#43

Malik Spencer

Senior defensive back for Michigan State. 2025: 1 interception, 5 pass breakups, 52 tackles.

DB · Michigan State · Sr. · #43

6′1″ · 191 lb · Buford, GA

CFB Index 66 · #129 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceReturning to Michigan State for 2026

How he plays

Moves between deep coverage and the slot.

Passes defended: 91st percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

interception · 2025

5 PBU · 52 tackles · 3 TFL

Best game: 1 PBU, 4 tackles, at Nebraska

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back for Michigan State. 2025: 1 interception, 5 pass breakups, 52 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Michigan State in 2022.
1 interception in 2024. Then 1 in 2025.

His career, year by year

Malik Spencer

DB · Michigan State · Sr · #43

Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Malik Spencer has played for two head coaches in four seasons at Michigan State. One game to point at: 7 tackles against Maryland — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Michigan State5-7HC: Mel Tucker · Balanced

2023Michigan State4-8HC: Mel Tucker · Balanced

2024Michigan State5-7HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2025Michigan State4-8HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

66Quality starter #129 of 544?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (91st percentile). Strength: solo tackles (88th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct

Solo tackles#353 / 2975 · 88th pct

Tackles#550 / 2975 · 81st pct

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

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

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.3	0.3	0.1	0.1
Road5g	4.4	0.2	0.2	0.8

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	0.5	0.3	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	0.0	0.0	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

66 · #129 of 544 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #129 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #23 of 77 Big Ten DBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Michigan State	52	35	3.0	2.0	5	1	--
2024	Michigan State	44	28	1.0	0.0	2	1	--
2023	Michigan State	72	41	2.0	0.0	6	--	--
2022	Michigan State	5	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		173	105	6.0	2.0	13	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 41–24

vs Youngstown State

2 TOT · 2 SOLO

With A. Chiles — 270 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 76.6 · 76 rush yds (8 car) · O. Kelly — 4 rec · 49 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-6vs Western Michigan	5	4	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 42-40vs Boston College	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 41-24vs Youngstown State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 31-45@ USC	7	6	0.0	0.0	—	2	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 6	L 27-38@ Nebraska	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 7	L 13-38vs UCLA	4	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 13-38@ Indiana	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 20-31vs Michigan	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 20-23@ Minnesota	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 10-28vs Penn State	5	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 17-20@ Iowa	3	3	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 14	W 38-28vs Maryland	7	6	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		52	35	3.0	2.0	1	5

How he plays

Play style

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

52Tackles

35Solo

3TFL

2Sacks

5Pass def.

1INT

52 tackles. 5 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 3 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 42 PD
Week 61 sack · 1 PD
Week 101 PD
Week 131 INT
Week 141 PD

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.

2026 Outlook

Michigan State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Michigan State

Returning around him

2 Michigan State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -18 net (28 in / 46 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Michigan State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #61 · 2026 recruiting class #45

DNA match

Player DNA

Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jordan Hansen’s 2021 season.

Jordan Hansen

86%match

Northern Illinois · 2021

Teagan Wilk

East Carolina · 2022

81%

Darian Chestnut

Syracuse · 2024

81%

David Daniel-Sisavanh

Troy · 2025

80%

Elery Alexander

Arkansas State · 2020

80%

Matches Jordan on

Weight

PD rate

TFL rate

Differs from Jordan on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Bailey Despanie's senior season at Tulane (2025).

Bailey Despanie

91%match

Tulane · 2025

All-AAC

Jayden Johnson

Arkansas · 2024

87%

Hudson Clark

Arkansas · 2023

85%

David Daniel-Sisavanh

Troy · 2025

84%

Zemaiah Vaughn

Utah · 2023

84%

Matches Bailey on

Class year

Height

Interceptions

Player DNA

Players who play like Malik Spencer

Jayden Goodwin

Air Force · 2023

89%

Jardin Gilbert

LSU · 2024

86%

Doneiko Slaughter

Arkansas · 2024

83%

Jayden Davis

Fresno State · 2024

81%

Tao Johnson

Utah · 2024

78%

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

20223 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

Players who play like Malik Spencer