Jaiden Patterson
The three seasons at North Carolina span two head coaches: Freddie Kitchens and Bill Belichick. On tape: 7 tackles against Miami, Week 9, 2026.
40 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
40 tackles. 6 passes defended. 0 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | North Carolina | 40 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 6 | -- |
| 2025 | North Carolina | 33 | 22 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 1 |
| 2024 | North Carolina | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 75 | 51 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 11 | 1 |
Last game (Wk 9): 7 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 15-10vs TCU | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 35-3vs East Tennessee State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 20-28@ Clemson | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 26-37vs No. 3 Notre Dame | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 21-17@ No. 25 Pittsburgh | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 24-20@ Duke | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | L 30-31vs Syracuse | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 35-38vs No. 1 Miami | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 28 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 6 |
Oct. 31 · L 35-38 vs Miami, play by play
7 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 — 6 passes defended in the 8 games with play by play.
How North Carolina’s defense played that day
7 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
5 tackles, including 1 pass broken up. His pass breakup on 4th and 14 ended Pittsburgh’s drive (downs).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Broke up a pass on 4th and 14. Fourth quarter, up 21-17. Ended Pittsburgh’s drive (downs).
7 tackles, including 2 passes broken up, tied for 2nd-most passes broken up in FBS that week.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
6 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
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 -3 to +25 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
15%6 pass breakupsTackle volume
40tackles this seasonTFL rate
0%0 TFL40 tackles · 6 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 5.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Road3g | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 7.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bill Belichick
Pass share
50.8%
241 pass / 233 run
Plays / game
59.2
8 games
Team sack rate
6.7%
267 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
40 tackles in 8 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #177 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #36 of 75 ACC 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.
A stat line in 21 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Mack Brown → Bill Belichick. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
