Gavin Gibson

Senior defensive back on North Carolina's 2025 roster.

DB · North Carolina · Sr. · #5

6′0″ · 185 lb · Hickory, NC

CFB Index 40 · #362 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceReturning to North Carolina for 2026

Recruiting

3★

S recruit

No. 997 nationally · Signed with Maryland

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back on North Carolina's 2025 roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Maryland in 2022.
Transferred from East Carolina to North Carolina in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he projects

Moves between deep coverage and the slot.

The full scouting read

Gavin Gibson

DB · North Carolina · Sr · #5

Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Gavin Gibson has played for three head coaches across four seasons and three programs. The receipt on tape: 6 tackles against UCF, Week 4, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Maryland8-5HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced

2023Maryland8-5HC: Mike Locksley · Pass-leaning

2024East Carolina8-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

2025North Carolina4-8HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

40Rotational starter #362 of 544?

Medium confidenceFading7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

Solo tackles#744 / 2975 · 74th pct

Tackles#1007 / 2975 · 65th pct

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.6	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road5g	3.8	0.4	0.0	0.6

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-74g	5.0	0.2	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	2.8	0.3	0.0	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

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

40 · #362 of 544 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #362 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #52 of 75 ACC DBs

How the All-ACC 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	North Carolina	37	25	3.0	0.0	3	--	--
2024	East Carolina	52	26	6.5	0.0	3	3	--
2023	Maryland	15	11	2.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Maryland	15	13	2.0	1.0	2	--	--
Career		119	75	13.5	1.0	8	3	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-48vs TCU	6	4	0.0	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 2	W 20-3@ Charlotte	6	3	1.0	—	1
Wk 4	L 9-34@ UCF	6	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 10-38vs Clemson	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 18-21@ California	3	3	1.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 16-17vs Virginia	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 20-15vs Stanford	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 12-28@ Wake Forest	2	2	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	L 25-32vs Duke	4	2	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 19-42@ NC State	2	1	0.0	—	0
Total		37	25	3.0	—	3

How he plays

Play style

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

37Tackles

25Solo

3TFL

0Sacks

3Pass def.

0INT

37 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.

Week 21 PD
Week 81 PD
Week 121 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

North Carolina

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · North Carolina

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -12 net (19 in / 31 out)

2026 Award watch

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

North Carolina · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #28 · 2026 recruiting class #19

DNA match

Player DNA

Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Chester Kimbrough’s 2021 season.

Chester Kimbrough

87%match

Michigan State · 2021

Jerrin Thompson

Texas · 2021

86%

Jalen Ware

Temple · 2022

84%

AJ Edwards

Sam Houston · 2025

82%

Chris Chukwuneke

James Madison · 2023

81%

Matches Chester on

PD rate

Tackle volume

Weight

Differs from Chester on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jaden Robinson's senior season at Oregon State (2024).

Jaden Robinson

88%match

Oregon State · 2024

Rodney Shelley

Georgia Tech · 2025

86%

Key Lawrence

Oklahoma · 2023

86%

Jacobie Henderson

Rutgers · 2025

All-Sun Belt

86%

R.J. Mickens

Clemson · 2023

NFL Rd 6

85%

Matches Jaden on

Class year

PD rate

Tackle volume

Player DNA

Players who play like Gavin Gibson

D.J. McCullough

New Mexico State · 2022

90%

AJ Edwards

Sam Houston · 2025

82%

Jaylon Guilbeau

Texas · 2024

80%

Jalen Mcmurray

Tennessee · 2025

79%

Chester Kimbrough

Michigan State · 2022

78%

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

Gavin Gibson

20227 games

202411 games

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

Players who play like Gavin Gibson