Tahj Sykes

Junior defensive lineman on Southern Miss's 2021 roster.

DL · Southern Miss · Jr. · #3

6′3″ · 308 lb · Columbus, MS

CFB Index 35 · #264 of 370 edge rushersLow confidenceSouthern Miss 2021 alumnus

The story

3 defensive lineman on Southern Miss's roster.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Southern Miss, 1 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

202010 games

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Southern Miss

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE USA

All-Conference USA mention (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

3 coaches

2018–2019

Jay Hopson

Southern Miss

2020

Scotty Walden

Southern Miss

era →

2021

Will Hall

Southern Miss

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Jay Hopson, Scotty Walden, and Will Hall. Multi-era developmental context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Southern Miss6-5HC: Jay Hopson · Balanced

2019Southern Miss7-6HC: Jay Hopson · Balanced

2020Southern Miss3-7HC: Scotty Walden · Run-leaning

2021Southern Miss3-9HC: Will Hall · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

35Below cohort / limited sample #264 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (84th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#323 / 2743 · 84th pct

Tackles for loss#1233 / 2743 · 52nd pct

2.5

Tackles#1950 / 2743 · 28th pct

Solo tackles#2005 / 2743 · 25th pct

Sacks#1435 / 2743 · 24th pct

0.0

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	2.7	0.4	0.0	0.0
Road4g	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.8	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	2.2	0.2	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Anderson

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

35 · #264 of 370 edge rushers

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Southern Miss	20	10	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
2020	Southern Miss	26	9	5.0	1.0	--	--	--
2019	Southern Miss	3	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Southern Miss	9	4	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		58	24	8.0	1.0	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2021

W 37–0

vs Grambling

1 TOT · 2 QB HUR

Dominant 37-point win at home against Grambling.

With F. Gore Jr. — 162 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD · M. Hunt — 47 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 53 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	Note
Wk 2	W 37-0vs Grambling	1	0	0.0	—
Wk 3	L 9-21vs Troy	4	2	1.5	—
Wk 4	L 14-63@ Alabama	1	0	0.0	—
Wk 5	L 19-24@ Rice	1	0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 13-26vs UTEP	2	1	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 0-34vs UAB	2	1	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 10-35@ Middle Tennessee	1	1	0.0	—
Wk 10	L 14-38vs North Texas	5	3	1.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 12	W 35-19@ Louisiana Tech	1	1	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 37-17vs Florida International	2	1	0.0	—
Total		20	10	2.5	—

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

Tahj Sykes

202010 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Nose Anchor

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