5′11″ · 193 lb · Cleveland, OH · Glenville
Erik Simpson: S · Kent State · #13.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Erik Simpson
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. He has spent two seasons in the Kent State secondary. A game that shows it: 5 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against Marshall — Week 3, 2017.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
21 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 TFL.
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.
No outlet on our list has written about him by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Kent State | 21 | 15 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 |
| 2016 | Kent State | -- | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 |
| Career | 21 | 15 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 10 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 3-56@ No. 5 Clemson | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-31vs Howard | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 0-21@ Marshall | 5 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 4 | L 3-42@ No. 19 Louisville | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-27vs Buffalo | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 3-24@ Northern Illinois | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 16-44vs Bowling Green | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 20-48@ Western Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-42vs Central Michigan | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 14-24@ Akron | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 21 | 15 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
5%1 pass breakupsTackle volume
21tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%2 TFL21 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 1 pass breakup.
2 seasons under Paul Haynes, all run-heavy offenses — 5-19 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 2.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.7 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Paul Haynes
Pass share
31.2%
234 pass / 515 run
Plays / game
62.4
12 games
Team sack rate
15.5%
290 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2017
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
How it ended
Two seasons at Kent State, 21 tackles — his college career is complete.
His career
Coaching lineage · 2014–2018
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Paul Haynes → Sean Lewis. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
