Michael Short

How the sport's filter reads me

63%

of my game the sport's filter keeps

A keyword screen keeps my three-star rating, my height and weight, and my stops at UNC, Virginia Tech, and TCU — and drops the 21 tackles in four games that put me second on the team and the deliberate redshirt that protected two full seasons to finish.

Level my game plays at

Depth of record & film

Game told as story

Quantified vs. narrative

My Sophia Visibility Index — an illustrative figure, not a measurement — computed from my record across four signals: the level my game plays at, the depth of my record & film, how much of my game lives in narrative, and how many quantified results survive a keyword scan. The bigger the game, the more the sport’s filters — scouting databases, brand screens, algorithms — flatten it into ratings and follower counts.

Where I land in the market

Tier 1

Roster Contributor

Reads here today

Tier 2

Rotation Player

Should hold

Tier 3

Starter

Tier 4

All-Conference

Tier 5

National Name

My record — special-teams work as a true freshman, rotation snaps and 23 tackles in 2024, then 21 tackles and second-on-the-team production in just four 2025 games before a strategic redshirt — reads at Rotation Player with clear Starter trajectory and two full seasons at…

The proof a filter throws away

2

full seasons remaining (2026 & 2027)

21

tackles in four 2025 games

2nd

on the team when I entered the portal

23

total tackles, 2024 UNC season

#34

linebacker, 2026 transfer portal (247Sports)

What my record proves

On-field production & trajectorySpecial teams → rotation → 2nd on team in four games

Indexes at: Rotation Player

Eligibility & runwayTwo full seasons remaining (2026 & 2027)

Indexes at: Starter

Transfer-portal standing#34 linebacker, 86 rating (247Sports)

Indexes at: Rotation Player

Market footprintCharlotte roots, ACC film, Big 12 present

Indexes at: Rotation Player

Beyond the keyword screen

What a keyword screen keeps of me

Three-star6-3, 225LinebackerUNCVirginia TechTCUTransfer portal

What my record actually shows

The athlete my record proves I am

I climbed to second-on-the-team in four games — two full seasons remain.

My production has risen at every stop, and the redshirt was a bet on myself with two years at TCU ahead.

Partner with me for

→Regional brand partnerships (Fort Worth & Charlotte markets)

→NIL collective programs

→Community & youth-football appearances

My climbing production, multi-stop résumé, and two remaining seasons support regional brand work in Fort Worth and Charlotte, collective partnerships that value trajectory, and community appearances that connect to my high-school and college footprints.

06b

My 3 power moves

1

Lead with my 21 tackles in four games and second-on-the-team standing, not my rating.

2

I frame the redshirt as the bet it was — two full seasons to…

3

Position my climbing production at every stop as the throughline scouts and partners remember.

“My production has climbed at every stop — special teams to rotation to second-on-the-team — and two seasons remain to convert it.

▦

Linebacker Scorecard

Pro-football measurable grade

53/ 100Late-round to priority-free-agent measurable profileProvisional — graded on 22% of the measurable set

Verified measurables sit at the lower edge of the drafted-LB range; each verified gap closed moves the band.

Graded against public measurable and testing data for NFL Combine linebackers — the population from which rounds 1–7 LBs are drafted (MockDraftable combine database, sample sizes 270–969 per metric, read 2026-07-03). Contract values are the published 2026 NFL rookie wage scale (OverTheCap). Every row cites its source below.

Sources re-verified monthly (weekly during football season) — every number carries its as-of date.

