William Whitlow Jr.

Senior defensive lineman for Memphis. 2025: 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 31 tackles.

DL · Memphis · Sr. · #9

6′2″ · 260 lb · Millbrook, AL

CFB Index 62 · #140 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamReturning to Memphis for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Passes defended: 91st percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

2.5

sacks · 2025

5.5 TFL · 31 tackles · 2 hurries

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 1 tackles, vs Tulane

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Memphis. 2025: 2.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 31 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Memphis in 2021.

His career, year by year

William Whitlow Jr.

DL · Memphis · Sr · #9

Wins his gap play after play. He has spent four seasons in the Memphis defensive front. His first career honor landed in 2025: All-AAC. One game to point at: 7 tackles, 1 TFL against Georgia State — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Ryan Silverfield — 36-16 over that span.

2022Memphis7-6HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2023Memphis10-3HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2024Memphis11-2HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2025Memphis8-5HC: Ryan Silverfield · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

62Quality starter #140 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (91st percentile). Strength: sacks (85th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct

Sacks#389 / 2975 · 85th pct

2.5

Tackles for loss#477 / 2975 · 83rd pct

5.5

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th pct

Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th 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
Home6g	1.8	0.5	0.2	0.5
Road6g	3.3	0.4	0.2	0.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.9	0.6	0.1	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	2.2	0.3	0.3	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Charles Huff

Pass share

38.2%

66 pass / 107 run

Plays / game

57.7

3 games

Team sack rate

5.2%

77 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

62 · #140 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #140 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot to repeat All-AAC

Based on 2025: #12 of 53 American Athletic DLs

How the All-AAC 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	Memphis	31	17	5.5	2.5	5	--	--
2024	Memphis	24	14	7.5	4.5	1	--	--
2023	Memphis	16	8	3.5	2.0	--	--	--
2022	Memphis	27	14	4.5	3.0	--	--	--
Career		98	53	21.0	12.0	6	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 9 · 2025

W 34–31

vs South Florida

1 PD

Edged out South Florida at home in a shootout.

With B. Lewis — 307 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 58.0 · 35 rush yds (11 car) · L. Carrigan — 40 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 49 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 45-10vs Chattanooga	4	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 38-16@ Georgia State	7	5	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 3	W 28-7@ Troy	4	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 32-31vs Arkansas	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 55-26@ Florida Atlantic	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	W 45-7vs Tulsa	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 8	L 24-31@ UAB	2	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 9	W 34-31vs South Florida	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	L 32-38vs Tulane	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 27-31@ East Carolina	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 17-28vs Navy	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 7-31@ NC State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Total		31	17	5.5	2.5	—	5

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

31Tackles

17Solo

5.5TFL

2.5Sacks

5Pass def.

0INT

31 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 TFL.

Week 11 PD
Week 31 sack
Week 51 PD
Week 61 PD
Week 80.5 sacks
Week 91 PD
Week 111 sack · 1 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

Memphis

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Memphis

Returning around him

1 Memphis player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +4 net (51 in / 47 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Memphis · Last season: 8-5 (AP #22) · Talent rank #67 · 2026 recruiting class #72

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Junior Tuihalamaka’s 2024 season.

Junior Tuihalamaka

88%match

Notre Dame · 2024

Antoine Baylis

Louisiana · 2024

85%

Davin Anderson

UL Monroe · 2024

84%

William Whitlow Jr.

Memphis · 2022

83%

Stephen Daley

Kent State · 2024

83%

Matches Junior on

TFL rate

Weight

Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Trace Ford's senior season at Oklahoma (2024).

Trace Ford

84%match

Oklahoma · 2024

Kydran Jenkins

Purdue · 2024

All-Big Ten

84%

Quentin Wilfawn

South Alabama · 2023

All-Sun Belt

83%

Andrew Edson

Washington State · 2024

83%

Leon Lowery

Syracuse · 2023

82%

Matches Trace on

Class year

TFL rate

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like William Whitlow Jr.

Justin Wodtly

Cincinnati · 2022

92%

Owen Ostroski

Tulsa · 2022

86%

Deshon Hall

Louisiana Tech · 2023

86%

Mikail Kamara

Indiana · 2024

85%

Tony Anyanwu

Rice · 2025

85%

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

2021

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like William Whitlow Jr.