#56

D'Anta Johnson

Former defensive lineman at East Carolina. 2024: 0.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 38 tackles.

DL · East Carolina · Sr. · #56

6′2″ · 294 lb · Dinwiddie, VA

CFB Index 50 · #145 of 285 interior linemenLow confidenceEast Carolina 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

DT recruit

No. 2413 nationally · Signed with East Carolina

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive lineman at East Carolina. 2024: 0.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 38 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to East Carolina in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at East Carolina, 6 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2020

Signed with East Carolina3-star out of Dinwiddie County

202311 games

The role got bigger.

All-AACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2413 national

CFB

College

East Carolina

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-AAC · 2ND TEAM

All-AAC 2nd team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

1 coach

2020–2024

Mike Houston

East Carolina

Played his entire career under Mike Houston.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Mike Houston — 28-31 over that span.

2020East Carolina3-6HC: Mike Houston · Run-leaning

2021East Carolina7-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced, fast tempo

2022East Carolina8-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

2023East Carolina2-10HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

2024East Carolina8-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

50Rotational starter #145 of 285?

Low confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (87th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#361 / 2892 · 87th pct

6.5

Tackles#1002 / 2892 · 65th pct

QB hurries#941 / 2892 · 57th pct

Sacks#1282 / 2892 · 53rd pct

0.5

Solo tackles#1748 / 2892 · 37th pct

Passes defended#1817 / 2892 · 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

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.2	0.7	0.1	0.0
Road7g	3.1	0.4	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.6	0.5	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	2.6	0.6	0.1	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Harrell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

50 · #145 of 285 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #145 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	East Carolina	38	12	6.5	0.5	--	--	--
2023	East Carolina	33	15	9.0	4.0	--	--	--
2022	East Carolina	18	3	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
2021	East Carolina	2	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2020	East Carolina	1	1	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		92	33	17.5	5.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2024

W 26–21

at NC State

4 TOT · 1 SOLO · 0 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 on the road.

With R. Harris — 220 rush yds (17 car) · 1 TD · K. Houser — 147 yds · 0 TD · 2 INT · QBR 55.7 · 84 rush yds (13 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 42-3vs Norfolk State	5	0	1.0	0.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2	W 20-14@ Old Dominion	3	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	L 19-21vs App State	3	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 4	L 24-35@ Liberty	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 30-20vs UTSA	4	2	1.5	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 24-55@ Charlotte	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 28-45@ Army	4	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 56-34vs Temple	3	1	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 12	W 38-31@ Tulsa	2	1	1.5	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 40-28@ North Texas	3	2	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 20-34vs Navy	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	W 26-21@ NC State	4	1	0.5	0.0	—
Total		38	12	6.5	0.5	—

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