#18

Justin Birdsong

Senior defensive back for Georgia Southern. 2022: 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 44 tackles.

DB · Georgia Southern · Sr. · #18

5′11″ · 185 lb · Lithonia, GA

CFB Index 45 · #288 of 493 safetiesLow confidenceGeorgia Southern 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

CB recruit

No. 1056 nationally · Signed with Georgia Southern

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

5 defensive back for Georgia Southern. 2022: 1 interception, 3 pass breakups, 44 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Georgia Southern in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Georgia Southern, 121 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

20183 games

Signed with Georgia Southern3-star out of Stephenson

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1056 national

CFB

College

Georgia Southern

2018–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2022

3 coaches

2018–2020

Chad Lunsford

Georgia Southern

2021

Kevin Whitley

Georgia Southern

era →

2022

Clay Helton

Georgia Southern

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Chad Lunsford, Kevin Whitley, and Clay Helton. Multi-era developmental context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Georgia Southern10-3HC: Chad Lunsford · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2019Georgia Southern7-6HC: Chad Lunsford · Run-heavy

2020Georgia Southern8-5HC: Chad Lunsford · Run-heavy

2021Georgia Southern3-9HC: Kevin Whitley · Run-heavy

2022Georgia Southern6-7HC: Clay Helton · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

45Rotational starter #288 of 493?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#492 / 2755 · 78th pct

Tackles#714 / 2755 · 74th pct

Solo tackles#853 / 2755 · 68th pct

Interceptions#321 / 811 · 30th pct

QB hurries#1444 / 2755 · 24th pct

Sacks#1454 / 2755 · 24th pct

0.0

Tackles for loss#2143 / 2755 · 18th pct

0.5

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

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	4.2	0.1	0.0	0.6
Road6g	3.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	4.4	0.1	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Clay Helton

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

45 · #288 of 493 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #288 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Georgia Southern	44	23	0.5	0.0	3	1	--
2021	Georgia Southern	50	28	2.0	0.5	2	--	--
2020	Georgia Southern	19	17	2.5	0.0	1	3	--
2019	Georgia Southern	6	5	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Georgia Southern	2	2	0.0	0.0	1	--	--
Career		121	75	6.0	0.5	7	4	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 59-7vs Morgan State	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 45-42@ Nebraska	2	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 21-35@ UAB	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 34-23vs Ball State	4	2	0.0	1	2
Wk 5	L 30-34@ Coastal Carolina	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 33-41@ Georgia State	7	4	0.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 8	W 28-23@ Old Dominion	3	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 31-38vs South Alabama	5	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 17-36@ Louisiana	3	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 10-23vs Marshall	7	4	0.5	—	0
Wk 13	W 51-48vs App State	4	3	0.0	—	1
Total		44	23	0.5	1	3

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

Justin Birdsong

20183 games

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

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