#97

Sam Okuayinonu

Senior defensive lineman for Maryland. 2021: 6 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 55 tackles.

DL · Maryland · Sr. · #97

6′1″ · 290 lb · Lowell, MA

CFB Index 41 · #246 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-ConferenceMaryland 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

SDE recruit

No. 104 nationally · Joined Maryland

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Maryland. 2021: 6 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 55 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Maryland in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Maryland, 8 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20199 games

Signed with Maryland3-star out of Mesabi Range C.C.

202112 games

All-Big Tenthird

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#104 national

CFB

College

Maryland

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-BIG TEN

All-Big Ten mention (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

1 coach

2019–2021

Mike Locksley

Maryland

Played his entire career under Mike Locksley.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Mike Locksley — 12-18 over that span.

2019Maryland3-9HC: Mike Locksley · Run-leaning

2020Maryland2-3HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced, slow tempo

2021Maryland7-6HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

41Rotational starter #246 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (96th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (92nd percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#96 / 2743 · 96th pct

6.0

Tackles for loss#212 / 2743 · 92nd pct

8.5

Solo tackles#384 / 2743 · 86th pct

Tackles#495 / 2743 · 82nd pct

QB hurries#827 / 2743 · 59th 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.6	0.6	0.4	0.0
Road5g	5.4	0.8	0.6	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.8	1.2	0.8	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	0.2	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Locksley

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

41 · #246 of 370 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #246 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Maryland	55	36	8.5	6.0	--	--	--
2020	Maryland	17	5	1.5	0.5	--	--	--
2019	Maryland	31	18	4.5	1.0	--	--	--
Career		103	59	14.5	7.5	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 20–17

at Illinois

1 QB HUR · 2 TFL · 2 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With T. Tagovailoa — 350 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 84.6 · 25 rush yds (6 car) · A. Pecorella — 49 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 56 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 30-24vs West Virginia	4	2	1.5	1.0	—
Wk 2	W 62-0vs Howard	2	2	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 3	W 20-17@ Illinois	6	3	2.0	2.0	—	2 sacks
Wk 4	W 37-16vs Kent State	4	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 14-51vs Iowa	3	2	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 6	L 17-66@ Ohio State	4	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 16-34@ Minnesota	9	3	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 9	W 38-35vs Indiana	4	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	L 14-31vs Penn State	5	4	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 21-40@ Michigan State	3	2	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 12	L 18-59vs Michigan	3	3	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 40-16@ Rutgers	5	4	0.0	0.0	—
Total		52	33	8.5	6.0	—

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