#46

Ray Thornton

Senior linebacker for Texas. 2021: 31 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · Texas · Sr. · #46

6′3″ · 242 lb · Killeen, TX

CFB Index 19 · #526 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceTexas 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

WDE recruit

No. 206 nationally · Signed with LSU

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Texas. 2021: 31 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to LSU in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Texas, 76 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

4 programs, one constant: he played.

2016

Signed with LSU4-star out of Killeen Shoemaker

202111 games

Entered the portal

2022

Entered the portal

2023

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#206 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

2 coaches

2017–2020

Tom Herman

Texas

2021

Steve Sarkisian

Texas

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tom Herman → Steve Sarkisian. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017LSU9-4HC: Ed Orgeron · Run-heavy

2018LSU10-3HC: Ed Orgeron · Run-leaning

2019LSU15-0HC: Ed Orgeron · Balanced

2020LSU5-5HC: Ed Orgeron · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Texas5-7HC: Steve Sarkisian · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

19Below cohort / limited sample #526 of 578?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#688 / 2743 · 73rd pct

4.5

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

Tackles#1334 / 2743 · 51st pct

Solo tackles#1338 / 2743 · 50th pct

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.6	0.6	0.1	0.0
Road4g	3.2	0.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.9	0.6	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	2.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Steve Sarkisian

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

19 · #526 of 578 LBs

Former four-star. Now #526 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Texas	31	17	4.5	1.0	--	--	--
2020	LSU	5	4	2.0	2.0	--	--	--
2019	LSU	9	3	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	LSU	21	7	2.5	1.0	--	--	--
2017	LSU	10	2	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
Career		76	33	10.0	4.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2021

W 22–17

vs Kansas State

1 TOT · 1 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 at home.

With C. Dicker — 2 SOLO · 2 TOT · 39 LONG · R. Johnson — 2 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.7 · 179 rush yds (31 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 38-18vs Louisiana	4	4	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 2	L 21-40@ Arkansas	2	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 58-0vs Rice	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 70-35vs Texas Tech	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 32-27@ TCU	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 48-55vs Oklahoma	4	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 24-32vs Oklahoma State	6	5	3.0	0.0	—	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 9	L 24-31@ Baylor	5	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 56-57vs Kansas	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 23-31@ West Virginia	4	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 22-17vs Kansas State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Total		31	17	4.5	1.0	—

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