Yetur Akkub Gross-Matos (born February 26, 1998) is an American professional football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Penn State and was drafted by the Carolina Panthers in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft.
 Gross-Matos with the Carolina Panthers in 2020 | |||||||||||||
| No. 94 – San Francisco 49ers | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Defensive end | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | February 26, 1998 Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 265 lb (120 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Chancellor (Fredericksburg, Virginia) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Penn State (2017–2019) | ||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2020 / round: 2 / pick: 38 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics as of Week 14, 2024 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Early life
editGross-Matos was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey but grew in Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Gross-Matos was two years old, his biological father died after a boating accident while trying to rescue Yetur from drowning. When he was 10, his brother died from a lightning strike while they were playing baseball.[1][2][3]
Gross-Matos attended Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.[4] During his high school career, he had 37 sacks. He committed to Pennsylvania State University to play college football.[5]
College career
editAs a true freshman in 2017, Gross-Matos played in all 13 games and had 17 tackles and 1.5 sacks. As a sophomore in 2018, he started all 13 games and had 54 tackles and eight sacks.[6][7] After a junior year with 14 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks, Gross-Matos decided to forgo his senior year and declared for the 2020 NFL draft.[8]
College statistics
edit| Season | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | Asst | Tot | TFL | Yds | Sack | Yds | Int | PD | FF | FR | ||
| 2017 | 13 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 2 | 8 | 1.5 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 13 | 36 | 18 | 54 | 20 | 88 | 8 | 58 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 2019 | 12 | 24 | 16 | 40 | 15 | 85 | 9.5 | 76 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 38 | 65 | 46 | 111 | 37 | 181 | 19 | 141 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
Professional career
edit| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | Vertical jump | Broad jump | Bench press | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
266 lb (121 kg) |
34+7⁄8 in (0.89 m) |
9+3⁄4 in (0.25 m) |
34.0 in (0.86 m) |
10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) |
20 reps | ||||||
| All values from NFL Combine[9][10] | ||||||||||||
Carolina Panthers
editGross-Matos was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 38th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft.[11] He was the second defensive end taken behind Chase Young.[12]
In Week 4 against the Arizona Cardinals, Gross-Matos recorded his first career sack, a strip sack on Kyler Murray which was recovered by the Panthers, during the 31–21 win.[13] He suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve on October 16, 2020.[14] He was activated on November 7, 2020, prior to Week 9.[15] He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 30, 2020,[16] and activated on December 10.[17]
On October 24, 2023, Gross-Matos was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury.[18] He was activated on December 2.[19]
San Francisco 49ers
editOn March 14, 2024, Gross-Matos signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers.[20] On November 16, 2024, Gross-Matos was activated from the injured reserve.[21]
On December 8, 2024, Gross-Matos had arguably the best game of his career against the Chicago Bears, recording 4 tackles and 3 sacks. He was named NFC Defensive Player of the week for his performance. [22]
NFL career statistics
edit| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Bold | Career high |
Regular Season
edit| Year | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Sfty | PD | Int | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
| 2020 | CAR | 12 | 7 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | CAR | 14 | 2 | 28 | 18 | 10 | 3.5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | CAR | 17 | 17 | 54 | 18 | 36 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 | 0 |
| 2023 | CAR | 12 | 6 | 36 | 19 | 12 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | 55 | 32 | 142 | 64 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 | |
References
edit- ^ Murphy, Dan (June 14, 2019). "How two tragedies shaped top NFL prospect Yetur Gross-Matos". ESPN.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ McGonigal, John (June 28, 2017). "Penn State's Yetur Gross-Matos playing inspired football for late brother". Centre Daily Times. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Giger, Cory (December 30, 2018). "PSU's Gross-Matos has endured tragedy". sungazette.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Coghill Jr., Taft (April 24, 2020). "Gross-Matos selected by Carolina Panthers on Day 2 of NFL draft". Fredericksburg.com. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
- ^ Coghill Jr., Taft (February 27, 2016). "Chancellor's Gross-Matos commits to Penn State". Fredericksburg.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Coghill Jr., Taft (December 31, 2018). "Gross-Matos hungry for more after breakout sophomore season at Penn State". Fredericksburg.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Wogenrich, Mark (August 4, 2019). "Penn State's Yetur Gross-Matos returns from suspension motivated, 'more mature'". York Dispatch. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Fitz, Sean (December 3, 2019). "Gross-Matos to forgo final season at PSU, will play in bowl". 247sports.com. Retrieved December 17, 2019.
- ^ "Yetur Gross-Matos Draft and Combine Prospect Profile". NFL.com. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ "Yetur Gross-Matos, Penn State, DE, 2020 NFL Draft Scout, NCAA College Football". draftscout.com. Retrieved December 7, 2021.
- ^ Simmons, Myles (April 24, 2020). "Panthers select DE Yetur Gross-Matos in second round". Panthers.com. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
- ^ "2020 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Arizona Cardinals at Carolina Panthers - October 4th, 2020". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved October 6, 2020.
- ^ Simmons, Myles (October 16, 2020). "Panthers place Tyler Larsen on reserve/COVID-19 list, Yetur Gross-Matos on reserve/injured list". Panthers.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ Simmons, Myles (November 7, 2020). "Panthers activate Christian McCaffrey, Yetur Gross-Matos". Panthers.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
- ^ "Panthers place Yetur Gross-Matos on reserve/COVID-19 list". Panthers.com. November 30, 2020. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ Weaver, Tim (December 10, 2020). "Panthers activate rookie DE Yetur Gross-Matos from reserve/COVID-19 list". Panthers Wire. USA Today. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ "Panthers place three on IR, activate one, agree to terms with two". Panthers.com. October 24, 2023. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
- ^ Gantt, Darin (December 2, 2023). "Jaycee Horn, Jeremy Chinn, Yetur Gross-Matos activated". Panthers.com. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
- ^ "49ers Acquire DL in Trade with Texans; Sign Three Free Agents". 49ers.com. March 14, 2024. Retrieved March 14, 2024.
- ^ "Yetur Gross-Matos Activated from IR, Luter Jr. & Wishnowsky Placed on IR, Other Moves Ahead of #SEAvsSF". 49ers.com. November 16, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
- ^ Alper, Josh (December 11, 2024). "Gross-Matos wins NFC Defensive Player of the Week for performance vs Bears". NBC Sports. Retrieved December 15, 2024.
External links
edit