Smith Vilbert is a defensive lineman who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at North Carolina.
Vilbert disrupts the pocket from the interior. The four seasons span two programs and two head coaches: James Franklin and Bill Belichick. One game to point at: 4 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Stanford — Week 11, 2025.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
22 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6 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.
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| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | North Carolina | 22 | 11 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 2 |
| 2024 | Penn State | 11 | 3 | 3.0 | 1.5 | 1 |
| 2021 | Penn State | 7 | 6 | 4.0 | 3.0 | -- |
| 2020 | Penn State | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 41 | 20 | 13.0 | 5.5 | 3 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-48vs TCU | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 20-3@ Charlotte | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-6vs Richmond | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 9-34@ UCF | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 10-38vs Clemson | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 18-21@ California | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-17vs No. 16 Virginia | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 27-10@ Syracuse | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 20-15vs Stanford | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 4 tackles |
| Wk 12 | L 12-28@ Wake Forest | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 25-32vs Duke | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 14 | L 19-42@ NC State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 11 | 6.0 | 1.0 | — | 2 |
Week 11 · 2025
W 20-15
vs Stanford
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 4 tackles
A close one, won by 5 at home.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
27%6 TFLSack rate
5%1 sackHurry rate
23%5 hurries22 tackles · 6 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 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Road6g | 1.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 2.0 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bill Belichick
Pass share
51.1%
355 pass / 340 run
Plays / game
57.9
12 games
Team sack rate
5.6%
392 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #35 of 73 ACC DLs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: James Franklin and Bill Belichick.
