Usage / Role
58%
Regular defensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2016Michigan State
Montae Nicholson
S • 6'2" • Monroeville, PA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Montae Nicholson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 34.5 disruption score.
Impact Production
75
High-end production for a safety
lowelite
Reliability
62
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
87
Elite ceiling indicators
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Michigan State
141516
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Michigan State
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
Player Story
Montae Nicholson built his college career from 2014 through 2016 as a safety from Monroeville, PA wearing No. 9, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Montae Nicholson's career was his defensive...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Michigan State
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2017
- Selection
- Round 4 · Pick 17
- Overall
- No. 123
- NFL Team
- Washington
Montae Nicholson, S. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Michigan State. Montae Nicholson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 34.5 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 86
- TFL
- 2
- Passes defended
- 2
Quick Answers
Montae Nicholson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Michigan State · S
- Career Tackles
- 86
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 3 entries · 15 games
- Best season
- 2016 Regular Season · Michigan State
- Top game
- Northwestern
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Gateway · Michigan State
- High school pipeline
- Gateway · 24 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2017 · Round 4 · Pick 17 · Washington
- Latest roster
- No. 9 · Class 2016
- 2016 Tackles rank
- 86 tackles · S 17th (top 5%) · Big Ten 20th (top 4%) · National 158th (top 3%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Michigan State | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2015 Regular Season | Michigan State | 4 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 49.1 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Michigan State | 11 | 86 | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 51.1 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Montae Nicholson
Montae Nicholson played S for Michigan State. Across 3 tracked seasons, Montae Nicholson recorded 86 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Michigan State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Regular Season
Michigan State paired 5 primary output with 34.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
2016 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 34.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2016 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 90.9th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2016 Regular Season · Michigan State
Games
11
Havoc Plays / G
0.5
Efficiency
34.5
Usage
6.9
Consistency
12.1
Best Game by takeover score
Northwestern
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Furman: 2. Notre Dame: 0. Wisconsin: 0. Indiana: 0. BYU: 1. Northwestern: 1. Maryland: 0. Michigan: 0. Rutgers: 1. Ohio State: 0. Penn State: 0
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Furman: 6 by 45. Notre Dame: 3 by 12.5. Wisconsin: 10 by 41.7. Indiana: 5 by 20.8. BYU: 17 by 60. Northwestern: 13 by 60. Maryland: 3 by 12.5. Michigan: 4 by 16.7. Rutgers: 4 by 26.7. Ohio State: 13 by 50. Penn State: 8 by 33.3
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins1 · Games = 3 · +0.8 vs Losses
Losses0.3 · Games = 8 · -0.8 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
11 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Northwestern
Best efficiency game
60 vs Northwestern
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 11/26 | @ Penn State | L 12-45 | 8 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/19 | vs Ohio State10+ tackles | L 16-17 | 13 | 7 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/12 | vs Rutgers | W 49-0 | 4 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/29 | vs Michigan | L 23-32 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/22 | @ Maryland | L 17-28 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/15 | vs Northwestern10+ tackles | L 40-54 | 13 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/8 | vs BYU10+ tackles | L 14-31 | 17 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 10/2 | @ Indiana | L 21-24 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/24 | vs Wisconsin10+ tackles | L 6-30 | 10 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/17 | @ Notre Dame | W 36-28 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Fri 9/2 | vs FurmanSplash game | W 28-13 | 6 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
Player Story
Montae Nicholson story
Montae Nicholson built his college career from 2014 through 2016 as a safety from Monroeville, PA wearing No. 9, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Montae Nicholson's career was his defensive production: 86 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 4 interceptions, and 2 passes defended across 15 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Michigan State. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Montae Nicholson's production has multiple signals. His career also includes 17 return yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 15 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Michigan State.
The arc is straightforward: Montae Nicholson moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Michigan State
2014-2016
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
201420152016
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Michigan State | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 Regular Season | Michigan State | 3 | 15 | — | 3 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Michigan State | 5 | 34.5 | 6.9 | 2 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Northwestern
Week 7 · L 40-54 · Conference game
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1
Havoc Plays
70 takeover
1 disruption/tackle impact with 70 takeover score.
#2
vs BYU
Week 6 · L 14-31
1
Havoc Plays
70 takeover
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 70 takeover score.
#3
vs Furman
Week 1 · W 28-13
2
Havoc Plays
60.8 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 60.8 takeover score.
#4
vs Maryland
Week 11 · W 24-7 · Conference game
1
Havoc Plays
60 takeover
Win with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 60 takeover score.
#5
vs Oregon
Week 2 · W 31-28
1
Havoc Plays
60 takeover
Win with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 60 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Regular Season · Michigan State
5 primary output · 34.5 efficiency · 6.9 usage
51.1
#2
2015 Regular Season · Michigan State
49.1
3 primary · 15 efficiency · — usage
#3
2014 Regular Season · Michigan State
—
0 primary · — efficiency · — usage
Milestones
6
Impact games
1
Splash games
4
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Montae Nicholson
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