#95

Najee Story

Senior defensive lineman for Northwestern. 2025: 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 20 tackles.

DL · Northwestern · Sr. · #95

6′4″ · 270 lb · Solon, OH

CFB Index 70 · #74 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Northwestern for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ETvs ColoradoLanny and Sharon Martin StadiumNorthwestern by 3.5

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Forced fumbles: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sack · 2025

1 TFL · 20 tackles

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 2 tackles, at USC

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Northwestern. 2025: 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 20 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Northwestern in 2021.

His career, year by year

Najee Story

DL · Northwestern · Sr · #95

Wins his gap play after play. Najee Story has been at Northwestern through two head coaches in four seasons. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Purdue — Week 8, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Northwestern1-11HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Balanced

2023Northwestern8-5HC: David Braun · Run-leaning

2024Northwestern4-8HC: David Braun · Balanced, slow tempo

2025Northwestern7-6HC: David Braun · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

70Quality starter #74 of 330?

Low confidenceBreakout8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (97th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (22nd percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Forced fumbles#8 / 687 · 97th pct

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct

Tackles#1998 / 2975 · 32nd pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.2
Road5g	2.0	0.2	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	1.6	0.0	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	2.0	0.2	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

David Braun

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 1 game in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

70 · #74 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #74 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #17 of 69 Big Ten DLs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Northwestern	20	11	1.0	1.0	1	1	1
2024	Northwestern	24	12	3.5	1.5	--	--	--
2023	Northwestern	20	8	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Northwestern	24	11	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		88	42	5.5	2.5	1	1	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2025

W 22–21

at Penn State

2 TOT · 1 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 on the road.

With P. Stone — 163 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 73.3 · -8 rush yds (5 car) · L. Akers — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 49 AVG

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 3-23@ Tulane	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 14-34vs Oregon	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	W 42-7vs UL Monroe	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 22-21@ Penn State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 19-0vs Purdue	4	1	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 9	L 21-28@ Nebraska	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 17-38@ USC	2	2	1.0	1.0	1	0
Wk 12	L 22-24vs Michigan	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 38-35vs Minnesota	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 13-20@ Illinois	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 34-7vs Central Michigan	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		20	11	1.0	1.0	1	1

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

20Tackles

11Solo

1TFL

1Sacks

1Pass def.

1INT

20 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 1 TFL.

Week 31 PD
Week 111 sack · 1 INT

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

Northwestern

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Northwestern

Returning around him

2 Northwestern players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +9 net (17 in / 8 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Northwestern · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #60 · 2026 recruiting class #52

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tre'Vonn Rybka’s 2022 season.

Tre'Vonn Rybka

92%match

Kentucky · 2022

Chace Davis

Bowling Green · 2023

87%

Robert Jackson

Cincinnati · 2024

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 17

86%

Ta'ita'i Uiagalelei

Arizona · 2022

85%

Jamie Sheriff

South Alabama · 2020

83%

Matches Tre'Vonn on

Sack rate

Weight

Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Robert Jackson's senior season at Cincinnati (2024).

Robert Jackson

87%match

Cincinnati · 2024

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 17

Deonte Anderson

Mississippi State · 2025

85%

Nathan Reichert

Ball State · 2024

83%

Tyrone Taleni

USC · 2023

81%

Justus Boone

Arkansas · 2025

81%

Matches Robert on

Class year

Height

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Najee Story

Bradley Weaver

Ohio · 2022

92%

Venson Sneed

Western Kentucky · 2025

91%

BJ Williams

Wake Forest · 2023

90%

Nasir Washington

Miami (OH) · 2024

86%

Najee Story

Northwestern · 2023

86%

The defensive line · Northwestern

#47Michael KilbaneDL · Sr.7.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#90Carmine BastoneDL · Sr.4 tackles for loss · 2025
#24Jamaal JohnsonDL · Sr.1.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#95Najee StoryDL · Sr.1 tackle for loss · 2025
#52Richie HagartyDL · Sr.1 tackle for loss · 2025

22 more on the roster · Northwestern team page

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

2021

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Najee Story

The defensive line · Northwestern