Malik Mustapha: DB · Wake Forest · #3.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Malik Mustapha
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Transferred to Wake Forest from Richmond. The first career honor came in 2023: All-ACC. A game that shows it: 13 tackles against Syracuse — Week 13, 2023.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
80 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interception. 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wake Forest | 80 | 45 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2022 | Wake Forest | 52 | 29 | 7.0 | 3.5 | 2 | -- |
| 2021 | Wake Forest | 37 | 28 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 2 |
| Career | 169 | 102 | 14.0 | 4.0 | 6 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 37-17vs Elon | 9 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 36-20vs Vanderbilt | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 27-24@ Old Dominion | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 16-30vs Georgia Tech | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 12-17@ Clemson | 9 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 13-30@ Virginia Tech | 8 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 21-17vs Pittsburgh | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-41vs No. 4 Florida State | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 21-24@ Duke | 11 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 6-26vs NC State | 6 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 7-45@ No. 20 Notre Dame | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 31-35@ Syracuse | 13 | 9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 13 tackles |
| Total | 80 | 45 | 5.0 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
2%2 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
80tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%5 TFL80 tackles · 5 for loss · 0.5 sacks · 2 pass breakups · 1 interception.
3 seasons under Dave Clawson — 23-16 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 5.2 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road6g | 8.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 7.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dave Clawson
Pass share
41.0%
321 pass / 461 run
Plays / game
65.2
12 games
Team sack rate
12.8%
367 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
How it ended
Three seasons at Wake Forest, 169 tackles — drafted at #124 overall by the San Francisco 49ers.
A stat line in 32 games over three seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-ACC · 2ND TEAM
All-ACC 2nd team (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2023
1 coachPlayed every college season under Dave Clawson.
Next stop · NFL
San Francisco 49ersEntering 3rd NFL season
San Francisco 49ersEntering 3rd NFL season
