Mitchell Melton is a defensive end who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Virginia.
Melton holds up snap after snap without a weakness to attack. Played for two head coaches at two programs in three seasons: Ryan Day and Tony Elliott. The first career honor came in 2025: ACC Defensive Line Player of the Week. One game to point at: 7 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Florida State — Week 5, 2025.
Play style
No single standout number, but nothing missing either — competent across the board.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
45 tackles. 3 passes defended. 1 interception. 9.5 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Virginia | 45 | 17 | 9.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 1 |
| 2024 | Ohio State | 12 | 6 | 3.5 | 2.0 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Ohio State | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 60 | 26 | 16.0 | 7.5 | 3 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-7vs Coastal Carolina | 4 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 31-35@ NC State | 3 | 1 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 55-16vs William & Mary | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 48-20vs Stanford | 2 | 0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 46-38vs No. 8 Florida State | 7 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 30-27@ Louisville | 5 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 8 | W 22-20vs Washington State | 6 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 17-16@ North Carolina | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | |
| Wk 10 | W 31-21@ California | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 9-16vs Wake Forest | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 34-17@ Duke | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 27-7vs Virginia Tech | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | L 20-27vs Duke | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 13-7vs No. 25 Missouri | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 45 | 17 | 9.5 | 4.5 | 1 | 3 |
Week 6 · 2025
W 30-27
at Louisville
2 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 5 tackles
A close one, won by 3 on the road.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
10%4 sacksTFL rate
21%10 TFLHurry rate
16%7 hurriesPressure-to-sack conversion
39%4 of 12 pressures45 tackles · 9.5 for loss · 4.5 sacks · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 14 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 2.4 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.7 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tony Elliott
Pass share
48.0%
492 pass / 534 run
Plays / game
73.3
14 games
Team sack rate
3.6%
474 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
45 tackles in 14 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #29 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #2 of 15 ACC DEs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 49% of returning players who ranked #1–3 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 43–54%).
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Ryan Day and Tony Elliott.