What this band is worth at the next level

Round 7

$4.5M–$4.6M

4-year rookie-scale totals, first round-7 selection to the final pick, 2026 draft class. OverTheCap — 2026 draft class rookie contract table ↗ as of 2026-07-03

Undrafted free agent (active roster)

$885K

2026 league-minimum salary for a rookie on an active roster (per year, if a roster spot is won). OverTheCap — CBA minimum salaries ↗ as of 2026-07-03

Measurables

Height

6'3"

Reported

In range · vs MockDraftable — LB position group (NFL Combine database) ↗

6-3 per the TCU roster. · TCU Athletics — official roster ↗as of 2026-07-03

Weight

225lb

Reported

Lower edge of range · vs MockDraftable — LB position group (NFL Combine database) ↗

Roster lists 225–226; the low end is used. · TCU Athletics — official roster ↗as of 2026-07-03

Production

Tackles — most recent season

Verified

No public benchmark — shown for the record

4 games at Virginia Tech, 2025 — 2nd on the team at portal entry; career-high 11 vs Vanderbilt in his first career start; redshirted the remainder to preserve a full senior season. · ESPN — player page ↗as of 2026-07-03

Games played — most recent season

Verified

No public benchmark — shown for the record

2025 appearances before the redshirt decision. · Sports Reference — college football ↗as of 2026-07-03

Sacks — most recent season

The roadmap — next to verify

Arm length. Get arm length measured and on record — length is a standard scout data point.
40-yard dash. Run a verified, timed 40 — pro-day or camp setting, on film.
Vertical jump. Post a verified vertical jump.
Broad jump. Post a verified broad jump.
3-cone drill. Post a verified 3-cone time — the change-of-direction number scouts weight for off-ball LBs.
20-yard shuttle. Post a verified short shuttle.
Bench press (225-lb reps). Post a verified 225-lb bench count.
Verified public social reach (IG + TikTok + X). Verify and grow public social reach — public NIL valuations index on reach alongside performance and market.

Projected — not part of the graded read

If a full-time starting role is secured for the coming season

63–68 tackles

Method: Most recent verified per-game tackle rate, scaled to a 12-game regular season (low) and 13 games with a postseason appearance (high). No performance uplift is assumed — the range is the athlete's own verified rate at starter volume.

Reference: 2025 FBS top-20 tackle leaders posted 113–151 (Top 20 FBS tacklers, 2025 season (17 of the 20 were linebackers)). ESPN — College Football Defensive Leaders, 2025 ↗ as of 2026-07-03

A verified full-season starter line converts a rotational profile into draft-board data — it is the single largest input this card can gain. The projection changes nothing here until the games are played and verified.

NIL market read

Public NIL valuations (On3 NIL Valuation) index on performance, influence (social reach and engagement) and exposure (program visibility and market). This read shows which of those inputs are on file and cited — it never invents a dollar figure.

Inputs not on file yet: Verified public social reach (IG + TikTok + X)

What NIL valuations index on

On3's published NIL Valuation methodology weighs performance, influence (social following and engagement) and exposure — reach is a first-class input. On3 — About the NIL Valuation ↗ as of 2026-07-03

Most Power-4 football players

$0–$10K

66.5% of Power-4 college football players earn under $10K per year in NIL (Opendorse annual report, published 2024). Opendorse — 'NIL at 3' annual report ↗ as of 2026-07-03

Top-25 program football athletes

$294K

Opendorse estimate of expected annual NIL-era earnings for football athletes at Top-25 Division-I programs (~$294K; a small top tier — 0.3% of P4 football players clear $1M). Opendorse — 'NIL at 3' annual report ↗ as of 2026-07-03

How to move the number

Run a verified, timed 40 — pro-day or camp setting, on film.moves: grade band · dollar band
Post a verified vertical jump.moves: grade band · dollar band
Post a verified broad jump.moves: grade band · dollar band
Post a verified 3-cone time — the change-of-direction number scouts weight for off-ball LBs.moves: grade band · dollar band
Post a verified short shuttle.moves: grade band · dollar band
Verify and grow public social reach — public NIL valuations index on reach alongside performance and market.moves: market read

Independent analysis of cited public records — not a scouting certification, an eligibility opinion, or agent/financial advice. Decisions stay with the athlete and their circle.

Watch my highlight film