Player
Akeem Davis-Gaither
LB · Cardinals
Akeem Davis-Gaither: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
Career arc: 6 seasons, 313 combined tackles — and 117 of them came in 2025 with Arizona.
TrendADG by season
| Season | Team | Comb | TFL | Sacks | PDs | FF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | CIN | 31 | 0 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 2021 | CIN | 26 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2022 | CIN | 48 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 2023 | CIN | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | CIN | 78 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | ARI | 117 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
From 2020-2023 ADG was a rotational/sub-package LB in Cincinnati — modest snap counts, modest production (31, 26, 48, 13 combined). The 2024 promotion (78 combined, 4 TFL, 4 PDs) set up a free-agent walk year.
Arizona is now seeing him in the role he never quite got with the Bengals: full-time MIKE, 117 combined tackles through 17 weeks — the biggest counting-stat jump in his career.
Combined tackles by season
| Season | Combined |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 31 |
| 2021 | 26 |
| 2022 | 48 |
| 2023 | 13 |
| 2024 | 78 |
| ARI | 117 |
117 combined tackles in 2025 — top-40 in the league, despite never having been a full-time starter before this year.
RareADG's 117 combined tackles in 2025 puts him in the league's top-40 by season volume — alongside names like Bobby Wagner, Foye Oluokun, and Roquan Smith.
It's a doubling of his previous career high of 78 (2024) and a nearly 4x jump from his 2023 line. Career totals before 2025: 196 combined tackles in 5 seasons. He's added 117 in one.
Assist-heavy tackler: 67 of his 117 in 2025 are assists — a true sideline-to-sideline LB profile.
SplitSolo vs Assist by season
| Season | Solo | Assist | Asst% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 20 | 11 | 35% |
| 2021 | 19 | 7 | 27% |
| 2022 | 31 | 17 | 35% |
| 2023 | 6 | 7 | 54% |
| 2024 | 37 | 41 | 53% |
| 2025 | 50 | 67 | 57% |
Look at the assist percentage over time: 27% in 2021 as a sub-package LB → 57% in 2025 as a MIKE. That's the textbook signature of a player moving from rotational/SAM/WILL work into the middle-linebacker role, where you arrive 2nd on most plays to help bring down the runner.
The 67 assists in 2025 would be a career best by a margin of 26 over his old high (41 in 2024).
Solo vs assist tackles
| Season | Tackles |
|---|---|
| Solo | 20 |
| 2021 | 19 |
| 2022 | 31 |
| 2023 | 6 |
| 2024 | 37 |
| 2025 | 50 |
First career season with 100+ combined tackles — at age 27, in year 6, in his first season outside Cincinnati.
MilestoneADG had never cleared 80 combined tackles in any of his first 5 seasons. His Arizona debut shattered that — 117 combined through 17 weeks is a career first by a 39-tackle margin.
The story of the year: Cincinnati treated him as a depth piece behind Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt; Arizona's defensive coaching staff handed him the green dot and the full-time MIKE job. He's responded by becoming a top-40 producer at the position.
In 6 NFL seasons he has 0.5 career sacks — the rare modern MIKE who's never been a blitzer.
AnomalyAcross 6 seasons and 313 combined tackles, ADG has exactly 0.5 sacks (his rookie 2020). No half-sack in any year since. Zero in 2024 despite a career-high snap count, zero in 2025 despite calling the defense for Arizona.
It's a deliberate role choice — he's been used as a coverage and pursuit LB throughout his career, never as a blitz threat. 5 career PDs and 3 FFs make up the splash side of his profile instead.
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