Jalen Bainer is a cornerback who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at San José State.
Bainer gets targeted often and tackles in space. The four seasons at San José State span two head coaches: Brent Brennan and Ken Niumatalolo. The first one came in 2025: Mountain West Defensive Player of the Week. On tape: 6 tackles against Utah State, Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
44 tackles. 5 passes defended. 3 interceptions. 1 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.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | San José State | 44 | 36 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5 | 3 |
| 2024 | San José State | 22 | 14 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 |
| 2023 | San José State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | San José State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 68 | 52 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 9 | 4 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-16vs Central Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 7-38@ No. 7 Texas | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 31-28vs Idaho | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | L 29-30@ Stanford | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 35-28vs New Mexico | 9 | 8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2 | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 28-35@ Wyoming | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wk 8 | L 25-30@ Utah State | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 45-38vs Hawai'i | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 16-26vs Air Force | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-55@ Nevada | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 3-25@ San Diego State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 14-41vs Fresno State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 44 | 36 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3 | 5 |
Week 6 · 2025
W 35-28
vs New Mexico
2 interceptions · 1 sack · 1 tackle for loss
Edged out New Mexico at home in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
11%5 pass breakupsInterceptions
3interceptionsTackle volume
44tackles this season44 tackles · 1 for loss · 1 sack · 5 pass breakups · 3 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Road6g | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Ken Niumatalolo
Pass share
61.1%
486 pass / 310 run
Plays / game
66.3
12 games
Team sack rate
1.7%
518 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #36 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Mountain West
Based on 2025: #4 of 15 Mountain West CBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
The No. 2,649 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Mountain West as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Brent Brennan → Ken Niumatalolo. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
