Usage / Role
46%
Rotational defensive role
lowfeatured
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 19.9 disruption score.
Impact Production
48
Developing production for an edge defender
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
42
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Iowa
14151617171818
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- Iowa
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Rutgers
Player Story
Matt Nelson built his college career from 2014 through 2018 as a defensive end from Cedar Rapids, IA wearing No. 96, spending time with Iowa. The clearest part of Matt Nelson's career was his defensive production: 96...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Iowa
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2014
Matt Nelson, DE. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Iowa. Matt Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 19.9 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 96
- TFL
- 10
- Sacks
- 7
- QB hurries
- 4
- Passes defended
- 9
Quick Answers
Matt Nelson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Iowa · DE
- Career Tackles
- 96
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 7 entries · 36 games
- Best season
- 2018 Postseason · Iowa
- Top game
- Rutgers
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Xavier · Iowa
- High school pipeline
- Xavier · 4 FBS recruits · 0 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 96 · Senior
- 2018 Tackles rank
- 31 tackles · DE 96th (top 30%) · Big Ten 142nd (top 23%) · National 1,349th (top 24%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Iowa | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2015 Regular Season | Iowa | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2016 Regular Season | Iowa | 12 | 42 | 6 | 5 | - | - | 0 | 49 |
| 2017 Postseason | Iowa | 12 | 5 | - | 0 | 1 | - | 0 | 42.1 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Iowa | 12 | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 42.1 |
| 2018 Postseason | Iowa | 12 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 52.7 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Iowa | 12 | 27 | 1.5 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 52.7 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Matt Nelson
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 11 primary output with 19.9 efficiency.
Supporting note
2018 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 19.9 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: Penn State
Loss with 2.5 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
0.9
Efficiency
19.9
Usage
4.2
Consistency
55.7
Best Game by takeover score
Penn State
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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. Mississippi State: 0.5. Northern Illinois: 1. Iowa State: 2. Northern Iowa: 0. Wisconsin: 0. Minnesota: 0. Indiana: 1. Maryland: 1. Penn State: 2.5. Purdue: 0. Northwestern: 2. 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. Northern Iowa: 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 50. Purdue: 3 by 12.5. Northwestern: 2 by 28.3. 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.
Wins0.8 · Games = 8 · -0.3 vs Losses
Losses1.1 · Games = 4 · +0.3 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Penn State
Best efficiency game
50 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 NorthwesternSplash game | L 10-14 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/3 | @ Purdue | L 36-38 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/27 | @ Penn StateSplash game | 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 Northern Iowa | W 38-14 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/8 | vs Iowa StateSplash game | W 13-3 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/1 | vs Northern Illinois | W 33-7 | 4 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
Player Story
Matt Nelson story
Matt Nelson built his college career from 2014 through 2018 as a defensive end from Cedar Rapids, IA wearing No. 96, spending time with Iowa. The clearest part of Matt Nelson's career was his defensive production: 96 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, 7 sacks, and 9 passes defended across 36 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Iowa. 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 Matt Nelson's production has multiple signals. With 36 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Iowa.
The arc is straightforward: Matt Nelson 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
Iowa
2014-2018
Opening stop
Season Value 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 | 7.3 | 11 |
| 2017 Postseason | Iowa | 8 | 14.7 | 3.2 | -3 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Iowa | 8 | 14.7 | 3.2 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | Iowa | 11 | 19.9 | 4.2 | 3 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Iowa | 11 | 19.9 | 4.2 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Rutgers
Week 4 · W 14-7 · Conference game
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5
Havoc Plays
91.7 takeover
5 disruption/tackle impact with 91.7 takeover score.
#2
@ Penn State
Week 9 · L 24-30 · Conference game
2.5
Havoc Plays
81.1 takeover
Loss with 2.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2.5 disruption/tackle impact with 81.1 takeover score.
#3
@ Northwestern
Week 8 · L 10-17 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
72.5 takeover
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 72.5 takeover score.
#4
vs Iowa State
Week 2 · W 13-3
2
Havoc Plays
70.8 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 70.8 takeover score.
#5
vs North Dakota State
Week 3 · L 21-23
2
Havoc Plays
60.3 takeover
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 60.3 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2018 Postseason · Iowa
11 primary output · 19.9 efficiency · 4.2 usage
52.7
#2
2018 Regular Season · Iowa
52.7
11 primary · 19.9 efficiency · 4.2 usage
#3
2016 Regular Season · Iowa
49
11 primary · 23.7 efficiency · 7.3 usage
Milestones
5
Impact games
8
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Matt Nelson
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