#87

D.J. Ward

Defensive end for Oklahoma. 2017: 4.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, 31 tackles.

DE · Oklahoma · #87

6′2″ · 260 lb · Moore, OK

Oklahoma 2017 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

SDE recruit

No. 122 nationally · Signed with Oklahoma

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2017 defensive end for Oklahoma. 2017: 4.5 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, 31 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Oklahoma in 2013.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at Oklahoma, 6 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

2013

Signed with Oklahoma4-star out of Southmoore

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#122 national

CFB

College

Oklahoma

2016–2017

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2017

2 coaches

2016

Bob Stoops

Oklahoma

2017

Lincoln Riley

Oklahoma

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Bob Stoops → Lincoln Riley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2017 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2016Oklahoma11-2HC: Bob Stoops · Run-leaning

2017Oklahoma12-2HC: Lincoln Riley · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (93rd percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (88th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (27th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#172 / 2682 · 93rd pct

4.5

Tackles for loss#316 / 2682 · 88th pct

7.5

Solo tackles#1158 / 2682 · 55th pct

Tackles#1308 / 2682 · 51st pct

Passes defended#1090 / 2682 · 49th pct

QB hurries#1249 / 2682 · 27th 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

2017 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	2.8	0.7	0.3	0.0
Road5g	3.4	0.8	0.6	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	0.8	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	2.8	0.8	0.5	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Venables

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

Awards

Player standing · 2017

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2017	Oklahoma	31	20	7.5	4.5	1	--	--
2016	Oklahoma	28	15	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		59	35	8.5	5.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2017

W 31–16

at Ohio State

4 TOT · 4 SOLO

With B. Mayfield — 386 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 87.5 · -5 rush yds (7 car) · J. Badet — 5 rush yds (2 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2017 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	W 31-16@ Ohio State	4	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 56-14vs Tulane	3	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 4	W 49-41@ Baylor	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 31-38vs Iowa State	2	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 29-24@ Texas	5	4	2.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 9	W 49-27vs Texas Tech	4	3	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 62-52@ Oklahoma State	4	4	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 41-3@ Kansas	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 41-17vs TCU	3	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 48-54vs Georgia	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		31	20	7.5	4.5	—	1

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

2013

2017 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays