“It used to be Deshaun Lee that I yelled at every play. Now it is Jaylen Watson. Progress baby.”
3 stories in the last 30 days, from 2 outlets.
Deshaun Lee | Iowa Football | Oct. 27 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 27
Deshaun Lee
Erases the deep middle of the field. Fourth year in the Iowa secondary. On tape: 7 tackles against Ohio State, Week 5, 2026.
25 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
25 tackles. 5 passes defended. 3 interceptions. 0 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.
from 2 outlets
Deshaun Lee | Iowa Football | Oct. 27 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 27 · 1 outlet
from 4 outlets
Deshaun Lee | Iowa Football | Oct. 27 - The Quad-City Times
The Quad-City Times Oct 27 · 1 outlet
Hawk Central
RoundtableEach week: his team’s game, the stories about him that week, and the week’s biggest news headline.
Stories are headlines grouped by what they are about, counted through Nov 4.
Fans first named Deshaun Lee vs Iowa State.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 5 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 40-0vs Northern Illinois | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 16-13vs Iowa State | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 55-0vs Northern Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 20-19@ No. 18 Michigan | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 14-31vs No. 5 Ohio State | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 41-24@ Washington | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 10-13@ Minnesota | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wk 9 | W 30-0vs No. 25 Wisconsin | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 25 | 16 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 5 |
Oct. 31 · W 30-0 vs Wisconsin, play by play
5 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: coverage — 5 passes defended in the 8 games with play by play.
How Iowa’s defense played that day
Wisconsin’s 10 drives: 10 stopped (3 takeaways) · 0 scored.
2 tackles, including 1 interception, 2 passes broken up. His interception on 3rd and 13 ended Minnesota’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted on 3rd and 13. Second quarter, down 3-0. Ended Minnesota’s drive (int).
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
7 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 8 for him; the box score credits 7.
5 tackles, including 1 interception. His interception on 3rd and 11 ended Michigan’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Intercepted on 3rd and 11. Third quarter, down 10-7. Ended Michigan’s drive (int).
0 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play: 2 of his 4, sacks included.
1 tackle, including 1 interception, 1 pass broken up. His interception ended Northern Illinois’s drive (int).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 2 for him; the box score credits 1.
Intercepted. Second quarter, up 20-0. Ended Northern Illinois’s drive (int).
Week 4 · 2026
W 20-19
at Michigan
1 interception · 5 tackles · 2 solo tackles
A close one, won by 1 on the road.
Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.
Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
20%5 pass breakupsInterceptions
3interceptionsTackle volume
25tackles this seasonTFL rate
0%0 TFL25 tackles · 5 pass breakups · 3 interceptions.
4 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 33-15 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Road3g | 2.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kirk Ferentz
Pass share
48.0%
240 pass / 260 run
Plays / game
62.5
8 games
Team sack rate
2.7%
258 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #18 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #20 of 77 Big Ten DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 38 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Kirk Ferentz.
