I’m not sure who started the “Bench Akheem Mesidor” fam club, but it has to be in the CIS hall of fame as the dummest take of all time. Mesidor has been selected to the All Conference team every season of his career that he has been fully healthy. He is a leader who has consistently taken on the challenge to play out of position to help his team, at West Virginia he even played Nose Tackle. He has been very productive every season he has started averaging 5.5 sacks and 8.5 TFLs. He has only played one full season at DE which was the 2022 season, posting the best single season stats of his career, and that’s with playing 2 less games than he played the other two seasons as a starter (2021 & 2024). That in itself should tell you him playing DE exclusively is best for both him and this team.
Career Overview:
Games Played, Starts, and Stats by Season
- 2020 (West Virginia playing NT):
Games Played: 10
Starts: Not a starter (rotational freshman)
Total Tackles: 32
Sacks: 5.0
Tackles for Loss (TFL): 6.5
- 2021 (West Virginia playing DE/DT):
Games Played: 13
Starts: 13
Total Tackles: 38
Sacks: 4.5
TFL: 8.0
- 2022 (Miami playing DE):
Games Played: 11
Starts: 8
Total Tackles: 38
Sacks: 7.0
TFL: 10.5
Forced Fumbles: 1
Passes Defended: 4
- 2023 (Miami):
Games Played: 2
Starts: 2
Total Tackles: 5
Sacks: 1.0
TFL: 1.0
Games Missed Due to Injury: 11 (season-ending foot injury)
- 2024 (Miami playing DT/DE:
Games Played: 13
Starts: 13
Total Tackles: 32 (17 solo)
Sacks: 5.5
TFL: 9.0
Forced Fumbles: 1
QB Hurries: 6
Career Totals (Through 2024):
- Games Played: 50
- Games Started: 36
- Total Tackles: 145
- Total Sacks: 23.0
- Total Tackles for Loss (TFL): 35
- Forced Fumbles: 2
- Passes Defended: 4
Awards and Conference Team Selections:
- 2020 (West Virginia):
- All-Big 12 Second Team (coaches)
- ESPN True Freshman All-America First Team
- The Athletic Freshman All-America Second Team
- 2021 (West Virginia):
- Honorable Mention All-Big 12
- 2022 (Miami):
- Honorable Mention All-ACC
- 2024 (Miami):
- Honorable Mention All-ACC
In 2022 he only played in 11 games, not the normal 12-13. So if he averaged his 2022 states even with 1-2 less games per season here is how he would have ranked on those Miami defensive lines from 2011 - 2021, that had 8 players drafted.
2011
- Sacks: 2nd best on team
- TFL: 3rd best on team
2012
- Sacks: 2nd best on team
- TFL: 3rd best on team
2013
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2014
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2015
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2016
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2017
- Sacks: 4th best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2018
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2019
- Sacks: 4th best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2020
- Sacks: 4th best on team
- TFL: 4th best on team
2021
- Sacks: 3rd best on team
- TFL: 3rd best on team
If you think any staff is benching a player with these numbers you don’t know football at all. Yes the 5star behind him will play and play a lot, but if Miami is serious about winning at all he starts every game this season.