#66

Jonah Tavai

Senior defensive lineman for San Diego State. 2022: 10.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, 58 tackles.

DL · San Diego State · Sr. · #66

6′0″ · 290 lb · Manhattan Beach, CA

CFB Index 94 · #6 of 387 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamSan Diego State 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

2★

DT recruit

No. 3806 nationally · Signed with Mira Costa

Statement game3 tackles · 3 TFL · 3 sacksvs San José State (FBS) · W 43-27

Top 1% tackles for loss game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for San Diego State. 2022: 10.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, 58 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Mira Costa in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at San Diego State, 26 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2018

Recruited2-star out of Mira Costa

20199 games

Signed with San Diego State2-star out of El Camino College

202213 games

All-Mountain Westfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3806 national

CFB

College

San Diego State

2019–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM

All-Mountain West 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2022

2 coaches

2019

Rocky Long

San Diego State

2020–2022

Brady Hoke

San Diego State

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Rocky Long → Brady Hoke. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019San Diego State10-3HC: Rocky Long · Run-leaning

2020San Diego State4-4HC: Brady Hoke · Run-heavy

2021San Diego State12-2HC: Brady Hoke · Run-heavy

2022San Diego State7-6HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

94All-America level #6 of 387?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (100th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (99th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#4 / 2755 · 100th pct

10.5

Tackles for loss#21 / 2755 · 99th pct

14.0

QB hurries#126 / 2755 · 94th pct

Tackles#397 / 2755 · 85th pct

Solo tackles#523 / 2755 · 80th pct

Passes defended#1741 / 2755 · 18th 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

2022 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	4.1	1.1	0.8	0.0
Road5g	5.0	1.1	0.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.4	0.7	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.7	1.5	1.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Sean Lewis

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #6 of 387 FBS edge rushers by CFB Index Score.2022 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

94 · #6 of 387 edge rushers

Two-star recruit. Now #6 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	San Diego State	58	30	14.0	10.5	--	--	--
2021	San Diego State	47	23	14.0	8.5	1	--	--
2020	San Diego State	27	18	7.5	5.0	--	--	--
2019	San Diego State	15	7	2.0	1.5	--	--	--
Career		147	78	37.5	25.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2022

W 38–7

vs Idaho State

1 TOT

Dominant 31-point win at home against Idaho State.

With J. Browning — 26 rush yds (1 car) · J. Byrd — 58 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 20-38vs Arizona	4	3	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 38-7vs Idaho State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	L 7-35@ Utah	6	5	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 17-14vs Toledo	4	2	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 5	L 13-35@ Boise State	5	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 16-14vs Hawai'i	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	W 23-7@ Nevada	4	3	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 9	L 28-32@ Fresno State	6	2	2.5	2.5	—	2.5 sacks
Wk 10	W 14-10vs UNLV	5	0	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 11	W 43-27vs San José State	3	3	3.0	3.0	—	3 sacks
Wk 12	W 34-10@ New Mexico	4	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 3-13vs Air Force	12	6	1.0	0.0	—	Season-high 12 tackles
Bowl	L 23-25vs Middle Tennessee	2	1	1.5	1.5	—
Total		58	30	14.0	10.5	—

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

Jonah Tavai

2018

20199 games

202213 games

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

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