Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-29vs Idaho State | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 14-16@ Washington | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
#8
David Kabongo
Sophomore safety on Utah State's 2026 roster.
5′11″ · 190 lb · Fort Worth, TX
Transferred Oklahoma State → Utah State for 2026
Recruiting
3★
S recruit
No. 990 nationally · Signed with Oklahoma State
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
2 safety on Utah State's 2026 roster.
- Signed as a 3-star recruit to Oklahoma State in 2024.
- Transferred from Oklahoma State to Utah State in 2026.
David Kabongo
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. David Kabongo has played for three head coaches across three seasons and two programs. The receipt on tape: 8 tackles against Idaho State, Week 1, 2026.
10 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
20246 games
- Signed with Oklahoma State3-star out of Byron Nelson
2026
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coaches2024
Nate Dreiling
Utah State
Coaching transition mid-career: Nate Dreiling → Bronco Mendenhall. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Utah State
2025Oklahoma State
2026Utah State
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Oklahoma State3-9HC: Mike Gundy · Pass-leaning
2025Oklahoma State1-11HC: Doug Meacham · Balanced
2026Utah State0-2HC: Bronco Mendenhall · Balanced, fast tempo
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: qb hurries (83rd percentile). Concern: tackles (10th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
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 splits
Through 2 games: 5.0 TKL/g, 0.5 TFL/g, 0.0 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bronco Mendenhall
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2024
Rotational
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Utah State | 10 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Oklahoma State | 12 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Oklahoma State | 20 | 17 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 42 | 27 | 2.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
DNA match
Player DNA
Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2024 production profile sits closest to James Reed III’s 2023 season.
Matches James on
TFL rate
PD rate
Tackle volume
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a freshman, his production profile tracks closest to Aamii Branch's freshman season at Akron (2025).
Matches Aamii on
Class year
Height
PD rate
Player DNA
Players who play like David Kabongo
The secondary · Utah State
- #4Brevin Hamblin110 tackles · 2025
- Ike Larsen56 tackles · 2025
- #15D'Angelo Mayes40 tackles · 2025
- #34Dylan Tucker34 tackles · 2025
- #8David Kabongo12 tackles · 2025
24 more on the roster · Utah State team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology