#35

Shay Taylor

Senior linebacker for Charlotte. 2025: 62 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

LB · Charlotte · Sr. · #35

6′3″ · 235 lb · Mount Perry, OH

CFB Index 55 · #247 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Charlotte for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

QB hurries: 95th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

5.5 TFL · 2 sacks

Best game: 6 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sacks, vs North Texas

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Charlotte. 2025: 62 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Ohio in 2021.
Transferred from Ohio to Charlotte in 2025.

His career, year by year

Shay Taylor

LB · Charlotte · Sr · #35

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. He got to Charlotte by way of Ohio. In 2024 the league put his name on paper for the first time: All-MAC. The receipt: 10 tackles against Tulane — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Ohio10-4HC: Tim Albin · Balanced

2023Ohio10-3HC: Tim Albin · Run-leaning

2024Ohio11-3HC: Tim Albin · Run-heavy

2025Charlotte1-11HC: Tim Albin · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

55Quality starter #247 of 583?

High confidenceFading7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (95th percentile). Strength: tackles (87th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#117 / 2975 · 95th pct

Tackles#373 / 2975 · 87th pct

Tackles for loss#477 / 2975 · 83rd pct

5.5

Solo tackles#515 / 2975 · 82nd pct

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	5.6	0.4	0.2	0.0
Road3g	7.7	0.8	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	6.4	0.5	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	6.0	0.6	0.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tim Albin

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

55 · #247 of 583 LBs

Two-star recruit. Now #247 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #29 of 61 American Athletic LBs

How the All-AAC 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	Charlotte	62	30	5.5	2.0	--	--	--
2024	Ohio	74	31	11.0	4.0	4	1	--
2023	Ohio	20	9	1.5	1.0	--	--	--
2022	Ohio	2	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		158	71	18.0	7.0	4	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 42–35

vs Monmouth

7 TOT · 2 SOLO · 0 SACKS

Edged out Monmouth at home in a shootout.

With C. Harrell — 382 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 55.2 · 47 rush yds (13 car) · 2 TD · E. Jai Mason — 10 rec · 228 yds · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 11-34vs App State	7	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	L 3-20vs North Carolina	5	3	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 42-35vs Monmouth	7	2	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 4	L 17-28vs Rice	7	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 26-54@ South Florida	6	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 14-49vs Temple	3	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 20-54vs North Texas	6	4	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 11	L 22-48@ East Carolina	7	3	1.5	0.5	—
Wk 12	L 7-28vs UTSA	4	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 0-27@ Tulane	10	6	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 10 tackles
Total		62	30	5.5	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

62Tackles

30Solo

5.5TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

62 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 TFL.

Week 30.5 sacks
Week 91 sack
Week 110.5 sacks

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

Charlotte

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Charlotte

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -8 net (19 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Charlotte · Last season: 1-11 · Talent rank #104 · 2026 recruiting class #103

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kaleb Elarms-Orr’s 2024 season.

Kaleb Elarms-Orr

80%match

TCU · 2024

NFL Rd 4

Dariel Djabome

Rutgers · 2025

79%

Chris Russell

Texas A&M · 2022

77%

Anthony Hill Jr.

Texas · 2025

All-SECNFL Rd 2 · Pk 28

77%

Sebastian Benjamin

Western Kentucky · 2024

77%

Matches Kaleb on

Sack rate

Tackle volume

Class year

Differs from Kaleb on

Hurry rate (higher)

Height (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Dariel Djabome's senior season at Rutgers (2025).

Dariel Djabome

83%match

Rutgers · 2025

Alex Afari Jr.

Kentucky · 2025

82%

Sebastian Benjamin

Western Kentucky · 2024

82%

Kain Medrano

UCLA · 2023

All-Big TenNFL Rd 6

80%

Jamal Ligon

UTSA · 2023

All-Conference USA

80%

Matches Dariel on

Solo tackle rate

TFL rate

Tackle volume

Differs from Dariel on

Hurry rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Shay Taylor

Jackson Barker

East Carolina · 2025

80%

Anthony Hill Jr.

Texas · 2025

77%

Caleb Bacon

Iowa State · 2025

74%

Terry Kirksey Jr.

Arkansas State · 2025

70%

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

Shay Taylor

2021

202413 games

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Shay Taylor