Usage / Role
28%
Rotational defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2017-2021Virginia
Brenton Nelson
S • 5'11" • 180 lbs • Miami, FL, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Brenton Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with partial disruption data.
Impact Production
42
Developing production for a safety
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
38
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2017 Postseason · Virginia
17171818192021
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 5
- Program Path
- Virginia
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: UConn
Player Story
Brenton Nelson built his college career from 2017 through 2021 as a safety from Miami, FL wearing No. 28, spending time with Virginia. The clearest part of Brenton Nelson's career was his defensive production: 136...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Virginia
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2017
Brenton Nelson, S. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2017 Postseason · Virginia. Brenton Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with partial disruption data.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 136
- TFL
- 8
- Passes defended
- 16
Quick Answers
Brenton Nelson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Virginia · S
- Career Tackles
- 136
- Tracked sample
- 5 unique seasons · 7 entries · 36 games
- Best season
- 2017 Postseason · Virginia
- Top game
- UConn
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Buena Park · Virginia
- High school pipeline
- Memorial · 37 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- Latest roster
- No. 28 · Senior
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Postseason | Virginia | 12 | 6 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 56.1 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Virginia | 12 | 58 | 2 | 0 | - | 6 | 0 | 56.1 |
| 2018 Postseason | Virginia | 12 | 4 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 51 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Virginia | 12 | 37 | 1.5 | 0 | - | 8 | 0 | 51 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Virginia | 8 | 19 | 1 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 22.2 |
| 2020 Regular Season | Virginia | 4 | 12 | 3.5 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 51.1 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Virginia | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
Related Context
Keep exploring Brenton Nelson
Brenton Nelson played S for Virginia. Across 5 tracked seasons, Brenton Nelson recorded 136 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2017 with Virginia.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2017 Postseason
Virginia paired 12 primary output with 32.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2017 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 32.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value cooled off
2021 Regular Season fell back from the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: UConn
Win with 3 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.
2017 Postseason · Virginia
Games
12
Havoc Plays / G
1
Efficiency
32.2
Usage
6.1
Consistency
41.7
Best Game by takeover score
UConn
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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. Navy: 0. Indiana: 0. UConn: 3. Boise State: 3. Duke: 0. North Carolina: 2. Boston College: 0.5. Pittsburgh: 0. Georgia Tech: 1.5. Louisville: 0. Miami: 1. Virginia Tech: 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. Navy: 6 by 25. Indiana: 6 by 25. UConn: 8 by 63.3. Boise State: 5 by 50.8. Duke: 5 by 20.8. North Carolina: 4 by 36.7. Boston College: 11 by 50.8. Pittsburgh: 6 by 25. Georgia Tech: 3 by 27.5. Louisville: 4 by 16.7. Miami: 1 by 14.2. Virginia Tech: 5 by 30.8
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins1.9 · Games = 5 · +1.5 vs Losses
Losses0.4 · Games = 7 · -1.5 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
UConn
Best efficiency game
63.3 vs UConn
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 12/28 | @ Navy | L 7-49 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/25 | vs Virginia Tech | L 0-10 | 5 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/18 | @ Miami | L 28-44 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/11 | @ Louisville | L 21-38 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/4 | vs Georgia Tech | W 40-36 | 3 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | @ Pittsburgh | L 14-31 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/21 | vs Boston College10+ tackles | L 10-41 | 11 | 4 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/14 | @ North CarolinaSplash game | W 20-14 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/7 | vs Duke | W 28-21 | 5 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/23 | @ Boise StateSplash game | W 42-23 | 5 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/16 | vs UConnSplash game | W 38-18 | 8 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | — | — |
| Sat 9/9 | vs Indiana | L 17-34 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Brenton Nelson story
Brenton Nelson built his college career from 2017 through 2021 as a safety from Miami, FL wearing No. 28, spending time with Virginia. The clearest part of Brenton Nelson's career was his defensive production: 136 tackles, 8 tackles for loss, 8 interceptions, and 16 passes defended across 36 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2017 with Virginia. 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 Brenton 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 Virginia.
The arc is straightforward: Brenton 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
Virginia
2017-2021
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2017201720182018201920202021
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 Postseason | Virginia | 12 | 32.2 | 6.1 | — |
| 2017 Regular Season | Virginia | 12 | 32.2 | 6.1 | 0 |
| 2018 Postseason | Virginia | 10.5 | 23 | 4.6 | -1.5 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Virginia | 10.5 | 23 | 4.6 | 0 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Virginia | 4 | 14.9 | 3.4 | -6.5 |
| 2020 Regular Season | Virginia | 5.5 | 26.2 | 9.4 | 1.5 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Virginia | 0 | — | — | -5.5 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs UConn
Week 3 · W 38-18
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3
Havoc Plays
83.9 takeover
3 disruption/tackle impact with 83.9 takeover score.
#2
@ Boise State
Week 4 · W 42-23
3
Havoc Plays
83.6 takeover
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 83.6 takeover score.
#3
@ Georgia Tech
Week 12 · L 27-30 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
77.5 takeover
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 77.5 takeover score.
#4
vs Richmond
Week 1 · W 42-13
2
Havoc Plays
75.6 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 75.6 takeover score.
#5
vs Duke
Week 4 · W 38-20 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
75.5 takeover
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 75.5 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2017 Postseason · Virginia
12 primary output · 32.2 efficiency · 6.1 usage
56.1
#2
2017 Regular Season · Virginia
56.1
12 primary · 32.2 efficiency · 6.1 usage
#3
2020 Regular Season · Virginia
51.1
5.5 primary · 26.2 efficiency · 9.4 usage
Milestones
6
Impact games
8
Splash games
1
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Brenton Nelson
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