Drake Thomas: LB · NC State · #32.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Drake Thomas
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Four seasons in the NC State linebacker corps to date. That makes two straight seasons on the honors list: All-ACC again in 2022. A game that shows it: 14 tackles and 2 tackles for loss against Florida State — Week 6, 2022.
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
91 tackles. 4 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 16 TFL.
Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 21-20@ East Carolina | 7 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 55-3vs Charleston Southern | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 27-14vs Texas Tech | 8 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 41-10vs UConn | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 20-30@ No. 5 Clemson | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 19-17vs Florida State | 14 | 7 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | Season-high 14 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 9-24@ No. 18 Syracuse | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 22-21vs Virginia Tech | 8 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 30-21vs No. 20 Wake Forest | 9 | 4 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 11 | L 20-21vs Boston College | 6 | 3 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 1 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 12 | L 10-25@ Louisville | 7 | 4 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 30-27@ No. 18 North Carolina | 10 | 7 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 12-16vs Maryland | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 91 | 45 | 16.0 | 7.5 | — | 4 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
91tackles this seasonTFL rate
18%16 TFLSack rate
8%8 sacksPD rate
4%4 pass breakups91 tackles · 16 for loss · 7.5 sacks.
4 seasons under Dave Doeren, all balanced offenses — 29-20 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 7.7 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Road5g | 7.2 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 8.0 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dave Doeren
Pass share
52.2%
469 pass / 430 run
Plays / game
69.2
13 games
Team sack rate
5.1%
507 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2022
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
The All-Conference honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #7 of 548 FBS linebackers by CFB Zeitgeist Score.2022 profile
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #7 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at NC State, 282 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 45 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-ACC · 2ND TEAM
All-ACC 2nd team (2022)
Weekly recognition
2 weekly honors (2021)
3 career weekly honors across 2 seasons
Coaching lineage · 2019–2022
1 coachPlayed every college season under Dave Doeren.
