Usage Score
3.7
Player Dossier
2014-2018Iowa
Matt Nelson
DE • 6'8" • 295 lbs • Cedar Rapids, IA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Matt Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.3 disruption score.
Efficiency
18.3
Consistency
58.1
Season Value
25.2
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason · Iowa
14151617171818
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Seasons Tracked
- 7
- Program Path
- Iowa
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Rutgers
Scouting Read
Best season and peak-game context are pinned here so the rest of the page can stay analytical without losing the headline story.
Matt Nelson, DE. Best season Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason · Iowa. Matt Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.3 disruption score.
Matt Nelson played DE for Iowa. Across 5 tracked seasons, Matt Nelson recorded 96 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Iowa.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason
Iowa paired 9 primary output with 18.3 efficiency.
Supporting note
2018 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 18.3 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2018 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Iowa State
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 100th 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.
2018 Postseason · Iowa
Games
12
Havoc Plays / G
0.8
Efficiency
18.3
Usage
3.7
Consistency
58.1
Best Game by takeover score
Mississippi State
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
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. Mississippi State: 0.5. Northern Illinois: 1. Iowa State: 2. Unknown: 0. Wisconsin: 0. Minnesota: 0. Indiana: 1. Maryland: 1. Penn State: 1.5. Purdue: 0. Northwestern: 1. Nebraska: 1
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. Mississippi State: 4 by 21.7. Northern Illinois: 4 by 26.7. Iowa State: 3 by 32.5. Unknown: 1 by 4.2. Wisconsin: 1 by 4.2. Minnesota: 2 by 8.3. Indiana: 1 by 14.2. Maryland: 1 by 14.2. Penn State: 6 by 40. Purdue: 3 by 12.5. Northwestern: 2 by 18.3. Nebraska: 3 by 22.5
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0.9 · Games = 7 · +0.3 vs Losses
Losses0.6 · Games = 4 · -0.3 vs Wins
First Half0.6 · Games = 6 · -0.3 vs Second Half
Second Half0.9 · Games = 6 · +0.3 vs First Half
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Iowa State
Best efficiency game
40 vs Penn State
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 1/1 | vs Mississippi State | W 27-22 | 4 | 1 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Fri 11/23 | vs Nebraska | W 31-28 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/10 | vs Northwestern | L 10-14 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/3 | @ Purdue | L 36-38 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/27 | @ Penn State | L 24-30 | 6 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/20 | vs Maryland | W 23-0 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/13 | @ Indiana | W 42-16 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/6 | @ Minnesota | W 48-31 | 2 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 9/23 | vs Wisconsin | L 17-28 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/15 | vs Unknown | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/8 | vs Iowa State | W 13-3 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/1 | vs Northern Illinois | W 33-7 | 4 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Iowa
2014-2018
Opening stop
Season Progression
2014201520162017201720182018
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Iowa | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 Regular Season | Iowa | 0 | — | — | 0 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Iowa | 11 | 23.7 | 7.8 | 11 |
| 2017 Postseason | Iowa | 6 | 13 | 2.9 | -5 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Iowa | 6 | 13 | 2.9 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | Iowa | 9 | 18.3 | 3.7 | 3 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Iowa | 9 | 18.3 | 3.7 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
Rutgers
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5
Primary metric
5 disruption/tackle impact with 66.5 takeover score.
#2
Northwestern
2
Primary metric
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 51.2 takeover score.
#3
Iowa State
2
Primary metric
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 49.1 takeover score.
#4
Penn State
1.5
Primary metric
Loss with 1.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1.5 disruption/tackle impact with 40.9 takeover score.
#5
Unknown
2
Primary metric
Game with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 32.7 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by value score
2018 Postseason · Iowa
9 primary output · 18.3 efficiency · 3.7 usage
25.2
#2
2018 Regular Season · Iowa
25.2
9 primary · 18.3 efficiency · 3.7 usage
#3
2016 Regular Season · Iowa
17.1
11 primary · 23.7 efficiency · 7.8 usage
Milestones
1
Impact games
1
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Bio, Recruit, and Data Context
Recruit Profile
3★
Class 2014 · Rating 0.8647
Xavier · Cedar Rapids, IA
- Committed To
- Iowa
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
Career Facts
1
Career teams
7
Seasons tracked
96
Career Tackles
Data Context
Coverage spans 7 tracked seasons, 36 games, and base opponent context only. Derived metrics fall back to raw production when share or rating context is missing.