#90

Sam Benjamin

Senior defensive lineman for San Diego State. 2025: 1.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 18 tackles.

DL · San Diego State · Sr. · #90

6′5″ · 285 lb · Oro Valley, AZ

CFB Index 26 · #346 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to San Diego State for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 10 pm ETvs James MadisonSnapdragon StadiumSan Diego State by 2.5

The numbers

1.5

sacks · 2025

3 TFL · 18 tackles · 2 hurries

Best game: 1.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 3 tackles, at New Mexico

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for San Diego State. 2025: 1.5 sacks, 3 tackles for loss, 18 tackles.

Transferred from Arizona State to San Diego State in 2024.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Sacks: 74th percentile.

The full scouting read

Sam Benjamin

DL · San Diego State · Sr · #90

Wins his gap play after play. Sam Benjamin has played for two head coaches across three seasons and two programs. The receipt: 3 tackles, 1.5 sacks against New Mexico — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Arizona State3-9HC: Kenny Dillingham · Balanced

2024San Diego State3-9HC: Sean Lewis · Run-leaning

2025San Diego State9-4HC: Sean Lewis · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

26Below cohort / limited sample #346 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (12th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct

1.5

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0

Tackles#2161 / 2975 · 26th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Solo tackles#2560 / 2975 · 12th 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

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	1.3	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road4g	2.5	0.8	0.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	1.7	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+3g	2.0	0.5	0.5	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 · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

26 · #346 of 420 edge rushers

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Pac-12

Based on 2025: #27 of 35 Mountain West DLs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026

How the All-Pac-12 estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player. The base rate was measured on players who stayed in the same conference; this estimate is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	San Diego State	18	6	3.0	1.5	--	--	--
2024	San Diego State	4	3	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Arizona State	5	2	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		27	11	4.5	1.5	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2025

W 17–7

vs Boise State

2 TOT

With H. Green — 45 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 53 LONG · L. Sutton — 150 rush yds (25 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 42-0vs Stony Brook	0	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 2	L 13-36@ Washington State	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	W 34-0vs California	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 6-3@ Northern Illinois	2	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 6	W 45-24vs Colorado State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	W 44-10@ Nevada	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 12	W 17-7vs Boise State	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 25-3vs San José State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 17-23@ New Mexico	3	1	1.5	1.5	—
Bowl	L 47-49vs North Texas	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		18	6	3.0	1.5	—

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

18Tackles

6Solo

3TFL

1.5Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

18 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.

Week 141.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

San Diego State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · San Diego State

Returning around him

1 San Diego State player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +0 net (26 in / 26 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

San Diego State · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #89 · 2026 recruiting class #83

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Treven Ma'ae’s 2024 season.

Treven Ma'ae

90%match

Baylor · 2024

Will Whitson

Coastal Carolina · 2024

All-Sun Belt

86%

Lebbeus Overton

Alabama · 2025

86%

Sokoya McDuffie

UConn · 2022

85%

Christian James

Vanderbilt · 2022

85%

Matches Treven on

TFL rate

Weight

Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Braden Fiske's junior season at Western Michigan (2022).

Braden Fiske

85%match

Western Michigan · 2022

All-ACCNFL Rd 2 · Pk 7

Trajan Jeffcoat

Missouri · 2022

All-SEC

83%

Stephon Wright

UConn · 2025

83%

Anthony Goodlow

Tulsa · 2022

All-AAC

82%

Kahlil Saunders

Kentucky · 2023

82%

Matches Braden on

Class year

Sack rate

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Sam Benjamin

Lebbeus Overton

Alabama · 2025

86%

The defensive line · San Diego State

#56August SalvatiDL · Jr.3.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#90Sam BenjaminDL · Sr.3 tackles for loss · 2025
#91Amari ComierDL · Sr.2.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#18Kai WallinDL · Sr.2 tackles for loss · 2025
#91Djibril Abdou RahmanDL · Jr.1 tackle for loss · 2025

20 more on the roster · San Diego State team page

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

20243 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Sam Benjamin

The defensive line · San Diego State