Usage / Role
85%
Featured defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2019-2022Duke
Shaka Heyward
LB • 6'3" • 240 lbs • Hoschton, GA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Shaka Heyward shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 45.4 disruption score.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for a linebacker
lowelite
Reliability
81
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
87
Elite ceiling indicators
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2021 Regular Season · Duke
19202122
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Duke
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Charlotte
Player Story
Shaka Heyward built his college career from 2019 through 2022 as a linebacker from Hoschton, GA wearing No. 42, spending time with Duke. The clearest part of Shaka Heyward's career was his defensive production: 337...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Duke
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2018
Shaka Heyward, LB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2021 Regular Season · Duke. Shaka Heyward shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 45.4 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 337
- TFL
- 31.5
- Sacks
- 11.5
- QB hurries
- 11
- Passes defended
- 7
Quick Answers
Shaka Heyward quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Duke · LB
- Career Tackles
- 337
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 4 entries · 44 games
- Best season
- 2021 Regular Season · Duke
- Top game
- Charlotte
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Mill Creek · Duke
- High school pipeline
- Mill Creek · 38 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- Latest roster
- No. 42 · Senior
- 2022 Tackles rank
- 93 tackles · LB 63rd (top 6%) · ACC 7th (top 2%) · National 77th (top 2%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Regular Season | Duke | 9 | 68 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 2 | - | 0 | 60.5 |
| 2020 Regular Season | Duke | 11 | 79 | 8.5 | 3 | 3 | - | 0 | 63.6 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Duke | 12 | 97 | 10.5 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 76.9 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Duke | 12 | 93 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 64.5 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Shaka Heyward
Shaka Heyward played LB for Duke. Across 4 tracked seasons, Shaka Heyward recorded 337 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2021 with Duke.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2021 Regular Season
Duke paired 20.5 primary output with 49.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
2020 Regular Season role shape
impact-led usage with 43.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value cooled off
2022 Regular Season fell back from the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Charlotte
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.
2020 Regular Season · Duke
Games
11
Havoc Plays / G
1.3
Efficiency
43.1
Usage
11.7
Consistency
43.1
Best Game by takeover score
Charlotte
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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. Notre Dame: 3. Boston College: 2. Virginia: 0. Virginia Tech: 1. Syracuse: 0. NC State: 0. Charlotte: 3. North Carolina: 1. Georgia Tech: 2.5. Miami: 1. Florida State: 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.
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High volumeHigh quality
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High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Notre Dame: 7 by 59.2. Boston College: 10 by 61.7. Virginia: 9 by 37.5. Virginia Tech: 7 by 39.2. Syracuse: 4 by 16.7. NC State: 8 by 33.3. Charlotte: 12 by 80. North Carolina: 5 by 30.8. Georgia Tech: 5 by 45.8. Miami: 7 by 39.2. Florida State: 5 by 30.8
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins1.5 · Games = 2 · +0.2 vs Losses
Losses1.3 · Games = 9 · -0.2 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
Charlotte
Best efficiency game
80 vs Charlotte
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/12 | @ Florida State | L 35-56 | 5 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 12/6 | vs Miami | L 0-48 | 7 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/29 | @ Georgia TechSplash game | L 33-56 | 5 | 3 | — | 1.50 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/7 | vs North Carolina | L 24-56 | 5 | 3 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/31 | vs Charlotte10+ tackles · Splash game | W 53-19 | 12 | 9 | — | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/17 | @ NC State | L 20-31 | 8 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/10 | @ Syracuse | W 38-24 | 4 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/3 | vs Virginia Tech | L 31-38 | 7 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/26 | @ Virginia | L 20-38 | 9 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/19 | vs Boston College10+ tackles · Splash game | L 6-26 | 10 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/12 | @ Notre DameSplash game | L 13-27 | 7 | 4 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Shaka Heyward story
Shaka Heyward built his college career from 2019 through 2022 as a linebacker from Hoschton, GA wearing No. 42, spending time with Duke. The clearest part of Shaka Heyward's career was his defensive production: 337 tackles, 31.5 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, and 4 interceptions across 44 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2021 with Duke. 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 Shaka Heyward's production has multiple signals. With 44 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Duke.
The arc is straightforward: Shaka Heyward 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
Duke
2019-2022
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2019202020212022
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Regular Season | Duke | 13 | 44.5 | 12.3 | — |
| 2020 Regular Season | Duke | 14.5 | 43.1 | 11.7 | 1.5 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Duke | 20.5 | 49.4 | 15.6 | 6 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Duke | 17 | 45.4 | 9.7 | -3.5 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Charlotte
Week 9 · W 53-19
Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3
Havoc Plays
93.3 takeover
3 disruption/tackle impact with 93.3 takeover score.
#2
@ Northwestern
Week 2 · W 31-23
5
Havoc Plays
92.2 takeover
Win with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 92.2 takeover score.
#3
vs Notre Dame
Week 11 · L 7-38
5
Havoc Plays
91.7 takeover
Loss with 5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
5 disruption/tackle impact with 91.7 takeover score.
#4
vs Georgia Tech
Week 6 · L 27-31 · Conference game
4.5
Havoc Plays
90 takeover
Loss with 4.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4.5 disruption/tackle impact with 90 takeover score.
#5
@ Notre Dame
Week 2 · L 13-27
3
Havoc Plays
86.4 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 86.4 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2021 Regular Season · Duke
20.5 primary output · 49.4 efficiency · 15.6 usage
76.9
#2
2022 Regular Season · Duke
64.5
17 primary · 45.4 efficiency · 9.7 usage
#3
2020 Regular Season · Duke
63.6
14.5 primary · 43.1 efficiency · 11.7 usage
Milestones
18
Impact games
17
Splash games
12
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Shaka Heyward
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