Zakee Wheatley
Zakee Wheatley
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. He has spent five seasons in the Penn State secondary. The receipt: 12 tackles, 1 TFL against UCLA — Week 6, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- positional archetype classification
- seasons on the roster
- game log
How it ended
Five seasons at Penn State, 210 tackles — drafted at #151 overall by Carolina.
Career Arc
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under James Franklin.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Carolina2026 NFL rookie season
2025 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
Splits & context
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Campbell
Awards
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Tackle volume for the position among the most productive regulars.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Penn State | 74 | 51 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| 2024 | Penn State | 86 | 53 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 4 | 3 | -- |
| 2023 | Penn State | 24 | 14 | 0.5 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Penn State | 24 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 | -- |
| 2021 | Penn State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 210 | 139 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 6 | 6 | -- |
How he plays
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
CFB Index positional classification
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.
Matches Cecil on
Differs from Cecil on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Isaac Gifford's graduate season at Nebraska (2024).
Matches Isaac on