Linebacker, Texas Tech (from Stanford), 2022–25
David Bailey
- Number
- No. 31
- Height
- 6′3″
- Weight
- 250 lb
- Class (2025)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Irvine, CA
- Born
- Aug 28, 2003, in Orange, California
Wikipedia readers: about 9,614 a month over the past year
David Bailey played linebacker at Stanford (2022–24) and Texas Tech (2025). He was a consensus All‑American in 2025. The New York Jets took Bailey in the first round, No. 2 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
9tackles, career highthree times; last vs. Oregon, 20253sacks, career hightwice; last vs. Kansas, 2025Honors
- 2025Consensus All‑American
- 2025Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year
- 2025Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year
- 2025First-team All-Big 12
Team titles: Big 12 champions, 2025
Players of the year, conference and regional honors: Wikipedia’s lists (CC BY-SA), each linked from its honor.
Defense
| Season | Team | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD | Hur |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Stanford | 43 | 28 | 7.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 3 |
| 2023 | Stanford | 31 | 19 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| 2024 | Stanford | 31 | 22 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 51 | 32 | 19.5 | 14.5 | 3 | 10 |
| Career | 156 | 101 | 41 | 27 | 3 | 23 | |
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Stanford | 31 | LB | Fr. | ||
| 2023 | Stanford | 31 | LB | So. | ||
| 2024 | Stanford | 31 | LB | Jr. | ||
| 2025 | Texas Tech | 31 | LB | Sr. | 6′3″ | 250 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2025 Texas Tech 14 games, 51 tackles, 14.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. Arkansas–Pine Bluff | W 67–7 | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Sep 6 | vs. Kent State | W 62–14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 13 | vs. Oregon State | W 45–14 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 20 | at Utah | W 34–10 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 4 | at Houston | W 35–11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Oct 11 | vs. Kansas | W 42–17 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Oct 18 | at Arizona State | L 22–26 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Oct 25 | vs. Oklahoma State | W 42–0 | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 1 | at Kansas State | W 43–20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 8 | vs. BYU | W 29–7 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 15 | vs. UCF | W 48–9 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 29 | at West Virginia | W 49–0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 6 | vs.BYU | W 34–7 | 5 | 2 | 1.5 | 1 | 0 |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. Oregon | L 0–23 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
2024 Stanford 10 games, 31 tackles, 6 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. TCU | L 27–34 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 7 | vs. Cal Poly | W 41–7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 20 | at Syracuse | W 26–24 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Sep 28 | at Clemson | L 14–40 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 12 | at Notre Dame | L 7–49 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 19 | vs. SMU | L 10–40 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 26 | vs. Wake Forest | L 24–27 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2 | at NC State | L 28–59 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Nov 16 | vs. Louisville | W 38–35 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 29 | at San José State | L 31–34 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2023 Stanford 9 games, 31 tackles, 5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1 | at Hawai’i | W 37–24 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Sep 16 | vs. Sacramento State | L 23–30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 23 | vs. Arizona | L 20–21 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 30 | vs.Oregon | L 6–42 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 13 | at Colorado | W 46–43 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 21 | vs. UCLA | L 7–42 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 11 | atOregon State | L 17–62 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 18 | vs. California | L 15–27 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 25 | vs.Notre Dame | L 23–56 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2022 Stanford 10 games, 43 tackles, 1.5 sacks
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 3 | vs. Colgate | W 41–10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 10 | vs. USC | L 28–41 | 6 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Sep 24 | at Washington | L 22–40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 1 | atOregon | L 27–45 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 8 | vs.Oregon State | L 27–28 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 29 | atUCLA | L 13–38 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Nov 5 | vs. Washington State | L 14–52 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 12 | atUtah | L 7–42 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | atCalifornia | L 20–27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 26 | vs.BYU | L 26–35 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 |
|---|---|
| Height | 6′3⅝″ |
| Weight | 251 lb |
| Arm length | 33¾″ |
| Hand size | 10¼″ |
| Wingspan | 79¾″ |
| 40-yard dash | 4.50 s |
| 10-yard split | 1.62 s |
| Vertical jump | 35″ |
| Broad jump | 10′9″ |
Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data).
In the NFL
1 season, 5 games with a stat; latest team: New York Jets.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | New York Jets | 5 | 26 | 5 | 0 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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