Usage / Role
52%
Regular defensive contributor
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2022-2025USC
DeCarlos Nicholson
CB • 6'3" • 200 lbs • Petal, MS, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
DeCarlos Nicholson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.9 disruption score.
Impact Production
58
Solid production for a corner
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
46
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2025 Postseason · USC
222324242525
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 2
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Mississippi State • USC
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Illinois
Player Story
DeCarlos Nicholson built his college career from 2022 through 2025 as a cornerback from Petal, MS wearing No. 17, spending time with Mississippi State and USC. The clearest part of DeCarlos Nicholson's career was his...
Read the storyDeCarlos Nicholson, CB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2025 Postseason · USC. DeCarlos Nicholson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.9 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 116
- TFL
- 3
- Sacks
- 1
- Passes defended
- 12
Quick Answers
DeCarlos Nicholson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- USC · CB
- Career Tackles
- 116
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 6 entries · 38 games
- Best season
- 2025 Postseason · USC
- Top game
- Illinois
- Latest roster
- No. 17 · Senior
- 2025 Tackles rank
- 42 tackles · CB 51st (top 11%) · Big Ten 104th (top 14%) · National 848th (top 14%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Regular Season | Mississippi State | 3 | 5 | - | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 11.4 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Mississippi State | 11 | 42 | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 27.8 |
| 2024 Postseason | USC | 11 | 4 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 27.9 |
| 2024 Regular Season | USC | 11 | 23 | - | 0 | - | 5 | 0 | 27.9 |
| 2025 Postseason | USC | 13 | 4 | - | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 44.9 |
| 2025 Regular Season | USC | 13 | 38 | 1 | 1 | - | 3 | 0 | 44.9 |
Related Context
Keep exploring DeCarlos Nicholson
DeCarlos Nicholson played CB for Mississippi State and USC. Across 4 tracked seasons, DeCarlos Nicholson recorded 116 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2023 with Mississippi State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2025 Postseason
USC paired 7 primary output with 18.9 efficiency.
Supporting note
2025 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 18.9 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2025 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Mississippi State, USC.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Illinois
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 Postseason · USC
Games
13
Havoc Plays / G
0.5
Efficiency
18.9
Usage
5.8
Consistency
12.8
Best Game by takeover score
Illinois
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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. TCU: 1. Missouri State: 0. Georgia Southern: 1. Purdue: 0. Michigan State: 0. Illinois: 2. Michigan: 1. Notre Dame: 0. Nebraska: 0. Northwestern: 2. Iowa: 0. Oregon: 0. UCLA: 0
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. TCU: 4 by 26.7. Missouri State: 1 by 4.2. Georgia Southern: 1 by 14.2. Purdue: 1 by 4.2. Michigan State: 3 by 12.5. Illinois: 3 by 32.5. Michigan: 3 by 22.5. Notre Dame: 6 by 25. Nebraska: 5 by 20.8. Northwestern: 3 by 32.5. Iowa: 6 by 25. Oregon: 2 by 8.3. UCLA: 4 by 16.7
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0.4 · Games = 9 · -0.3 vs Losses
Losses0.8 · Games = 4 · +0.3 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Illinois
Best efficiency game
32.5 vs Northwestern
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 12/31 | @ TCU | L 27-30 | 4 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sun 11/30 | vs UCLA | W 29-10 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/22 | @ Oregon | L 27-42 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/15 | vs Iowa | W 26-21 | 6 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/8 | vs NorthwesternSplash game | W 38-17 | 3 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
| Sat 11/1 | @ Nebraska | W 21-17 | 5 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/18 | @ Notre Dame | L 24-34 | 6 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/11 | vs Michigan | W 31-13 | 3 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/27 | @ IllinoisSplash game | L 32-34 | 3 | 3 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 9/21 | vs Michigan State | W 45-31 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/13 | @ Purdue | W 33-17 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/6 | vs Georgia Southern | W 59-20 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 8/30 | vs Missouri State | W 73-13 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
DeCarlos Nicholson story
DeCarlos Nicholson built his college career from 2022 through 2025 as a cornerback from Petal, MS wearing No. 17, spending time with Mississippi State and USC. The clearest part of DeCarlos Nicholson's career was his defensive production: 116 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack, and 1 interception across 38 career games in the available record. That gives DeCarlos Nicholson's career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Mississippi State
2022-2023
Opening stop
- 2
USC
2024-2025
Final stop
Season Value Progression
202220232024202420252025
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 Regular Season | Mississippi State | 1 | 10.3 | 1.2 | — |
| 2023 Regular Season | Mississippi State | 4 | 19.5 | 3.1 | 3 |
| 2024 Postseason | USC | 5 | 14.8 | 1.9 | 1 |
| 2024 Regular Season | USC | 5 | 14.8 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 2025 Postseason | USC | 7 | 18.9 | 5.8 | 2 |
| 2025 Regular Season | USC | 7 | 18.9 | 5.8 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ No. 24 Illinois
Week 5 · L 32-34 · Conference game · Ranked opponent
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2
Havoc Plays
77.5 takeover
2 disruption/tackle impact with 77.5 takeover score.
#2
vs LSU
Week 3 · L 14-41 · Conference game
1
Havoc Plays
61.7 takeover
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 61.7 takeover score.
#3
vs No. 51 Northwestern
Week 11 · W 38-17 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
60.8 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 60.8 takeover score.
#4
vs Arizona
Week 2 · W 31-24
2
Havoc Plays
60.3 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 60.3 takeover score.
#5
vs Rutgers
Week 9 · W 42-20 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
56.4 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 56.4 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2025 Postseason · USC
7 primary output · 18.9 efficiency · 5.8 usage
44.9
#2
2025 Regular Season · USC
44.9
7 primary · 18.9 efficiency · 5.8 usage
#3
2024 Postseason · USC
27.9
5 primary · 14.8 efficiency · 1.9 usage
Milestones
4
Impact games
5
Splash games
1
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring DeCarlos Nicholson
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