Branden Leston

Position:
LB
Height:
6-3
Weight:
215
Class:
Sophomore
Hometown:
Clearwater, Fla.

Career Game Highs:

Total Tackles- 13 at Old Dominion (10/31/15)
Solo Tackles- 9 vs. FAU (11/7/15)
Tackles for Loss- 1, Seven times
Sacks- 1 at Navy (9/27/14)

2015 (r-Jr.): A former walk-on and transfer, Leston had the most tackles by a Hilltopper secondary player with 96 since Brian Lowder tallied as many in 2002. Of Leston's 96 tackles, a team-high 70 were solo as were his 30 tackles on passing plays. He started 13 games and appeared in all 14, missing the first half of the Louisiana Tech game due to a targeting penalty in the season opener. Leston finished the year with three tackles for loss and picked off one pass - that coming on the opening drive of the Conference USA Championship Game which he returned for 16 yards. Leston broke up three passes on the year, one each at Rice, at Old Dominion and vs. Marshall. He had a season and career-best day against Old Dominion when he tallied 13 tackles (six solo), the second-most in a single game under head coach Jeff Brohm. He had nine tackles, all solo, against FIU, another career-high. 2014 (r-So.): Leston emerged as the Hilltopper's starting free safety halfway through the season, starting seven of the last eight games, after coming to The Hill as a walk-on. He finished the season third on the team with 63 tackles (41 solo) and a team-high four interceptions. Leston's breakout moment came in a win over No. 19 Marshall when he picked off Marshall QB Rakeem Cato three times in the first half, tying an FBS single-game high at WKU and the second-most in program history. Leston was named CFPA National Defensive Player of the Week after that game. Leston also tallied three tackles for loss and one sack, that coming at Navy in the fourth quarter to stop a Midshipmen rally. He was also the only player on the Hilltopper defense to tally a statistic in at least seven categories, tackles, TFL, sacks, interceptions, pass breakups, hurries and fumble recoveries. 2013 (r-Fr.): Leston sat out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. Before WKU: Leston attended Division II Presbyterian College, tallying 44 tackles (28 solo) and 1.5 tackles for loss as a true freshman. He also recovered one fumble at Georgia Tech and returned it 91 yards. HS/Misc.: Leston was a linebacker and wide receiver at Clearwater HS in Clearwater, Fla. He played in the Pinellas County All-Star game and was a Second-Team All-Conference Receiver. As a senior, Leston caught 50 passes for 800 yards and 10 touchdowns. Leston was also a guard on a basketball team that reached the regional finals.