#16

Muheem McCargo

Senior defensive back for Ball State. 2025: 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 37 tackles.

DB · Ball State · Sr. · #16

5′10″ · 215 lb · Camden, NJ

CFB Index 41 · #355 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceReturning to Ball State for 2026

How he plays

Moves between deep coverage and the slot.

Solo tackles: 69th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

interception · 2025

2 PBU · 37 tackles

Best game: 1 PBU, 6 tackles, at Western Michigan

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back for Ball State. 2025: 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 37 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Temple in 2020.
1 interception in 2022. Then 1 in 2025.

His career, year by year

Muheem McCargo

DB · Ball State · Sr · #16

Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Muheem McCargo has played for three head coaches across three seasons and two programs. The receipt: 6 tackles against Western Michigan — Week 7, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Temple3-9HC: Rod Carey · Balanced, slow tempo

2022Temple3-9HC: Stan Drayton · Pass-leaning

2025Ball State4-8HC: Mike Uremovich · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

41Rotational starter #355 of 544?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (7th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#902 / 2975 · 69th pct

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

Tackles#1007 / 2975 · 65th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct

0.0

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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road7g	3.9	0.0	0.0	0.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.8	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Uremovich

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

41 · #355 of 544 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #355 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-MAC

Based on 2025: #23 of 40 Mid-American DBs

How the All-MAC 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	Ball State	37	22	0.0	0.0	2	1	--
2022	Temple	32	24	4.0	1.0	1	1	--
2021	Temple	37	17	3.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		106	63	7.5	1.0	3	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 34–29

vs New Hampshire

2 TOT · 1 SOLO

Edged out New Hampshire at home in a shootout.

With Q. Ashley — 154 rush yds (12 car) · 2 TD · K. Kelly — 105 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 77.4 · 101 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 0-31@ Purdue	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 3-42@ Auburn	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 34-29vs New Hampshire	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 25-31@ UConn	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 20-14vs Ohio	3	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 0-42@ Western Michigan	6	6	0.0	0.0	—	1	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 8	W 42-28vs Akron	5	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 7-21@ Northern Illinois	5	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 9-24vs Eastern Michigan	—	—	—	—	1	—
Wk 13	L 9-38@ Toledo	5	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 24-45@ Miami (OH)	5	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		37	22	0.0	0.0	1	2

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

10 games

37Tackles

22Solo

0TFL

0Sacks

2Pass def.

1INT

37 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 0 TFL.

Week 71 PD
Week 121 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

Ball State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Ball State

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +6 net (24 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Ball State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #113 · 2026 recruiting class #113

DNA match

Player DNA

Hybrid Nickel

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Alex Wolff’s 2021 season.

Alex Wolff

82%match

Ohio · 2021

Jalen Mergerson

Air Force · 2023

75%

Larry Turner-Gooden

San José State · 2025

74%

Coco Azema

Northwestern · 2023

72%

Matches Alex on

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Weight

Differs from Alex on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Donovan Kaufman's junior season at Auburn (2022).

Donovan Kaufman

88%match

Auburn · 2022

Jalen Mergerson

Air Force · 2023

86%

Courtney Eubanks

Coastal Carolina · 2024

83%

Phalen Sanford

Nebraska · 2023

83%

Joseph Foucha

LSU · 2022

83%

Matches Donovan on

Class year

PD rate

Tackle volume

Player DNA

Players who play like Muheem McCargo

Muheem McCargo

Temple · 2022

76%

Jusfin Meyers

Georgia Southern · 2023

73%

Jon Powell

UCF · 2021

71%

Bryce Thornton

Florida · 2023

67%

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

2020

2024

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Hybrid Nickel

Players who play like Muheem McCargo