Player Dossier

2021-2025

Old Dominion

Wayne Matthews III

LB • 6'2" • 230 lbs • Largo, MD, USA

Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile

Wayne Matthews III shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 30.8 disruption score.

Usage Score

7.8

Efficiency

30.8

Consistency

32.1

Season Value

19

Career Arc

Value trend by season

Best season by value score: 2024 Regular Season · Michigan State

212223232425

Snapshot

Career Teams
2
Seasons Tracked
6
Program Path
Old Dominion • Michigan State
Peak Game
Peak game by takeover score: Western Kentucky

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.

Wayne Matthews III, LB. Best season Best season by value score: 2024 Regular Season · Michigan State. Wayne Matthews III shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 30.8 disruption score.

Player insights

Lead takeaway

Best season by value score: 2024 Regular Season

Michigan State paired 0 primary output with 15.3 efficiency.

Supporting note

2025 Regular Season role shape

impact-led usage with 30.8 efficiency.

Supporting note

Career value cooled off

2025 Regular Season fell back from the prior stop by season value score.

Supporting note

Multi-stop career journey

Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Old Dominion, Michigan State.

Supporting note

Peak game by takeover score: Penn State

Loss 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.

2025 Regular Season · Michigan State

Games

12

Havoc Plays / G

0.5

Efficiency

30.8

Usage

7.8

Consistency

32.1

Best Game by takeover score

Maryland

Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.

Game-by-Game Trend

123456789101112

Chronological game order.

Game by game trend chart. Western Michigan: 1.5. Boston College: 0.5. Unknown: 0. USC: 0. Nebraska: 1. UCLA: 0. Indiana: 0. Michigan: 0.5. Minnesota: 0. Penn State: 2. Iowa: 1. Maryland: 0

Volume vs Efficiency

Low volume / high quality

High volume / high quality

Low volume / lower quality

High volume / lower quality

Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.

Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Western Michigan: 6 by 40. Boston College: 8 by 38.3. Unknown: 10 by 41.7. USC: 2 by 8.3. Nebraska: 5 by 30.8. UCLA: 5 by 20.8. Indiana: 5 by 20.8. Michigan: 5 by 25.8. Minnesota: 4 by 16.7. Penn State: 8 by 53.3. Iowa: 9 by 47.5. Maryland: 6 by 25

Split Comparison

Wins0.7 · n=3 · +0.1 vs Losses
Losses0.6 · n=8 · -0.1 vs Wins
First Half0.5 · n=6 · -0.1 vs Second Half
Second Half0.6 · n=6 · +0.1 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

Penn State

Best efficiency game

53.3 vs Penn State

Result
Sun 11/30vs MarylandW 38-2863000
Sat 11/22@ IowaL 17-2097100
Sat 11/15vs Penn StateL 10-2883101
Sat 11/1@ MinnesotaL 20-2343000
Sat 10/25vs MichiganL 20-31510.5000
Sat 10/18@ IndianaL 13-3850000
Sat 10/11vs UCLAL 13-3853000
Sat 10/4@ NebraskaL 27-3852100
Sun 9/21@ USCL 31-4520000
Sat 9/13vs Unknown10+ tackles104000
Sat 9/6vs Boston CollegeW 42-40850.5000
Fri 8/29vs Western MichiganW 23-6610.50010

Career Arc

Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.

  1. 1

    Old Dominion

    2021-2023

    Opening stop

  2. 2

    Michigan State

    2024-2025

    Final stop

Season Progression

202120222023202320242025
SeasonTeamPrimaryEfficiencyUsageDelta
2021 Regular SeasonOld Dominion04.20.6
2022 Regular SeasonOld Dominion110.72.81
2023 PostseasonOld Dominion1652.412.315
2023 Regular SeasonOld Dominion1652.412.30
2024 Regular SeasonMichigan State015.33.2-16
2025 Regular SeasonMichigan State6.530.87.86.5

Signature Performances

Top Games

#1 Featured game

Western Kentucky

Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

3

Primary metric

3 disruption/tackle impact with 65.4 takeover score.

#2

Georgia Southern

3

Primary metric

Win with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

3 disruption/tackle impact with 62 takeover score.

#3

Penn State

2

Primary metric

Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

2 disruption/tackle impact with 55.2 takeover score.

#4

Georgia State

2

Primary metric

Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

2 disruption/tackle impact with 52 takeover score.

#5

Unknown

2.5

Primary metric

Game with 2.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.

2.5 disruption/tackle impact with 50.2 takeover score.

Top Seasons

#1 Season by value score

2024 Regular Season · Michigan State

0 primary output · 15.3 efficiency · 3.2 usage

39.5

#2

2021 Regular Season · Old Dominion

34.9

0 primary · 4.2 efficiency · 0.6 usage

#3

2023 Postseason · Old Dominion

32.3

16 primary · 52.4 efficiency · 12.3 usage

Milestones

2

Impact games

2

Splash games

9

10+ tackle games

Bio, Recruit, and Data Context

Recruit Profile

3★

Class 2021 · Rating 0.8081

Charles Herbert Flowers · Upper Marlboro, MD

Committed To
Old Dominion
Commit Date
Jan 1, 2021

Career Facts

2

Career teams

6

Seasons tracked

255

Career Tackles

Data Context

Coverage spans 6 tracked seasons, 41 games, and SP opponent-strength context when available. Derived metrics fall back to raw production when share or rating context is missing.

Quick Answers

Wayne Matthews III quick answers

Recruiting profile

3-star recruit

Position
LB
Teams played for
2
Seasons tracked
6
Career tackles
255