Matt Kingsbury
Minnesota Golden Gophers
86
Great

Matt Kingsbury

Minnesota Golden GophersSolid
WLBDefenseGreat
Projected Starter

Is Matt Kingsbury starting?

Matt Kingsbury is the projected starter at WLB for Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Matt Kingsbury is the projected starting WLB on a Solid Minnesota — 86 OVR.

See full Minnesota Golden Gophers depth chart ›

Depth at WLB · Minnesota Golden Gophers

  1. 14986Matt KingsburyStarter
  2. 2278Emmanuel Karmo
  3. 33565Nate Cleveland
  4. 44663Mason Carrier

What's Next

Who do they play next?Dwight Nunoo — vs Akron · Sat, Sep 19Who's the backup?Emmanuel Karmo — No. 2 at WLB for MinnesotaHow do they compare?Pick an opponent for Minnesota Golden Gophers

The Story

Making His Case

A 3-star recruit out of St. Rita, ranked #1,293 nationally coming out of high school. In 2025: 34 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 2.5 sacks. That's 5% of the team's production at his spot and 81th-percentile production nationally — good for a 86 overall (Great tier).

Recruit3★ · #1,293 Natl2-Yr Total37 tackles · 2.5 sacksTeam Share5%Percentile81th
Chicago, IL
Jersey
#49
Class
RS JR
Height
6'3"
Weight
235 lbs

Career Stats

SeasonTklTFLSacks
2025344.52.5
2024300

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

Recruiting Profile

Stars
★★★☆☆3-star
Composite
0.8542
National Rank
#1293
High School
St. Rita
Hometown
Chicago, IL

Why this rating?

On a 84-rated defense; 81th-percentile production (×0.94 for competition level) put them +2 vs unit starters → 86.

Team defense (SP+)
84
Rating basis
On-field stats
On-field production
Outperforms 81% of peers
Recruiting pedigree
Top 50% recruit
Strength of schedule
Faces easier competition — rating adjusted down (×0.94)
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

Sep 12LMSSTTKL 5
TKL
5
SOLO
4
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
0

Final L 38-13

Sep 4WEIUTKL 2
TKL
2
SOLO
2
SACK
0
INT
0
PD
2

Final W 59-7

Matt Kingsbury's 2026 game-by-game stat log.

The People's Ratings

Is our 86 OVR fair?
86
Great
Vote to see what thousands of fans think

Team Role

34 tkl · 4.5 TFL · 2.5 sacks
Usage / Involvement45%
Coach MinnesotaTake them from week one to the natty. You call every play.

Overall ratings blend team strength (SP+), on-field production, and recruiting. Higher = more impactful.