Nyles Pinckney

Senior defensive lineman for Minnesota. 2021: 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

DL · Minnesota · Sr. · #5

6′1″ · 290 lb · Beaufort, SC

CFB Index 58 · #142 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceMinnesota 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

DT recruit

No. 340 nationally · Signed with Clemson

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Minnesota. 2021: 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Clemson in 2016.
Transferred from Clemson to Minnesota in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Minnesota, 6 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2016

Signed with Clemson4-star out of Whale Branch

202110 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#340 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

P.J. Fleck

Minnesota

Played his entire career under P.J. Fleck.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Clemson12-2HC: Dabo Swinney · Run-leaning

2018Clemson15-0HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced

2019Clemson14-1HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced

2020Clemson10-2HC: Dabo Swinney · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Minnesota9-4HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

58Quality starter #142 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (90th percentile). Strength: sacks (82nd percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#213 / 2743 · 90th pct

Sacks#443 / 2743 · 82nd pct

2.5

Tackles for loss#914 / 2743 · 64th pct

3.5

Solo tackles#1273 / 2743 · 52nd pct

Tackles#1433 / 2743 · 47th pct

Passes defended#1695 / 2743 · 19th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	2.3	0.3	0.2	0.0
Road4g	3.5	0.4	0.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-74g	2.8	0.5	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.8	0.2	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

P.J. Fleck

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

58 · #142 of 370 edge rushers

Former four-star. Now #142 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Minnesota	29	18	3.5	2.5	--	--	--
2020	Clemson	22	12	3.0	1.0	--	--	--
2019	Clemson	20	4	4.0	1.0	--	--	--
2018	Clemson	21	10	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
2017	Clemson	17	5	2.5	1.0	--	--	--
Career		109	49	15.5	5.5	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2021

W 23–13

vs Wisconsin

1 QB HUR

With T. Morgan — 199 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 80.5 · -11 rush yds (5 car) · M. Irving — 39 rush yds (12 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 31-45vs Ohio State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	L 10-14vs Bowling Green	5	4	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 20-13@ Purdue	2	1	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 7	W 30-23vs Nebraska	3	1	1.5	1.0	—
Wk 8	W 34-16vs Maryland	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 41-14@ Northwestern	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	L 6-14vs Illinois	3	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 22-27@ Iowa	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 35-14@ Indiana	7	5	1.0	1.0	—	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 13	W 23-13vs Wisconsin	0	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		28	17	3.5	2.5	—

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