Cian Slone

Senior linebacker for NC State. 2025: 62 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

LB · NC State · Sr. · #8

6′4″ · 250 lb · Rocklin, CA

CFB Index 71 · #116 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to NC State for 2026

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

QB hurries: 100th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

7 TFL · 1.5 sacks · 1 PBU

Best game: 10 tackles, 1.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, vs Georgia Tech

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for NC State. 2025: 62 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

Signed with Utah State in 2023.
Transferred from Utah State to NC State in 2025.

His career, year by year

Cian Slone

LB · NC State · Sr · #8

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Three head coaches in three seasons, at two different programs. His first career honor landed in 2024: All-Mountain West. The receipt: 10 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Georgia Tech — Week 10, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Utah State6-7HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning

2024Utah State4-8HC: Nate Dreiling · Balanced

2025NC State8-5HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

71Quality starter #116 of 583?

High confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (100th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (90th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

QB hurries#1 / 2975 · 100th pct

Tackles for loss#277 / 2975 · 90th pct

7.0

Tackles#373 / 2975 · 87th pct

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct

1.5

Solo tackles#790 / 2975 · 73rd pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	5.8	0.8	0.2	0.1
Road5g	3.2	0.2	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	4.9	0.6	0.1	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	4.6	0.5	0.1	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 · 2025

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

71 · #116 of 583 LBs

Unranked recruit. Now #116 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #14 of 74 ACC LBs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	NC State	62	24	7.0	1.5	1	1	--
2024	Utah State	49	26	9.5	7.5	--	--	--
2023	Utah State	28	12	6.5	2.0	4	--	--
Career		139	62	23.0	11.0	5	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 35–31

vs Virginia

1 SOLO · 4 TOT · 1 INT

Edged out Virginia at home in a shootout.

With C. Bailey — 200 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.0 · 44 rush yds (6 car) · 2 TD · C. Noonkester — 49 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 58 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 24-17vs East Carolina	7	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 35-31vs Virginia	4	1	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 3	W 34-24@ Wake Forest	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 33-45@ Duke	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 21-23vs Virginia Tech	7	3	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 56-10vs Campbell	5	0	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 7	L 7-36@ Notre Dame	5	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 34-53@ Pittsburgh	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 48-36vs Georgia Tech	10	5	1.5	0.5	—	0	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 12	L 7-41@ Miami	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 21-11vs Florida State	6	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 42-19vs North Carolina	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 31-7vs Memphis	6	3	0.5	0.0	—	0
Total		62	24	7.0	1.5	1	1

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

13 games

62Tackles

24Solo

7TFL

1.5Sacks

1Pass def.

1INT

62 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 7 TFL.

Week 21 INT
Week 51 sack
Week 61 PD
Week 100.5 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

NC State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · NC State

Returning around him

2 NC State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -2 net (20 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

NC State · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #32 · 2026 recruiting class #49

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jeremiah Moon’s 2021 season.

Jeremiah Moon

62%match

Florida · 2021

Matt Harmon

Kent State · 2024

62%

Tevarua Tafiti

Stanford · 2023

57%

Cooper McDonald

San Diego State · 2023

56%

Byron Vaughns

Utah State · 2022

54%

Matches Jeremiah on

Tackle volume

Differs from Jeremiah on

Hurry rate (higher)

Class year (higher)

TFL rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Aaron Lewis's junior season at Rutgers (2022).

Aaron Lewis

72%match

Rutgers · 2022

Deontae Craig

Iowa · 2023

68%

Alec Mock

Air Force · 2022

All-Mountain West

62%

Lebbeus Overton

Alabama · 2024

62%

Wade Woodaz

Clemson · 2024

NFL Rd 4

61%

Matches Aaron on

Tackle volume

Weight

Height

Differs from Aaron on

Hurry rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Cian Slone

Kameron Olds

Kent State · 2024

70%

Brandon Mack

Houston · 2025

68%

Cameron Whitfield

Louisiana · 2024

67%

Maurice Westmoreland

UTEP · 2024

66%

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

Cian Slone

202312 games

202412 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Cian Slone