Usage / Role
60%
Regular defensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2018-2020Syracuse
Ifeatu Melifonwu
DB • 6'3" • 213 lbs • South Grafton, MA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Ifeatu Melifonwu shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 35.5 disruption score.
Impact Production
88
Top-tier box-score impact for a defensive back
lowelite
Reliability
67
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
90
Blue-chip, NFL-level ceiling
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2020 Regular Season · Syracuse
18181920
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Syracuse
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: NC State
Player Story
Ifeatu Melifonwu built his college career from 2018 through 2020 as a defensive back from South Grafton, MA wearing No. 2, spending time with Syracuse. The clearest part of Ifeatu Melifonwu's career was his defensive...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Syracuse
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2017
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2021
- Selection
- Round 3 · Pick 38
- Overall
- No. 101
- NFL Team
- Detroit Lions
Ifeatu Melifonwu, DB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2020 Regular Season · Syracuse. Ifeatu Melifonwu shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 35.5 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 88
- TFL
- 5
- Sacks
- 1
- Passes defended
- 21
Quick Answers
Ifeatu Melifonwu quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Syracuse · DB
- Career Tackles
- 88
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 4 entries · 24 games
- Best season
- 2020 Regular Season · Syracuse
- Top game
- NC State
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Grafton Memorial Senior · Syracuse
- High school pipeline
- Grafton Memorial Senior · 2 FBS recruits · 2 drafted players
- NFL Draft
- 2021 · Round 3 · Pick 38 · Detroit Lions
- Latest roster
- No. 2 · Junior
- 2020 Tackles rank
- 54 tackles · DB 47th (top 6%) · ACC 36th (top 6%) · National 244th (top 5%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Postseason | Syracuse | 5 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 29.6 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Syracuse | 5 | 14 | 1 | 0 | - | 6 | 0 | 29.6 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Syracuse | 9 | 20 | 1 | 0 | - | 7 | 0 | 45.5 |
| 2020 Regular Season | Syracuse | 10 | 54 | 3 | 1 | - | 8 | 0 | 56.4 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Ifeatu Melifonwu
Ifeatu Melifonwu played DB for Syracuse. Across 3 tracked seasons, Ifeatu Melifonwu recorded 88 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2020 with Syracuse.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2020 Regular Season
Syracuse paired 13 primary output with 35.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
2020 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 35.5 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value is trending up
2020 Regular Season improved on the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: NC State
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
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Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2020 Regular Season · Syracuse
Games
10
Havoc Plays / G
1.3
Efficiency
35.5
Usage
5.5
Consistency
44.1
Best Game by takeover score
NC 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. North Carolina: 2. Pittsburgh: 0. Georgia Tech: 0. Duke: 1. Clemson: 2. Wake Forest: 1. Boston College: 0. Louisville: 3. NC State: 3. Notre Dame: 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. North Carolina: 5 by 40.8. Pittsburgh: 3 by 12.5. Georgia Tech: 4 by 16.7. Duke: 6 by 35. Clemson: 6 by 45. Wake Forest: 3 by 22.5. Boston College: 6 by 25. Louisville: 7 by 59.2. NC State: 7 by 59.2. Notre Dame: 7 by 39.2
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0 · Games = 1 · -1.4 vs Losses
Losses1.4 · Games = 9 · +1.4 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
10 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
NC State
Best efficiency game
59.2 vs NC State
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/5 | @ Notre Dame | L 21-45 | 7 | 7 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/28 | vs NC StateSplash game | L 29-36 | 7 | 6 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/21 | @ LouisvilleSplash game | L 0-30 | 7 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/7 | vs Boston College | L 13-16 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/31 | vs Wake Forest | L 14-38 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 10/24 | @ ClemsonSplash game | L 21-47 | 6 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
| Sat 10/10 | vs Duke | L 24-38 | 6 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/26 | vs Georgia Tech | W 37-20 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/19 | @ Pittsburgh | L 10-21 | 3 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/12 | @ North CarolinaSplash game | L 6-31 | 5 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
Player Story
Ifeatu Melifonwu story
Ifeatu Melifonwu built his college career from 2018 through 2020 as a defensive back from South Grafton, MA wearing No. 2, spending time with Syracuse. The clearest part of Ifeatu Melifonwu's career was his defensive production: 88 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 3 interceptions across 24 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2020 with Syracuse. 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 Ifeatu Melifonwu's production has multiple signals. With 24 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Syracuse.
The arc is straightforward: Ifeatu Melifonwu 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
Syracuse
2018-2020
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2018201820192020
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Postseason | Syracuse | 7 | 25.7 | 3.1 | — |
| 2018 Regular Season | Syracuse | 7 | 25.7 | 3.1 | 0 |
| 2019 Regular Season | Syracuse | 10 | 20.4 | 3.5 | 3 |
| 2020 Regular Season | Syracuse | 13 | 35.5 | 5.5 | 3 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs NC State
Week 13 · L 29-36 · Conference game
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3
Havoc Plays
84.5 takeover
3 disruption/tackle impact with 84.5 takeover score.
#2
@ Louisville
Week 12 · L 0-30 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
83.1 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 83.1 takeover score.
#3
vs North Carolina
Week 8 · W 40-37 · Conference game
5
Havoc Plays
74.2 takeover
Win with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 74.2 takeover score.
#4
vs Wake Forest
Week 14 · W 39-30 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
72.5 takeover
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 72.5 takeover score.
#5
@ Notre Dame
Week 14 · L 21-45
1
Havoc Plays
54.4 takeover
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 54.4 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2020 Regular Season · Syracuse
13 primary output · 35.5 efficiency · 5.5 usage
56.4
#2
2019 Regular Season · Syracuse
45.5
10 primary · 20.4 efficiency · 3.5 usage
#3
2018 Postseason · Syracuse
29.6
7 primary · 25.7 efficiency · 3.1 usage
Milestones
4
Impact games
9
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
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