#23

Wesley Bailey

Senior defensive lineman for Louisville. 2025: 6 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 39 tackles.

DL · Louisville · Sr. · #23

6′5″ · 265 lb · Ottawa, ON

CFB Index 73 · #82 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Louisville for 2026

How he plays

Disrupts the pocket from the interior.

Sacks: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

7 TFL · 39 tackles · 5 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 8 tackles, vs James Madison

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Louisville. 2025: 6 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, 39 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Clearwater Academy International in 2020.

His career, year by year

Wesley Bailey

DL · Louisville · Sr · #23

Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Two head coaches in five seasons, at two different programs. One game to point at: 8 tackles, 1 TFL against James Madison — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Rutgers5-8HC: Greg Schiano · Run-leaning

2022Rutgers4-8HC: Greg Schiano · Run-leaning

2023Rutgers7-6HC: Greg Schiano · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Rutgers7-6HC: Greg Schiano · Run-leaning

2025Louisville9-4HC: Jeff Brohm · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

73Quality starter #82 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (97th percentile). Strength: qb hurries (92nd percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#74 / 2975 · 97th pct

6.0

QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct

Tackles for loss#277 / 2975 · 90th pct

7.0

Tackles#937 / 2975 · 68th pct

Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	3.8	0.8	0.8	0.0
Road4g	2.2	0.2	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.8	0.5	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+7g	2.9	0.6	0.6	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Brohm

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

73 · #82 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #82 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #11 of 73 ACC DLs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Louisville	39	17	7.0	6.0	--	--	--
2024	Rutgers	11	4	1.0	1.0	1	--	--
2023	Rutgers	25	9	4.5	4.0	3	--	--
2022	Rutgers	28	16	7.0	2.5	2	--	--
2021	Rutgers	7	2	1.5	1.0	1	--	--
Career		110	48	21.0	14.5	7	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 24–21

at Miami

2 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With M. Moss — 248 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 71.5 · -9 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD · D. Chapeau — 3 rush yds (1 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 51-17vs Eastern Kentucky	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 28-14vs James Madison	8	2	1.0	1.0	—	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 4	W 40-17vs Bowling Green	4	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 34-27@ Pittsburgh	2	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 27-30vs Virginia	3	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 8	W 24-21@ Miami	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 38-24vs Boston College	6	4	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 10	W 28-16@ Virginia Tech	4	2	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 26-29vs California	3	3	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 12	L 19-20vs Clemson	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 6-38@ SMU	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	W 41-0vs Kentucky	2	1	1.0	1.0	—
Total		39	17	7.0	6.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

39Tackles

17Solo

7TFL

6Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

39 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 7 TFL.

Week 21 sack
Week 61 sack
Week 92 sacks
Week 111 sack
Week 141 sack

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

Louisville

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Louisville

Returning around him

1 Louisville player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -7 net (33 in / 40 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Louisville · Last season: 9-4 (AP #19) · Talent rank #37 · 2026 recruiting class #48

DNA match

Player DNA

3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jacob Busic’s 2022 season.

Jacob Busic

82%match

Navy · 2022

All-AAC

Caden Blum

Air Force · 2023

82%

Linus Zunk

Vanderbilt · 2024

82%

Caleb Okechukwu

Syracuse · 2022

81%

Wesley Bailey

Rutgers · 2023

81%

Matches Jacob on

Sack rate

Weight

TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Amin Vanover's graduate season at Penn State (2024).

Amin Vanover

82%match

Penn State · 2024

JJ Weaver

Kentucky · 2024

82%

Nusi Malani

Washington State · 2024

80%

Jared Harrison-Hunte

SMU · 2024

All-ACC

78%

TJ Guy

Michigan · 2025

74%

Matches Amin on

Weight

Sack rate

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Wesley Bailey

Deamontae Diggs

Coastal Carolina · 2024

87%

Beau Atkinson

Ohio State · 2025

86%

Shawn Collins

App State · 2024

85%

Elijah O'Neal

Arizona State · 2024

85%

Terrell Dawkins

North Texas · 2024

83%

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

2020

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

Players who play like Wesley Bailey