#48

Ja'Quain Blakely

Senior defensive lineman for Tennessee. 2021: 1.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

DL · Tennessee · Sr. · #48

6′2″ · 285 lb · Moultrie, GA

CFB Index 31 · #275 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceTennessee 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

OLB recruit

No. 556 nationally · Signed with Tennessee

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Tennessee. 2021: 1.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Tennessee in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Tennessee, 4 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2016

Signed with Tennessee3-star out of Colquitt County

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#556 national

CFB

College

Tennessee

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

3 coaches

2017

Butch Jones

Tennessee

2019–2020

Jeremy Pruitt

Tennessee

era →

2021

Josh Heupel

Tennessee

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Butch Jones, Jeremy Pruitt, and Josh Heupel. Multi-era developmental context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Tennessee4-8HC: Butch Jones · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2019Tennessee8-5HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning

2020Tennessee3-7HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning

2021Tennessee7-6HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

31Below cohort / limited sample #275 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (90th percentile). Concern: solo tackles (21st percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#213 / 2743 · 90th pct

Passes defended#481 / 2743 · 78th pct

Tackles for loss#592 / 2743 · 77th pct

5.0

Sacks#704 / 2743 · 72nd pct

1.5

Tackles#1433 / 2743 · 47th pct

Solo tackles#2110 / 2743 · 21st 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	2.4	0.3	0.1	0.4
Road3g	3.0	0.8	0.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	0.7	0.2	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	1.6	0.2	0.0	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #275 of 370 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #275 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Tennessee	29	9	5.0	1.5	3	--	--
2020	Tennessee	5	3	2.0	2.0	--	--	--
2019	Tennessee	8	3	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2017	Tennessee	2	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		44	17	7.0	3.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2021

W 45–42

at Kentucky

2 SOLO · 2 TOT

Edged out Kentucky on the road in a shootout.

With H. Hooker — 316 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 76.6 · 41 rush yds (11 car) · V. Jones Jr. — 5 rec · 100 yds · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 38-6vs Bowling Green	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 34-41vs Pittsburgh	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 56-0vs Tennessee Tech	3	0	0.5	0.5	—	1
Wk 4	L 14-38@ Florida	5	1	1.5	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 45-20vs South Carolina	6	1	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 7	L 26-31vs Ole Miss	3	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 24-52@ Alabama	2	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 45-42@ Kentucky	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 17-41vs Georgia	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 12	W 60-14vs South Alabama	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 45-21vs Vanderbilt	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		28	9	5.0	1.5	—	3

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

Ja'Quain Blakely

2016

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

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