Linebacker, Mississippi State, 2017–⁠19

Willie Gay Jr.

Number: No. 6
Height: 6′2″
Weight: 240 lb
Class (2019): Junior
Hometown: Starkville, MS
Born: Feb 15, 1998

Willie Gay Jr. played linebacker at Mississippi State (2017–⁠19). The Kansas City Chiefs took Gay in round 2, No. 63 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Best season: 44; Tackles, 2018 (Mississippi State, 8–⁠5)
Drafted: No. 63; Round 2, 2020 NFL Draft (Kansas City Chiefs)

9tackles, career highat Alabama, 2018 2sacks, career highat Alabama, 2018

Defense

Tackles, season by season, with his team’s record

9–⁠4AP 198–⁠56–⁠7

Season	Team	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int	PD	Hur
2017	Mississippi State	23	8	2	1	0	2	1
2018	Mississippi State	44	18	5	4.5	2	1	4
2019	Mississippi State	17	7	2.5	0	1	1	1
Career		84	33	9.5	5.5	3	4	6

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.

On the roster

Season	Team	No.	Pos	Class	Ht	Wt
2017	Mississippi State	6	LB	Fr.
2018	Mississippi State	6	LB	So.
2019	Mississippi State	6	LB	Jr.	6′2″	240

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

2019 Mississippi State 4 games, 17 tackles, 1 INT

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Int	PD
Sep 21	vs.Kentucky	W 28–⁠13	2	1	1	1	0
Oct 12	atTennessee	L 10–⁠20	5	1	0	0	0
Nov 2	atArkansas	W 54–⁠24	5	2	0.5	0	0
Nov 28	vs.Ole Miss	W 21–⁠20	5	3	1	0	1

2018 Mississippi State 11 games, 44 tackles, 4.5 sacks, 2 INT

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	Int	PD
Sep 1	vs.Stephen F. Austin	W 63–⁠6	3	0	0	0	0	0
Sep 15	vs.Louisiana	W 56–⁠10	3	2	1	1	0	0
Sep 22	atKentucky	L 7–⁠28	2	1	0	0	0	0
Sep 29	vs.Florida	L 6–⁠13	4	1	0.5	0	0	1
Oct 6	vs.Auburn	W 23–⁠9	4	1	0	0	0	0
Oct 20	atLSU	L 3–⁠19	5	3	0	0	0	0
Oct 27	vs.Texas A&M	W 28–⁠13	2	1	0	0	0	0
Nov 3	vs.Louisiana Tech	W 45–⁠3	5	1	0	0	0	0
Nov 10	atAlabama	L 0–⁠24	9	6	2	2	1	0
Nov 17	vs.Arkansas	W 52–⁠6	7	2	1.5	1.5	0	0
Jan 1 ✦	vs.Iowa	L 22–⁠27	–	–	–	–	1	–

2017 Mississippi State 11 games, 23 tackles, 1 sack

Date	Opponent	Result	Tkl	Solo	TFL	Sacks	PD
Sep 2	vs.Charleston Southern	W 49–⁠0	2	1	1	0	0
Sep 9	atLouisiana Tech	W 57–⁠21	1	1	0	0	0
Sep 23	atGeorgia	L 3–⁠31	4	1	0	0	0
Sep 30	atAuburn	L 10–⁠49	3	0	0	0	0
Oct 21	vs.Kentucky	W 45–⁠7	0	0	0	0	1
Oct 28	atTexas A&M	W 35–⁠14	1	1	1	1	0
Nov 4	vs.Massachusetts	W 34–⁠23	3	1	0	0	1
Nov 11	vs.Alabama	L 24–⁠31	1	0	0	0	0
Nov 18	atArkansas	W 28–⁠21	3	1	0	0	0
Nov 23	vs.Ole Miss	L 28–⁠31	1	0	0	0	0
Dec 30 ✦	vs.Louisville	W 31–⁠27	4	2	0	0	0

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

Drill	Combine 2020
Height	6′1⅛″
Weight	243 lb
Arm length	32⅝″
Hand size	10½″
Wingspan	77⅞″^W
40-yard dash	4.46 s
10-yard split	1.50 s^W
Vertical jump	39½″
Broad jump	11′4″
Bench press	21 reps
3-cone drill	7.08 s
20-yard shuttle	4.30 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

7 seasons, 82 games with a stat; latest team: Miami Dolphins.

Season	Team	G	Tkl	Sacks	Int
2020	Kansas City Chiefs	15	39	1	0
2021	Kansas City Chiefs	12	44	0.5	2
2022	Kansas City Chiefs	13	79	2.5	1
2023	Kansas City Chiefs	16	56	1	1
2024	New Orleans Saints	12	26	2	0
2025	Miami Dolphins	9	20	2	0
2026 (so far)	Miami Dolphins	5	16	0	0
NFL career		82	280	9	4

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.

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