Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 59-7vs Texas State | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 24-23vs Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 2 tackles |
| Total | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 |
#1
Colin Simmons
Before he could legally buy a beer, Colin Simmons led the entire SEC in sacks. Texas's quarterback gets the headlines; its sophomore edge rusher might be the best player on the roster.
6′3″ · 246 lb · Dallas, TX · Duncanville
CFB Index 96 · #3 of 583 LBsMedium confidenceNational watch
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
1
sack · 2026 · through week 2
2.5 TFL · 3 tackles · 1 hurries
2 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 1 sacks, 2 TFL, 2 tackles, vs Ohio State
Statement game4 tackles · 3 TFL · 3 sacksat Kentucky (FBS) · W 16-13
Top 1% sacks game since 2021.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Before he could legally buy a beer, Colin Simmons led the entire SEC in sacks. Texas's quarterback gets the headlines; its sophomore edge rusher might be the best player on the roster.
- Signed as a 5-star recruit to Texas in 2024.
- Named Preseason All-America in 2026.
Buzz vs Tape
Every angle we can check here reads about where you'd expect this season.
36own fans
25national conversation
In Their Words
373 windows · 2026 fan posts
colin×239.4simmons×36.7texas×9.0consistently×54.7stewart×43.5ohio×9.8osu×21.6arch×11.1
“Colin Simmons. Heisman's generally a QB award, but mans is build different”
reddit/CFB · fan post, verbatim
The story
Simmons arrived as the nation's top edge recruit and hit immediately: Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year in 2024 with nine sacks, then a sophomore leap that led the SEC outright -- 12 sacks, 15.5 tackles for loss, and a sack in each of his last five regular-season games. He's a consensus All-American and, by the way, still a teenager.
On a Texas team built around Arch Manning's Heisman push, Simmons is the quiet half of the title case -- the disruptor who makes a championship defense go, maturing now into a vocal leader as well as a sack artist.
The forward stakes are simple and large: a third dominant season cements him as the best edge rusher in college football and a likely top draft pick, and gives Texas the pass rush a national title usually requires. The only question is whether the league has figured out how to block him -- because through two years, it hasn't.
His career
He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.
Simmons wins with the first step. He's a speed-to-power edge whose get-off forces tackles to open their hips early -- and once they do, he's bending the corner or converting the rush back into their chest. The production isn't a hot streak: a sack in each of his last five regular-season games, three in one night against Kentucky, and an SEC-leading 12 for the year as a sophomore. What he's added is the part that scares coordinators most -- he's pairing the burst with a plan, stringing pass-rush moves instead of running the same arc. The one thing left to round out is the run-game grind on early downs. But as a pure pass rusher, two years in, the SEC still hasn't found an answer -- and that's the rare kind of problem a national-title defense is built on.
Written by our staff.
202414 games
- Signed with Texas5-star out of Duncanville
202512 games
- All-SECfirst
2026
- Preseason All-AmericaFirst Team
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★★
CFB
College
Texas
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🥇
ALL-AMERICA
Named All-American (2026)
1 selectors honored him
🥈
ALL-SEC · 1ST TEAM
All-SEC 1st team (2025)
Badges
- Honors Badge
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Texas
Played his entire career under Steve Sarkisian.
2026 snapshot
Since week 1: +1 sack, +2 tackles for loss, +2 tackles.
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Steve Sarkisian, all balanced offenses — 25-6 over that span.
2024Texas13-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
2025Texas10-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
2026Texas2-0HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
High confidence
Elite: tackles for loss (91st percentile). Strength: sacks (87th percentile). Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (7)
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 splits
Through 2 games: 1.5 TKL/g, 1.2 TFL/g, 0.5 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Steve Sarkisian
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
All-Conference 1st team
First team in his league at the position.
our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #3 of 583 FBS linebackers by CFB Index Score.2025 profile
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Production · CFB Index Score
96 · #3 of 583 LBs
Former five-star. Now #3 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-SEC
Based on 2025: #1 of 76 SEC LBs
How the All-SEC estimate is computed
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. 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.
Selector Grid · 2026
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 24–23
vs Ohio State
1 sacks · 2 tackles for loss · 2 tackles
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 at home.
With A. Manning — 195 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 83.0 · 24 rush yds (8 car) · D. Smothers — 74 rush yds (21 car) · 2 TD
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Simmons wins with the first step. He's a speed-to-power edge whose get-off forces tackles to open their hips early -- and once they do, he's bending the corner or converting the rush back into their chest. The production isn't a hot streak: a sack in each of his last five regular-season games, three in one night against Kentucky, and an SEC-leading 12 for the year as a sophomore. What he's added is the part that scares coordinators most -- he's pairing the burst with a plan, stringing pass-rush moves instead of running the same arc. The one thing left to round out is the run-game grind on early downs. But as a pure pass rusher, two years in, the SEC still hasn't found an answer -- and that's the rare kind of problem a national-title defense is built on.
Our classifier reads him the same way: fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Starter
Returning starter at the defensive line for a 10-3 Texas team that went -6 in the portal.
DNA match
Player DNA
Thumper
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
EDGE
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Romello Height’s 2025 season.
57%match
All-Big 12NFL Rd 3 · Pk 6
Matches Romello on
Weight
Sack rate
Differs from Romello on
Class year (lower)
TFL rate (higher)
PD rate (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Brenton Cox's sophomore season at Florida (2021).
61%match
Differs from Brenton on
Class year (lower)
Sack rate (higher)
Hurry rate (higher)
Player DNA
Players who play like Colin Simmons
Background
A third-year EDGE ... has played in 29 career games with 13 starts ... on 2026 preseason watch lists for the Lombardi Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Allstate Wuerffel Trophy ... Walter Camp presason First-Team All-American ... preseason First-Team All-SEC ... 2026 Phil Steele preseason First-T...
The defensive line · Texas
- #1Colin Simmons15.5 tackles for loss · 2025
- #93Hero Kanu4 tackles for loss · 2025
- #95Ian Geffrard4 tackles for loss · 2025
- #19Zina Umeozulu3 tackles for loss · 2025
- #97Alex January2.5 tackles for loss · 2025
14 more on the roster · Texas team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology