#46

Ezekiel Barnett

Senior linebacker for Louisiana Tech. 2021: 46 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · Louisiana Tech · Sr. · #46

6′2″ · 207 lb · Benton, LA

CFB Index 30 · #456 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceLouisiana Tech 2021 alumnus

The story

4 linebacker for Louisiana Tech. 2021: 46 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Louisiana Tech, 165 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20208 games

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

202112 games

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Louisiana Tech

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE USA

All-Conference USA mention (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Skip Holtz

Louisiana Tech

Played his entire career under Skip Holtz.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Skip Holtz — 33-28 over that span.

2017Louisiana Tech7-6HC: Skip Holtz · Run-leaning

2018Louisiana Tech8-5HC: Skip Holtz · Balanced

2019Louisiana Tech10-3HC: Skip Holtz · Balanced

2020Louisiana Tech5-5HC: Skip Holtz · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Louisiana Tech3-9HC: Skip Holtz · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

30Below cohort / limited sample #456 of 578?

High confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: qb hurries (24th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles#703 / 2743 · 74th pct

Passes defended#735 / 2743 · 67th pct

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

Tackles for loss#1047 / 2743 · 58th pct

3.0

Solo tackles#1137 / 2743 · 57th pct

Forced fumbles#59 / 673 · 46th pct

Interceptions#320 / 824 · 31st pct

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.7	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road6g	4.0	0.5	0.2	0.3

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.0	0.1	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	3.7	0.4	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Sonny Cumbie

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

30 · #456 of 578 LBs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Louisiana Tech	46	20	3.0	1.0	2	1	--
2020	Louisiana Tech	48	32	3.5	0.0	--	2	--
2019	Louisiana Tech	59	41	6.5	4.0	2	1	--
2018	Louisiana Tech	7	7	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2017	Louisiana Tech	5	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		165	104	13.0	5.0	4	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2021

W 45–42

vs SE Louisiana

2 SOLO · 6 TOT

Edged out SE Louisiana at home in a shootout.

With A. Kendall — 217 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 49.1 · 10 rush yds (7 car) · 1 TD · C. Barajas — 38 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 46 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 34-35@ Mississippi State	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 45-42vs SE Louisiana	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 37-39vs SMU	10	5	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 4	W 24-17vs North Texas	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 27-34@ NC State	4	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 3-19@ UTEP	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 8	L 16-45vs UTSA	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 20-23@ Old Dominion	6	2	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	L 38-52@ UAB	6	5	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 42-32vs Charlotte	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 19-35vs Southern Miss	2	0	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 13	L 31-35@ Rice	5	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		46	20	3.0	1.0	1	2

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology