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · UNANIMOUS
Unanimous AA (2025)
Named to 11 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG 12 · 1ST TEAM
All-Big 12 1st team (2025)
Weekly recognition
1 weekly honor (2025)
2 career weekly honors across 2 seasons
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: David Shaw, Troy Taylor and Joey McGuire.
Next stop · NFL
New York Jets2026 NFL rookie season
New York Jets2026 NFL rookie season
