Bobby Okereke

LB·

Carolina Panthers

UNDERPAIDTier 4Round 3, pick 89 in 2019

Updated November 10, 2026

86.7

Model Score

Down from 89.0 last year

Trade value ·a 5th

Player comps Be the Panthers GM →

Bobby Okereke has 30 solo tackles, 5 tackles for loss and 1 sacks in 7 games for the Carolina Panthers this season through Week 8 (updated November 10, 2026).

Model Score by season

Down 2.3 from last season.

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

A former top linebacker settling into his late prime.

The case for

2024 tier 1 (#8) STTM peak plus the $40M Giants contract plus seven years of NFL starter reps establishes structural top-10 LB ceiling.
Stanford Pac-12 3rd-round origin plus multi-team experience gives him real veteran market value.

The worry

18-spot regression from tier 1 (#8) in 2024 to tier 4 (#26) in 2025 flags either injury, scheme shift, or one-year context spike.
Giants' broader defensive identity instability plus the multi-year offensive rebuild compresses the structural support around Okereke.

What to watch: Whether Okereke returns to tier 2 (top 15) in 2026, the threshold for confirming the 2024 tier 1 ceiling is structural.

Full take and bio

2024 tier 1 (#8) Giants peak plus 2022 tier 2 (#14) Colts finish puts Okereke in the small group of stable elite linebackers with structural top-15 ceiling. The $40M Giants contract plus the 2024 peak proves the structural elite ceiling exists. The 2026 question is whether Okereke returns to tier 2 territory or whether the 2025 tier 4 finish becomes the structural late-prime baseline.

Okereke came out of Stanford as the Indianapolis Colts' 3rd-round pick (89th overall) in 2019 and spent four years in Indianapolis before signing a four-year, $40M deal with the New York Giants in 2023. His STTM career runs tier 4 (#30) in 2021, tier 2 (#14) in 2022, tier 7 (#49) in 2023, tier 1 (#8) peak in 2024, and tier 4 (#26) in 2025.

Comps

The players whose size, testing and production looked most like his at the same point in their careers. The percent is how close.

Fred Warner ’2475%Dhani Jones ’0862%

Patrick Willis ’1460%David Thornton ’0860%

Plays like: Darius Leonard, Kelvin Sheppard, Keith Bulluck. Built like: Jake Ryan, Dannell Ellerbe, Jamar Williams. Coming out: Jason Cabinda, Kenny Young, Jerod Mayo.

Of his 20 closest coming out: 2 stars, 4 starters, 5 backups, 9 didn't stick.

Bobby Okereke Injury StatusOut

Bobby Okereke is listed Out (Foot), reported Nov 9. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

This season · 7 games

Solo Tackles3015th

TFL57th

Sacks121st

INT15th

Pass Deflections51st

FF19th

Every game on the Game Log, every season on Career. Advanced numbers are EPA and Next Gen Stats.

Contract2026 cap

2026 Cap Hit

$1.5M

APY

$1.5M/yr

Guaranteed at Signing

$1.3M

Years on Deal

Signed

2026

Est. Value

$14.7M/yr

underpaid by $13.2M/yr

Every year of the deal, the dead money and what a cut or trade saves on the Contract tab.

Draft & College

Round 3, pick 89 to the Indianapolis Colts in 2019, out of Stanford (Pac-12). He went earlier than consensus.

Taken#89

Consensus board129th

Our college model#324 LB

In college, 2016-2018, 40 games: 221 tackles, 20 TFL, 10.5 sacks, 1 INT. (partial record) Coming out: 4.58s 40 yd, 33.5" vertical, 122" broad, 7.25s 3-cone, 4.26s shuttle.