#22

Cale Sanders

Former safety at SMU. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.

S · SMU · Sr. · #22

5′10″ · 185 lb · Porter, TX

CFB Index 46 · #301 of 537 safetiesMedium confidenceSMU 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

ATH recruit

No. 1284 nationally · Signed with Fresno State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former safety at SMU. Career stats, games and honors on CFB Zeitgeist.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Fresno State in 2021.
Transferred from Fresno State to SMU in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at SMU, 125 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20217 games

Signed with Fresno State3-star out of New Caney

202310 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1284 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

2 coaches

2021

Jim Leavitt

SMU

2022–2024

Rhett Lashlee

SMU

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Jim Leavitt → Rhett Lashlee. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Fresno State10-3HC: Lee Marks · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Fresno State10-4HC: Jeff Tedford · Balanced

2023SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning

2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

46Rotational starter #301 of 537?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (93rd percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (84th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#160 / 2892 · 93rd pct

Tackles for loss#419 / 2892 · 84th pct

6.0

Tackles#748 / 2892 · 74th pct

Solo tackles#937 / 2892 · 67th pct

Sacks#841 / 2892 · 63rd pct

1.0

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th 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

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	4.7	0.5	0.0	0.0
Road6g	2.8	0.5	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.8	0.3	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	3.7	0.7	0.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

46 · #301 of 537 safeties

Three-star recruit. Now #301 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	SMU	45	22	6.0	1.0	1	--	--
2023	SMU	29	21	4.0	0.0	6	1	--
2022	Fresno State	31	26	1.0	0.0	6	--	--
2021	Fresno State	20	18	1.0	0.0	3	1	--
Career		125	87	12.0	1.0	16	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 6 · 2024

W 34–27

at Louisville

5 TOT · 3 SOLO · 1 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With K. Jennings — 281 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 95.8 · 113 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · I. Pearson — 54 AVG · 56 LONG · 2 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 29-24@ Nevada	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 1	W 59-7vs Houston Christian	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 15-18vs BYU	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 4	W 66-42vs TCU	6	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 34-27@ Louisville	5	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 40-10@ Stanford	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 28-27@ Duke	3	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 48-25vs Pittsburgh	6	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 38-28vs Boston College	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 33-7@ Virginia	2	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 38-6vs California	5	1	2.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 10-38@ Penn State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		45	22	6.0	1.0	—	1

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