#29

Alim McNeill

Former defensive tackle at NC State. 2020: 1 sack, 4.5 tackles for loss, 25 tackles.

DT · NC State · Jr. · #29

6′2″ · 320 lb · Raleigh, NC

National watchDetroit — drafted 2021, Rd 3, Pick 8, #72 overall

Recruiting

4★

DT recruit

No. 191 nationally · Signed with NC State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive tackle at NC State. 2020: 1 sack, 4.5 tackles for loss, 25 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to NC State in 2018.
Drafted round 3 by the Detroit in 2021.
Named All-America (The Athletic) in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at NC State, 77 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #72 overall by Detroit.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

201811 games

Signed with NC State4-star out of Sanderson

202011 games

All-Americafirst
All-ACCfirst

2021

Drafted by Detroitround 3, pick 72

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#191 national

CFB

College

NC State

2018–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #72

Detroit · 2021

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors

🥇

ALL-AMERICA

Named All-American (2020)

1 selectors honored him

🥈

ALL-ACC · 1ST TEAM

All-ACC 1st team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2020

1 coach

2018–2020

Dave Doeren

NC State

Played his entire career under Dave Doeren.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

DetroitEntering 6th NFL season

#72Rd 3 · Pick 8

DetroitEntering 6th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Dave Doeren, all balanced offenses — 21-16 over that span.

2018NC State9-4HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2019NC State4-8HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2020NC State8-4HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (11th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles for loss#426 / 2211 · 79th pct

4.5

QB hurries#468 / 2211 · 69th pct

Sacks#580 / 2211 · 66th pct

1.0

Tackles#1057 / 2211 · 51st pct

Forced fumbles#39 / 497 · 46th pct

Interceptions#180 / 568 · 34th pct

Passes defended#1276 / 2211 · 21st pct

Solo tackles#1923 / 2211 · 11th 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

2020 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.0	0.5	0.2	0.0
Road5g	1.4	0.3	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	0.8	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.3	0.1	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dave Doeren

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

National watch / fringe AA

In the All-America conversation, short of a selector's first team.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Selector Grid · 2020

AP—

FWAA—

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	NC State	25	6	4.5	1.0	--	1	--
2019	NC State	28	16	7.5	5.5	2	--	--
2018	NC State	24	14	5.5	3.5	3	--	--
Career		77	36	17.5	10.0	5	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2020

W 15–14

vs Liberty

4 TOT · 2 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 at home.

With T. Gill — 43 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 56 LONG · B. Hockman — 154 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · -3 rush yds (9 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week