#15

Jayden Gray

Senior defensive lineman for Western Kentucky. 2025: 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss, 17 tackles.

DL · Western Kentucky · Sr. · #15

6′2″ · 276 lb · Fort Worth, TX

CFB Index 15 · #393 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Western Kentucky for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 4 pm ETat IndianaMemorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)Indiana by 44

How he plays

Disrupts the pocket from the interior.

QB hurries: 88th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sack · 2025

3.5 TFL · 17 tackles · 4 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 3 tackles, vs Sam Houston

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Western Kentucky. 2025: 1 sack, 3.5 tackles for loss, 17 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Iowa State in 2021.
Transferred from Louisiana Tech to Western Kentucky in 2025.

His career, year by year

Jayden Gray

DL · Western Kentucky · Sr · #15

Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Three head coaches in four seasons, at three different programs. The receipt: 3 tackles against Toledo — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Iowa State4-8HC: Matt Campbell · Pass-leaning

2023Louisiana Tech3-9HC: Sonny Cumbie · Balanced

2024Louisiana Tech5-8HC: Sonny Cumbie · Run-leaning

2025Western Kentucky9-4HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

15Below cohort / limited sample #393 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (88th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct

Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct

3.5

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0

Solo tackles#1996 / 2975 · 31st pct

Tackles#2235 / 2975 · 24th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	1.6	0.6	0.2	0.0
Road4g	2.2	0.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	0.4	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	1.5	0.4	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

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

15 · #393 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #393 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Conference USA

Based on 2025: #42 of 45 Conference USA DLs

How the All-Conference USA 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	Western Kentucky	17	10	3.5	1.0	--	--	--
2024	Louisiana Tech	14	7	3.0	2.0	1	--	--
2023	Louisiana Tech	18	7	3.5	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Iowa State	2	1	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		51	25	11.0	3.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 55–6

vs North Alabama

1 QB HUR · 1 SOLO · 1 TOT

Dominant 49-point win at home against North Alabama.

With M. McIvor — 305 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.6 · 7 rush yds (1 car) · C. Maynard — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 53 AVG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 41-24vs Sam Houston	3	2	2.0	1.0	—	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 1	W 55-6vs North Alabama	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 2	L 21-45@ Toledo	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 31-16vs Nevada	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 27-22@ Missouri State	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 6-25vs Florida International	0	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 42-26vs Middle Tennessee	2	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 10-13@ LSU	2	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 34-37@ Jacksonville State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Total		17	10	3.5	1.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

9 games

17Tackles

10Solo

3.5TFL

1Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

17 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 TFL.

Week 11 sack

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

Western Kentucky

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Western Kentucky

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -4 net (19 in / 23 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Western Kentucky · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #87 · 2026 recruiting class #81

DNA match

Player DNA

3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jordan Thompson’s 2024 season.

Jordan Thompson

84%match

Rutgers · 2024

J.D. Lampley

East Carolina · 2024

78%

Bernard Gooden

LSU · 2025

78%

Prince James Boyd Jr.

Purdue · 2022

77%

Edward Vesterinen

West Virginia · 2022

77%

Matches Jordan on

TFL rate

Sack rate

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jacob Kongaika's senior season at Arizona State (2025).

Jacob Kongaika

79%match

Arizona State · 2025

Ashton Gillotte

Louisville · 2024

All-ACCNFL Rd 3 · Pk 2

76%

Amorie Morrison

Old Dominion · 2024

75%

Gracen Halton

Oklahoma · 2025

All-SECNFL Rd 4

74%

Bryce Ganious

Wake Forest · 2024

73%

Matches Jacob on

Class year

Hurry rate

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Jayden Gray

Elijah Morris

East Carolina · 2024

88%

Earl Barquet

UL Monroe · 2023

87%

Breylon Charles

North Texas · 2024

84%

Thomas Witte

Nevada · 2023

83%

Tylon Dunlap

Kennesaw State · 2024

80%

The defensive line · Western Kentucky

Mackavelli MalotumauDL · Sr.7 tackles for loss · 2025
#15Jayden GrayDL · Sr.3.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#93Rylen Sua-FiloDL · Sr.3 tackles for loss · 2025
#33Zeiqui LawtonDT · R-Sr.3 tackles for loss · 2025
#98Jaden HardyDL · Sr.2 tackles for loss · 2025

20 more on the roster · Western Kentucky team page

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

Jayden Gray

2021

20239 games

20259 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

Players who play like Jayden Gray

The defensive line · Western Kentucky