Kivon Bennett

Senior linebacker for Arkansas State. 2022: 50 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks.

LB · Arkansas State · Sr. · #5

6′2″ · 236 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL

CFB Index 73 · #93 of 548 LBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceArkansas State 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

DT recruit

No. 473 nationally · Signed with Tennessee

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Arkansas State. 2022: 50 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Tennessee in 2017.
Transferred from Tennessee to Arkansas State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Arkansas State, 160 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2017

Signed with Tennessee3-star out of St. Thomas Aquinas

202112 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal
All-Sun Beltsecond

202211 games

All-Sun Beltthird

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#473 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

6 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-SUN BELT

All-Sun Belt mention (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2022

2 coaches

2017–2020

Blake Anderson

Arkansas State

2021–2022

Butch Jones

Arkansas State

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Blake Anderson → Butch Jones. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

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

2018Tennessee5-7HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning, slow tempo

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

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

2021Arkansas State2-10HC: Butch Jones · Pass-heavy

2022Arkansas State3-9HC: Butch Jones · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

73Quality starter #93 of 548?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (96th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (94th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#103 / 2755 · 96th pct

5.5

Tackles for loss#153 / 2755 · 94th pct

9.5

QB hurries#329 / 2755 · 85th pct

Tackles#558 / 2755 · 79th pct

Solo tackles#853 / 2755 · 68th pct

Passes defended#744 / 2755 · 66th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.2	1.0	0.6	0.0
Road5g	5.0	0.7	0.4	0.4

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.0	0.7	0.3	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	5.2	1.1	0.7	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Butch Jones

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

73 · #93 of 548 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #93 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Arkansas State	50	23	9.5	5.5	2	--	--
2021	Arkansas State	58	28	16.5	8.0	2	--	--
2020	Tennessee	22	13	7.5	4.5	--	--	--
2019	Tennessee	27	13	6.0	2.0	1	--	--
2018	Tennessee	2	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2017	Tennessee	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		160	79	39.5	20.0	5	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 58–3

vs Grambling

0 TFL · 1 SOLO · 2 TOT

Dominant 55-point win at home against Grambling.

With J. Lang — 124 rush yds (13 car) · 1 TD · J. Blackman — 210 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 97.8 · 11 rush yds (2 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 58-3vs Grambling	2	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 12-45@ Ohio State	4	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 32-44@ Memphis	5	3	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 5	W 45-28vs UL Monroe	3	2	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 6	L 20-42vs James Madison	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 19-20@ Southern Miss	8	1	1.5	1.0	—	1	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 8	L 18-38@ Louisiana	7	2	0.5	0.5	—	1
Wk 9	L 3-31vs South Alabama	5	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 35-33vs Massachusetts	5	3	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 13-16@ Texas State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 19-48vs Troy	8	5	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Total		50	23	9.5	5.5	—	2

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