Leonard Payne Jr.: DL · Colorado · #55.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Leonard Payne Jr.
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Played for three head coaches across four seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 3 tackles and 1 sack against Oregon State — Week 10, 2023.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
10 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 3 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
BroBible Oct 27
Yahoo Sports Oct 20Yahoo Sports Oct 15Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Colorado | 10 | 6 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 1 |
| 2022 | Fresno State | 9 | 5 | 4.5 | 1.0 | -- |
| 2021 | Fresno State | 22 | 10 | 5.0 | 3.5 | -- |
| 2019 | Fresno State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 44 | 22 | 12.5 | 7.5 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 36-14vs Nebraska | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 43-35vs Colorado State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-24@ Arizona State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 43-46vs Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-28@ No. 23 UCLA | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 19-26vs No. 16 Oregon State | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 11 | L 31-34vs No. 23 Arizona | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-56@ Washington State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-23@ Utah | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 6 | 3.0 | 3.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
30%3 TFLSack rate
30%3 sacksHurry rate
30%3 hurries10 tackles · 3 for loss · 3 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.2 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Deion Sanders
Pass share
57.2%
474 pass / 355 run
Plays / game
69.1
12 games
Team sack rate
9.9%
527 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
How it ended
Four seasons, at Fresno State and Colorado, 8 sacks — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 26 games over four seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2018–2023
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Jeff Tedford, Kalen DeBoer and Deion Sanders.
