Malik Spencer is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Michigan State.
Spencer moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for two head coaches in four seasons at Michigan State. One game to point at: 7 tackles against Maryland — Week 14, 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
52 tackles. 5 passes defended. 1 interception. 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| 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 |
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 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@ No. 25 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@ No. 3 Indiana | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 20-31vs No. 25 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 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
10%5 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
52tackles this seasonTFL rate
6%3 TFL52 tackles · 3 for loss · 2 sacks · 5 pass breakups · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| 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
Head Coach
Jonathan Smith
Pass share
49.7%
378 pass / 382 run
Plays / game
63.3
12 games
Team sack rate
8.0%
424 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
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 #129 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #23 of 77 Big Ten DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Mel Tucker, Harlon Barnett, and Jonathan Smith. Multi-era developmental context.
