Makell Esteen is a safety who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Washington.
Esteen moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for two head coaches at Washington: Kalen DeBoer and Jedd Fisch. One game to point at: 8 tackles against Michigan — Week 8, 2025.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
51 tackles. 1 pass defended. 2 interceptions. 1.5 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 | Washington | 51 | 35 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
| 2024 | Washington | 43 | 25 | 1.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Washington | 19 | 10 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | Washington | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |
| Career | 120 | 75 | 4.0 | 0.5 | 5 | 5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-21vs Colorado State | 9 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 70-10vs UC Davis | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 59-24@ Washington State | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 6-24vs No. 1 Ohio State | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 24-20@ Maryland | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 38-19vs Rutgers | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 7-24@ Michigan | 8 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-25vs No. 23 Illinois | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 10-13@ Wisconsin | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 49-13vs Purdue | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 48-14@ UCLA | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | W 38-10vs Boise State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 51 | 35 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 2 | 1 |
Week 6 · 2025
W 24-20
at Maryland
1 interception · 5 tackles · 3 solo tackles
A close one, won by 4 on the road.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
2%1 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
51tackles this seasonTFL rate
3%2 TFL51 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 0.5 sacks · 1 pass breakup · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 4.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Jedd Fisch
Pass share
44.9%
370 pass / 454 run
Plays / game
63.4
13 games
Team sack rate
6.8%
365 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #209 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #6 of 15 Big Ten Ss
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
4 coachesPlayed under 4 different head coaches: Jimmy Lake, Bob Gregory, Kalen DeBoer, and Jedd Fisch. Multi-era developmental context.
