#10

Wayne Matthews III

Senior linebacker for Michigan State. 2025: 73 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss.

LB · Michigan State · Sr. · #10

6′2″ · 230 lb · Largo, MD

CFB Index 52 · #274 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Michigan State for 2026

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

Tackles: 92nd percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

4.5 TFL · 1 PBU

Best game: 8 tackles, 1 TFL, vs Penn State

Statement game16 tackles · 2 TFLvs Georgia State (FBS) · W 25-24

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Michigan State. 2025: 73 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Old Dominion in 2021.
Transferred from Old Dominion to Michigan State in 2024.

His career, year by year

Wayne Matthews III

LB · Michigan State · Sr · #10

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Two head coaches in five seasons, at two different programs. His first career honor landed in 2023: All-Sun Belt. One game to point at: 10 tackles against Youngstown State — Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Old Dominion6-7HC: Ricky Rahne · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Old Dominion3-9HC: Ricky Rahne · Pass-leaning, slow tempo

2023Old Dominion6-7HC: Ricky Rahne · Run-leaning

2024Michigan State5-7HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2025Michigan State4-8HC: Jonathan Smith · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

52Rotational starter #274 of 583?

High confidenceBounce-Back7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (92nd percentile). Strength: solo tackles (84th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (22nd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles#227 / 2975 · 92nd pct

Solo tackles#448 / 2975 · 84th pct

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct

4.5

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	6.9	0.4	0.0	0.1
Road5g	5.0	0.4	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	6.0	0.3	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	6.2	0.4	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Fitzgerald

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

52 · #274 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #274 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #36 of 72 Big Ten LBs

How the All-Big Ten 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	Michigan State	73	32	4.5	0.0	1	1	--
2024	Michigan State	33	18	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Old Dominion	135	40	9.5	3.5	3	--	--
2022	Old Dominion	13	6	0.0	1.0	--	--	--
2021	Old Dominion	1	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		255	96	14.0	4.5	4	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 41–24

vs Youngstown State

10 TOT · 4 SOLO

With A. Chiles — 270 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 76.6 · 76 rush yds (8 car) · O. Kelly — 4 rec · 49 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-6vs Western Michigan	6	1	0.5	1	0
Wk 2	W 42-40vs Boston College	8	5	0.5	—	0
Wk 3	W 41-24vs Youngstown State	10	4	0.0	—	0	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 4	L 31-45@ USC	2	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 27-38@ Nebraska	5	2	1.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 13-38vs UCLA	5	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 13-38@ Indiana	5	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 20-31vs Michigan	5	1	0.5	—	0
Wk 10	L 20-23@ Minnesota	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 10-28vs Penn State	8	3	1.0	—	1
Wk 13	L 17-20@ Iowa	9	7	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 38-28vs Maryland	6	3	0.0	—	0
Total		73	32	4.5	1	1

How he plays

Play style

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

73Tackles

32Solo

4.5TFL

0Sacks

1Pass def.

1INT

73 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 4.5 TFL.

Week 11 INT
Week 121 PD

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

Michigan State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Michigan State

Returning around him

2 Michigan State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -18 net (28 in / 46 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Michigan State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #61 · 2026 recruiting class #45

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Darius McKenzie’s 2025 season.

Darius McKenzie

93%match

South Alabama · 2025

Stephen Forester

UTEP · 2020

All-Conference USA

85%

Daniel Jackson

Florida International · 2021

85%

Andrew Parker

App State · 2022

84%

Elijah Herring

Tennessee · 2023

82%

Matches Darius on

Solo tackle rate

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Shammond Cooper's graduate season at Akron (2025).

Shammond Cooper

87%match

Akron · 2025

Brock Horne

Bowling Green · 2024

83%

Ethan Barr

UCF · 2024

83%

Jamal Morris

Houston · 2024

83%

Isaac Gifford

Nebraska · 2024

82%

Matches Shammond on

Sack rate

Solo tackle rate

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Wayne Matthews III

Darius McKenzie

South Alabama · 2025

93%

Brady Anderson

San Diego State · 2025

83%

Micah Pollard

Liberty · 2025

81%

Anthony Beavers Jr.

USC · 2024

79%

Jett Johnson

Mississippi State · 2023

75%

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

Wayne Matthews III

2021

202313 games

20249 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Wayne Matthews III