Patrick Payton is a defensive end who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at LSU.
Payton holds up snap after snap without a weakness to attack. The four seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Mike Norvell and Frank Wilson. The first career honor came in 2024: ACC Defensive Line Player of the Week. A game that shows it: 5 tackles against Ole Miss — 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
33 tackles. 6 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4.5 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 | LSU | 33 | 17 | 4.5 | 1.0 | 6 |
| 2024 | Florida State | 32 | 16 | 10.0 | 4.0 | -- |
| 2023 | Florida State | 43 | 28 | 13.5 | 6.0 | 9 |
| 2022 | Florida State | 30 | 21 | 6.0 | 5.0 | 3 |
| Career | 138 | 82 | 34.0 | 16.0 | 18 |
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 17-10@ No. 4 Clemson | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 23-7vs Louisiana Tech | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 20-10vs Florida | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 19-24@ No. 13 Ole Miss | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 7 | W 20-10vs South Carolina | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 24-31@ No. 17 Vanderbilt | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 25-49vs No. 3 Texas A&M | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 11 | L 9-20@ No. 4 Alabama | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 23-22vs Arkansas | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 13-10vs Western Kentucky | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | L 13-17@ No. 8 Oklahoma | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | L 35-38vs Houston | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 17 | 4.5 | 1.0 | — | 6 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Sack rate
3%1 sackTFL rate
14%4 TFL33 tackles · 4.5 for loss · 1 sack.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 2.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
| Road5g | 3.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.8 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Frank Wilson
Pass share
55.0%
443 pass / 363 run
Plays / game
62.0
13 games
Team sack rate
5.4%
462 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
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 #173 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-SEC
Based on 2025: #8 of 16 SEC DEs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 2 schools: Mike Norvell, Brian Kelly and Frank Wilson.
