Xavier Nwankpa

Senior defensive back for Iowa. 2025: 1 interception, 76 tackles.

DB · Iowa · Sr. · #1

6′2″ · 213 lb · Pleasant Hill, IA

CFB Index 56 · #217 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Iowa for 2026

How he plays

Plays like an extra linebacker near the line.

Solo tackles: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

interception · 2025

76 tackles · 1 TFL

Best game: 1 INT, 10 tackles, vs Penn State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back for Iowa. 2025: 1 interception, 76 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Iowa in 2022.
1 interception in 2023. Then 1 in 2025.

His career, year by year

Xavier Nwankpa

DB · Iowa · Sr · #1

Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. He has spent four seasons in the Iowa secondary. 2025 brought the first one: All-Big Ten. The receipt: 8 tackles against USC — Week 12, 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 Kirk Ferentz — 35-18 over that span.

2022Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2025Iowa9-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

56Quality starter #217 of 544?

Medium confidenceAscending7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (97th percentile). Strength: tackles (93rd percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#77 / 2975 · 97th pct

Tackles#192 / 2975 · 93rd pct

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct

1.0

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	5.6	0.1	0.0	0.0
Road6g	6.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.9	0.0	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	7.0	0.2	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

56 · #217 of 544 safeties

Former four-star. Now #217 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot to repeat All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #35 of 77 Big Ten DBs

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	Iowa	76	50	1.0	0.0	--	1	--
2024	Iowa	41	29	0.0	0.0	1	--	--
2023	Iowa	42	27	2.0	1.0	2	1	--
2022	Iowa	4	4	0.0	0.0	1	1	--
Career		163	110	3.0	1.0	4	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 34–27

at Vanderbilt

7 TOT · 3 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With M. Gronowski — 212 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 79.5 · 54 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · R. Dakin — 49 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 51 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 34-7vs UAlbany	3	2	0.0	—
Wk 2	L 13-16@ Iowa State	7	3	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 47-7vs Massachusetts	1	1	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 38-28@ Rutgers	7	3	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 15-20vs Indiana	6	5	0.0	—
Wk 7	W 37-0@ Wisconsin	3	1	0.0	—
Wk 8	W 25-24vs Penn State	10	7	0.0	1	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 9	W 41-3vs Minnesota	6	5	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 16-18vs Oregon	8	3	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 21-26@ USC	8	8	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 20-17vs Michigan State	5	5	1.0	—
Wk 14	W 40-16@ Nebraska	5	4	0.0	—
Bowl	W 34-27@ Vanderbilt	7	3	0.0	—
Total		76	50	1.0	1

How he plays

Play style

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

13 games

76Tackles

50Solo

1TFL

0Sacks

0Pass def.

1INT

76 tackles. 0 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 1 TFL.

Week 81 INT

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

Iowa

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Iowa

Returning around him

7 Iowa players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +7 net (15 in / 8 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Iowa · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #44 · 2026 recruiting class #26

DNA match

Player DNA

Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Cecil Singleton’s 2023 season.

Cecil Singleton

86%match

Louisiana Tech · 2023

Nate Thompson

Akron · 2022

85%

Chris Edmonds

Arizona State · 2023

81%

Beau Freyler

Iowa State · 2022

80%

DQ Smith

South Carolina · 2023

80%

Matches Cecil on

Tackle volume

Interceptions

PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Cecil Singleton's senior season at Louisiana Tech (2023).

Cecil Singleton

93%match

Louisiana Tech · 2023

Adonis Williams Jr.

Ohio · 2025

87%

Wesley Bissainthe

Miami · 2025

All-ACC

85%

Yvandy Rigby

Temple · 2023

83%

Nic Mitchell

Mississippi State · 2024

83%

Matches Cecil on

Class year

Height

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Xavier Nwankpa

Jay Jones

Southern Miss · 2024

83%

D'Marco Augustin

South Florida · 2024

83%

Antonio Stevens

Purdue · 2024

82%

Tyree Skipper

Louisiana · 2024

82%

Xavier Williams

Cincinnati · 2025

79%

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

Xavier Nwankpa

20225 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Box Safety

Players who play like Xavier Nwankpa