Wofford · W 36-15 · FCS
No tackles.
Ohio State · L 3-59
No tackles.
Ohio · L 10-13
No tackles.
Western Michigan · L 7-38
No tackles.
South Florida · L 2-29
No tackles.
Barnes has tackles in 4 of Kent State’s 9 games: none in the other 5.
DJ Barnes
Came to Kent State by way of West Florida. One game to point at: 4 tackles against South Carolina — Week 1, 2026.
7 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Kent State | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2025 | Kent State | 28 | 18 | 2.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 35 | 24 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 1 tackle.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 4 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-57@ South Carolina | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 4 | W 26-13vs Ball State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 35-20vs Akron | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 10-31@ Sacramento State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Oct. 30 · L 10-31 at Sacramento State, play by play
1 tackle. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
How Kent State’s defense played that day
Sacramento State’s 12 drives: 9 stopped (4 takeaways) · 3 scored. While the game was within a score they held 5 of 8. His hurry came with Kent State up 7.
1 tackle, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Ratings of the games shown run from -29 to +11 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
2 seasons under Mark Carney — 8-13 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 4 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road2g | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-72g | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Carney
Pass share
48.2%
271 pass / 291 run
Plays / game
62.4
9 games
Team sack rate
4.8%
310 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2026
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
Recognition
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-MAC
Based on 2025: #36 of 40 Mid-American DBs
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%).
2026 is in progress.
