Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-27vs Boise State | 11 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 31-39@ Oklahoma State | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#3
Koi Perich
Koi Perich is a ballhawk safety, a receiver, and a returner -- the kind of athlete who does everything. He's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country, and Oregon brought him in to replace a first-round pick.
6′1″ · 200 lb · Esko, MN · Esko HS
CFB Index 69 · #111 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceNational watchTransferred Minnesota → Oregon for 2026
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
On production he ranks #111 of 544 safeties; on reputation he is on a national watch list. The gap between those two numbers is the story.
Recruiting
4★
S recruit
No. 70 nationally · Signed with Minnesota
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Koi Perich is a ballhawk safety, a receiver, and a returner -- the kind of athlete who does everything. He's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country, and Oregon brought him in to replace a first-round pick.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to Minnesota in 2024.
- Transferred from Minnesota to Oregon in 2026.
- Named Preseason All-America in 2026.
How he projects
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Grades highest in zone coverage and play recognition.
The full scouting readBuzz vs Tape
Country hotter than the fans
The wider college football conversation reads him warmer than his own fans do — a gap of 31 points in belief.
22.3own fans
53.3national conversation
Also worth knowing:
In Their Words
191 windows · 2026 fan posts
koi×882.9gophers×149.4oregon×16.8defensive×13.3safety×20.0lost×19.2
“3 key position battles to keep an eye on during Gophers fall camp. 🔒Safety spot with Koi Perich gone to Oregon 💪 Right tackle (again) ⚓️ Both DT Go Gophers!!”
board/7 National Titles Football Forum · fan post, verbatim
The story
Perich arrived as a national name at Minnesota -- five interceptions and Freshman All-America honors in 2024, then roughly 82 tackles and All-Big Ten production in 2025 -- and he did it as a genuine two-way weapon who also lined up at receiver and returned kicks. Now he's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country and an ESPN top-15 non-quarterback playmaker, landing at Oregon to replace first-round pick Dillon Thieneman. The forward stakes are a featured role on a title contender: a safety with this range, these ball skills and this versatility is the kind of piece a defense builds its disguises around. For Oregon, he's the playmaking centerpiece of a reloaded secondary.
His career
He was winning awards before he was old enough to be a story.
Perich is a rangy, ball-hawking safety with rare athletic versatility. The trait that defines him is the ball production -- five interceptions as a freshman is elite anticipation and range from the back end -- paired with the speed and physicality to play downhill as a tackler (his ~82-tackle 2025 says he'll come up and hit). The two-way utility (snaps at receiver, work as a returner) underlines the athleticism: this is a true playmaker with the ball in the air or in his hands. He's a center-field eraser who can also rob underneath routes, the kind of versatile, instinctive safety the modern two-high game is built to feature.
Written by our staff.
202412 games
- Signed with Minnesota4-star out of Esko
- All-Big Tenfirst
202513 games
- All-Big Tensecond
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Preseason All-AmericaFirst Team
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🥇
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2026)
1 selectors honored him
🎖
ALL-BIG TEN · 2ND TEAM
All-Big Ten 2nd team (2025)
🎓
FRESHMAN HONORS
Freshman recognition (2024)
1 mention(s)
Badges
- Honors Badge
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Oregon
Played his entire career under Dan Lanning.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Oregon
2025Minnesota
2026Oregon
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced
2025Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo
2026Oregon1-1HC: Dan Lanning · Balanced, slow tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Medium confidence
Concern: tackles for loss (20th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
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 splits
Through 2 games: 7.5 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dan Lanning
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
National watch / fringe AA
In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Selector Grid · 2026
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 34–27
vs Boise State
11 TOT · 3 SOLO
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.
With D. Moore — 378 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · -5 rush yds (2 car) · B. Ettridge — 48 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 52 LONG
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Perich is a rangy, ball-hawking safety with rare athletic versatility. The trait that defines him is the ball production -- five interceptions as a freshman is elite anticipation and range from the back end -- paired with the speed and physicality to play downhill as a tackler (his ~82-tackle 2025 says he'll come up and hit). The two-way utility (snaps at receiver, work as a returner) underlines the athleticism: this is a true playmaker with the ball in the air or in his hands. He's a center-field eraser who can also rob underneath routes, the kind of versatile, instinctive safety the modern two-high game is built to feature.
Our classifier reads him the same way: moves between deep coverage and the slot.
DNA match
Player DNA
Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Dylan Sumner-Gardner’s 2016 season.
90%match
Matches Dylan on
Tackle volume
PD rate
TFL rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jaden Slocum's junior season at Stanford (2023).
100%match
Matches Jaden on
Class year
Height
PD rate
Player DNA
Players who play like Koi Perich
Background
As a Junior (2026) » Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list » Big Ten Preseason Honors As a Sophomore at Minnesota (2025) » All-Big Ten second team Played in all 13 games, seeing action on offense, defense and special teams ... Recorded 82 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack ... Broke up two...
The secondary · Oregon
- #3Koi Perich82 tackles · 2025
- #21Aaron Flowers69 tackles · 2025
- #4Brandon Finney Jr.42 tackles · 2025
- #7Ify Obidegwu25 tackles · 2025
- #12Peyton Woodyard22 tackles · 2025
20 more on the roster · Oregon team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology