Derek McDonald
North Carolina Tar Heels
80
Good

Derek McDonald

North Carolina Tar HeelsAverage
MLBDefenseGoodTRANSFER · Syracuse
Projected Starter

Is Derek McDonald starting?

Derek McDonald is the projected starter at MLB for North Carolina Tar Heels.

Graduate student · #15 · 6'4", 240 lbs

See full North Carolina Tar Heels depth chart ›
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Depth at MLB · North Carolina Tar Heels

  1. 11580Derek McDonaldStarter
  2. 25471Timir Hickman-Collins

North Carolina Starting Lineup

Full North Carolina depth chart ›

Top linebackers in the ACC

Sammy BrownClemson · WLBAiden HallWake Forest · MLBKendall JohnsonDuke · WLB

Up next for North Carolina

North Carolina plays UConn away on Sat, Nov 7. The listed kickoff time is 12:00 PM ET.

The Story

Making His Case

This season: 6 tackles, 0 TFL, 0 sacks. That's 1% of the team's production at his spot — good for a 80 overall (Good tier).

Team Share1%
Atlanta, GA
Jersey
#15
Class
GR/TR
Height
6'4"
Weight
240 lbs
Transfer
Syracuse

Stats

SeasonTklTFLSacks
—600

Regular-season totals from public sources. Derived splits (completion %, yards per carry, catch rate) aren't available in our current dataset.

Why this rating?

On a 82-rated defense; 34th-percentile production at transfer origin (×0.89 for competition level) put them -2 vs unit starters → 80.

Team defense (SP+)
82
Rating basis
On-field stats
Production (prior school)
Outperforms 34% of peers
Recruiting pedigree
Top 26% recruit
Strength of schedule
Faces easier competition — rating adjusted down (×0.89)
Depth-chart adjustment
-2 for role

2026 projection — based on SP+ (a respected team-efficiency metric; 2026 not published yet, using 2025), 2025 production, recruiting, and the 2026 transfer portal; capped to depth-chart order.

2026 Game Log

Oct 31LMIATKL 11
TKL
11
SOLO
5
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final L 38-35

Oct 24LSYRTKL 16
TKL
16
SOLO
4
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final L 31-30 OT

Oct 17WDUKETKL 7
TKL
7
SOLO
1
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
1

Final W 24-20

Oct 10WPITTTKL 12
TKL
12
SOLO
4
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final W 21-17

Oct 3LNDTKL 13
TKL
13
SOLO
6
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final L 37-26

Sep 19LCLEMTKL 10
TKL
10
SOLO
5
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
1

Final L 28-20

Sep 12WETSUTKL 3
TKL
3
SOLO
1
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final W 35-3

Aug 29WTCUTKL 11
TKL
11
SOLO
4
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final W 15-10

Derek McDonald's 2026 game-by-game stat log.

The People's Ratings

Is our 80 OVR fair?
80
Good
Vote to see what thousands of fans think

Team Role

6 tkl · 0 TFL · 0 sacks
Usage / Involvement100%
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Overall ratings blend team strength (SP+), on-field production, and recruiting. Higher = more impactful.