Koi Perich

Koi Perich is a ballhawk safety, a receiver, and a returner -- the kind of athlete who does everything. He's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country, and Oregon brought him in to replace a first-round pick.

DB · Minnesota · Cl 2 · #3

CFB Zeitgeist 64

Perich arrived as a national name at Minnesota -- five interceptions and Freshman All-America honors in 2024, then roughly 82 tackles and All-Big Ten production in 2025 -- and he did it as a genuine two-way weapon who also lined up at receiver and returned kicks. Now he's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country and an ESPN top-15 non-quarterback playmaker, landing at Oregon to replace first-round pick Dillon Thieneman. The forward stakes are a featured role on a title contender: a safety with this range, these ball skills and this versatility is the kind of piece a defense builds its disguises around. For Oregon, he's the playmaking centerpiece of a reloaded secondary.

PLAY STYLE

Perich is a rangy, ball-hawking safety with rare athletic versatility. The trait that defines him is the ball production -- five interceptions as a freshman is elite anticipation and range from the back end -- paired with the speed and physicality to play downhill as a tackler (his ~82-tackle 2025 says he'll come up and hit). The two-way utility (snaps at receiver, work as a returner) underlines the athleticism: this is a true playmaker with the ball in the air or in his hands. He's a center-field eraser who can also rob underneath routes, the kind of versatile, instinctive safety the modern two-high game is built to feature.

SOURCES

Career Arc

Recruit

★★★★

#70 national

CFB

College

Minnesota

2024–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 entries

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2025)

All-Big Ten

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach

2024

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

2025

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

Played his entire career under P.J. Fleck.

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2024Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced

2025Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

64Solid starter

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (99th). Strength: tackles (95th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Forced fumbles#1 / 687 · 100th pct

3fumb

Tackles#131 / 2975 · 96th pct

82defe

Solo tackles#237 / 2975 · 91st pct

39defe

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

2defe

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0defe

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0defe

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

1inte

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Awards

Selector Grid · 2025

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 entries

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2025)

All-Big Ten

Career stats

Defense

Season-by-season defensive box score for disruption and splash plays.

Season	Team	TOT	SOLO	TFL	SACK	PD	INT	FF
2025	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	82	39	3.0	1.0	2	1	3
2024	MinnesotaFinal snapshot	46	28	2.5	0.0	2	5	1
Career	2 loaded seasonsCareer row reflects the stat seasons currently loaded in this database.	128	67	5.5	1.0	4	6	4

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 24–6

vs Nebraska

3 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 NO

Game log

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 23-10vs Buffalo	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 66-0vs Northwestern State	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 14-27@ California	5	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 31-28vs Rutgers	11	4	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 6	L 3-42@ Ohio State	9	3	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 7	W 27-20vs Purdue	5	2	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 8	W 24-6vs Nebraska	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 3-41@ Iowa	6	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 23-20vs Michigan State	10	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 13-42@ Oregon	5	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 35-38@ Northwestern	10	6	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 17-7vs Wisconsin	8	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 20-17vs New Mexico	5	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		82	39	3.0	1.0	1	2

How he plays

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

64Solid starter

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (99th). Strength: tackles (95th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Forced fumbles#1 / 687 · 100th pct

3fumb

Tackles#131 / 2975 · 96th pct

82defe

Solo tackles#237 / 2975 · 91st pct

39defe

Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct

2defe

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0defe

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0defe

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct

1inte

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

PLAY STYLE

2026 Outlook

Returning to Minnesota for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Minnesota

Returning around him

44% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
1 Minnesota player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -1 net (19 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Minnesota · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #41 · 2026 recruiting class #49

Perception vs tape

Koi Perich is a ballhawk safety, a receiver, and a returner — the kind of athlete who does everything. He's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country, and Oregon brought him in to replace a first-round pick.

Perich arrived as a national name at Minnesota — five interceptions and Freshman All-America honors in 2024, then roughly 82 tackles and All-Big Ten production in 2025 — and he did it as a genuine two-way weapon who also lined up at receiver and returned kicks. Now he's the No. 1 transfer safety in the country and an ESPN top-15 non-quarterback playmaker, landing at Oregon to replace first-round pick Dillon Thieneman. The forward stakes are a featured role on a title contender: a safety with this range, these ball skills and this versatility is the kind of piece a defense builds its disguises around. For Oregon, he's the playmaking centerpiece of a reloaded secondary.

How he plays

Perich is a rangy, ball-hawking safety with rare athletic versatility. The trait that defines him is the ball production — five interceptions as a freshman is elite anticipation and range from the back end — paired with the speed and physicality to play downhill as a tackler (his ~82-tackle 2025 says he'll come up and hit). The two-way utility (snaps at receiver, work as a returner) underlines the athleticism: this is a true playmaker with the ball in the air or in his hands. He's a center-field eraser who can also rob underneath routes, the kind of versatile, instinctive safety the modern two-high game is built to feature.

2026 outlook · as of 2026-06-13

src

DNA match

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Malaki Starks’s 2024 season.

Malaki Starks

92%match

Georgia · 2024

All-SECNFL Rd 1 · Pk 27

Jamel Johnson

TCU · 2024

84%

Jake Pope

UNLV · 2025

84%

Malik Shorts

Southern Miss · 2020

84%

Tawfiq Byard

Colorado · 2025

83%

Matches Malaki on

Interceptions

Tackle volume

Class year

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Xavier Atkins's sophomore season at Auburn (2025).

Xavier Atkins

86%match

Auburn · 2025

Khmori House

North Carolina · 2025

80%

Brian Asamoah

Oklahoma · 2021

77%

Omar Thornton

Boston College · 2025

78%

Davhon Keys

LSU · 2025

76%

Matches Xavier on

Class year

Tackle volume

PD rate

Peer comparator

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 8 metrics

Koi PerichMinnesotaTJ DotteryOle Miss· 83% simChris JonesSouthern Miss· 83% simNick AndersenWake Forest· 83% sim

Forced fumbles

100
Perich

Tackles

96
Perich

98
Dottery

100
Jones

99
Andersen

Solo tackles

91
Perich

97
Dottery

97
Jones

96
Andersen

Passes defended

67
Perich

67
Dottery

67
Jones

96
Andersen

Sacks

63
Perich

74
Dottery

91
Jones

74
Andersen

Tackles for loss

63
Perich

83
Dottery

96
Jones

90
Andersen

Interceptions

31
Perich

31
Jones

QB hurries

22
Perich

55
Dottery

22
Jones

22
Andersen

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.