Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 15-10@ TCU | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 35-3vs East Tennessee State | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#7
Peyton Waters
Redshirt sophomore defensive back on North Carolina's 2026 roster.
6′1″ · 185 lb · Northridge, CA · Birmingham
Returning to North Carolina for 2026
Recruiting
4★
S recruit
No. 231 nationally · Signed with Washington
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
2 defensive back on North Carolina's 2026 roster.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to Washington in 2024.
- Transferred from Washington to North Carolina in 2025.
Peyton Waters
Across three seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Jedd Fisch and Bill Belichick. The receipt: 3 tackles against East Tennessee State — Week 2, 2026.
6 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
20243 games
- Signed with Washington4-star out of Birmingham
- Entered the portal
2025
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coaches2024
Freddie Kitchens
North Carolina
2025–2026era →
Bill Belichick
North Carolina
Coaching transition mid-career: Freddie Kitchens → Bill Belichick. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Washington6-7HC: Jedd Fisch · Balanced
2025North Carolina4-8HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo
2026North Carolina2-0HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
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 splits
Through 2 games: 3.0 TKL/g, 0.0 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bill Belichick
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | North Carolina | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | North Carolina | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Washington | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 14 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 15–10
at TCU
3 TOT · 2 SOLO
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 on the road.
With B. Edwards — 232 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.2 · -4 rush yds (7 car) · A. Burrell — 28 LONG · 67 PCT · 7 PTS
Game log
How he plays
2026 Outlook
North Carolina
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · North Carolina
Returning around him
- Transfer portal: -12 net (19 in / 31 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
North Carolina · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #28 · 2026 recruiting class #19
Background
2025 Redshirt Freshman at North Carolina Appeared in 2 games: vs. TCU had 2 solo tackles and vs. Clemson had 1 assisted tackle Redshirted 2024 Freshman Season at Washington Played in 13 games as a true freshman after enrolling early in the winter of 2024 Recorded two tackles at Penn State and one...
The secondary · North Carolina
- #2Kaleb Cost45 tackles · 2025
- #18Jaiden Patterson33 tackles · 2025
- #1Gregory Smith20 tackles · 2025
- #16Coleman Bryson16 tackles · 2025
- #7Peyton Waters3 tackles · 2025
16 more on the roster · North Carolina team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology