Jelani Davis is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Kent State.
Davis disrupts the pocket from the interior. Transferred to Kent State from Southern. A game that shows it: 5 tackles against Florida State — Week 4, 2025.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
24 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4 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 | Kent State | 24 | 11 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| Career | 24 | 11 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 21-17vs Merrimack | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-62@ No. 24 Texas Tech | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 28-31vs Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 10-66@ No. 7 Florida State | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 6 | L 0-44@ No. 5 Oklahoma | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 42-6vs Massachusetts | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 10-45@ Toledo | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 24-21vs Bowling Green | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 14 | W 35-31@ Northern Illinois | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 11 | 4.0 | 2.5 | — | 0 |
Week 9 · 2025
W 24-21
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 4 tackles
A close one, won by 3 at home.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
17%4 TFLSack rate
10%2 sacksHurry rate
17%4 hurries24 tackles · 4 for loss · 2.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 2.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Carney
Pass share
42.8%
292 pass / 390 run
Plays / game
56.8
12 games
Team sack rate
7.2%
320 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-MAC
Based on 2025: #27 of 43 Mid-American DLs
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%).
