MJ Stroud
Five seasons in the Georgia Southern linebacker corps to date. First career honor, 2025: All-Sun Belt. On tape: 4 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Clemson, Week 2, 2026.
14 tackles · 0.5 sacks
Play style
Disrupts the pocket from the interior.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
14 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Georgia Southern | 14 | 5 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| 2025 | Georgia Southern | 33 | 25 | 15.5 | 6.5 | 2 |
| 2024 | Georgia Southern | 24 | 18 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 2023 | Georgia Southern | 15 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- |
| 2022 | Georgia Southern | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 89 | 59 | 19.5 | 7.0 | 5 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-0vs Charleston Southern | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 7-22@ Clemson | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 3 | L 27-31@ Jacksonville State | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 28-42vs No. 25 Houston | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 31-24@ Coastal Carolina | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 24-27vs James Madison | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 23-15@ Old Dominion | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 19-3vs App State | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 5 | 2.5 | 0.5 | — | 1 |
Oct. 31 · W 19-3 vs App State, play by play
0 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Hurried the quarterback. Fourth quarter, up 19-3. Ended App State’s drive (int).
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 2 tackles for loss, in the 8 games with play by play.
How Georgia Southern’s defense played that day
App State’s 9 drives: 8 stopped (3 takeaways) · 1 scored. While the game was within a score they held 3 of 3.
2 tackles. He hurried the quarterback once.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles. The pressure he forced on 4th and 8 ended Coastal Carolina’s drive (downs).
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Hurried the quarterback on 4th and 8. Fourth quarter, up 31-17. Ended Coastal Carolina’s drive (downs).
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles, including 1 more for loss, 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 5 for him; the box score credits 4.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Sacked the quarterback for a 2-yard loss on 3rd and 9. Third quarter, up 28-0.
Ratings of the games shown run from -15 to +13 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
5 seasons under Clay Helton — 31-29 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 2.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 2.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Clay Helton
Pass share
59.2%
327 pass / 225 run
Plays / game
69.0
8 games
Team sack rate
2.0%
355 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
First team in his league at the position.
The No. 1,868 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Sun Belt.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 43 games over five seasons.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-SUN BELT · 1ST TEAM
All-Sun Belt 1st team (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Clay Helton.
In the portal · 2026
In transfer portal
