Senior safety on Middle Tennessee's 2025 roster.
5′11″ · 193 lb · Apopka, FL
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
LB recruit
No. 1471 nationally · Signed with Purdue
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 safety on Middle Tennessee's 2025 roster.
Rickey Smith
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Three seasons at Middle Tennessee, two different head coaches: Rick Stockstill and Derek Mason. The receipt on tape: 2 tackles against Wisconsin, Week 2, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2023–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Rick Stockstill → Derek Mason. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2025 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Derek Mason
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2024
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #504 at the position.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | 24 | 9 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 35 | 16 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025
W 14–13
at Nevada
1 TOT · 1 SOLO
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 on the road.
With A. Logan — 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 59 LONG · N. Vattiato — 247 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.4 · 8 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-34vs Austin Peay | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 2 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 10-42@ Wisconsin | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 14-13@ Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 28-42vs Marshall | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 16-24@ Kennesaw State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Middle Tennessee
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Safety · Middle Tennessee
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Middle Tennessee · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #109 · 2026 recruiting class #119
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2024 production profile sits closest to Jer'Marius Lewis’s 2022 season.
Matches Jer'Marius on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Jadarius Green-McKnight's sophomore season at Marshall (2022).
Matches Jadarius on
Player DNA