# Yetur Gross-Matos

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.

## Early life

Gross-Matos was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey but grew up 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.
Gross-Matos attended Chancellor High School in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. During his high school career, he had 37 sacks. He committed to Pennsylvania State University to play college football.

## College career

As 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. 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.

### College statistics

| Season | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Season | Games | 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

Pre-draft measurables :
| 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 |||||||

### Carolina Panthers

Gross-Matos was selected by the Carolina Panthers with the 38th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the second defensive end taken behind Chase Young.
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. He suffered an ankle injury in Week 5 and was placed on injured reserve on October 16, 2020. He was activated on November 7, 2020, prior to Week 9. He was placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list by the team on November 30, 2020, and activated on December 10.
On October 24, 2023, Gross-Matos was placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. He was activated on December 2. He appeared in 12 games in the 2023 season. He had 4.5 sacks and 36 tackles.

### San Francisco 49ers

On March 14, 2024, Gross-Matos signed a two-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers. On November 16, 2024, Gross-Matos was activated from the injured reserve.
On December 8, 2024, Gross-Matos had arguably the best game of his career against the Chicago Bears, recording four tackles and three sacks. He was named NFC Defensive Player of the week for his performance.

## NFL career statistics

Legend :
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Games | Games | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Tackles | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Interceptions | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles | Fumbles |
| Year | Team | 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 | Career | 55 | 32 | 142 | 64 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 0 |