#34

Darrin Kirkland Jr.

Junior linebacker for Tennessee. 2018: 51 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · Tennessee · Jr. · #34

6′1″ · 234 lb · Indianapolis, IN

Tennessee 2018 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

ILB recruit

No. 160 nationally · Signed with Tennessee

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 linebacker for Tennessee. 2018: 51 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Tennessee in 2015.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Tennessee, 96 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2015

Signed with Tennessee4-star out of Lawrence Central

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#160 national

CFB

College

Tennessee

2015–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2015–2018

2 coaches

2015–2016

Butch Jones

Tennessee

2018

Jeremy Pruitt

Tennessee

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Butch Jones → Jeremy Pruitt. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2015Tennessee9-4HC: Butch Jones · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2016Tennessee9-4HC: Butch Jones · Run-leaning

2018Tennessee5-7HC: Jeremy Pruitt · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: interceptions (30th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles#595 / 2662 · 77th pct

Tackles for loss#607 / 2662 · 76th pct

5.0

Solo tackles#648 / 2662 · 75th pct

QB hurries#730 / 2662 · 63rd pct

Sacks#797 / 2662 · 61st pct

1.0

Passes defended#1093 / 2662 · 48th pct

Interceptions#323 / 805 · 30th 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

2018 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	3.9	0.4	0.1	0.1
Road4g	5.0	0.5	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.5	0.3	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.0	0.5	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

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

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Part-time starter

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

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	Tennessee	51	29	5.0	1.0	1	1	--
2016	Tennessee	45	30	5.0	1.0	--	--	--
2015	Tennessee	--	--	--	--	--	1	--
Career		96	59	10.0	2.0	1	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2018

W 30–24

at Auburn

4 TOT · 2 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 6 on the road.

With J. Guarantano — 328 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · -6 rush yds (5 car) · J. Doyle — 42 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 64 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2018 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-40vs West Virginia	10	4	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 2	W 59-3vs East Tennessee State	4	3	1.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 3	W 24-0vs UTEP	3	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 21-47vs Florida	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 12-38@ Georgia	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 30-24@ Auburn	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 21-58vs Alabama	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 24-27@ South Carolina	6	4	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 14-3vs Charlotte	3	3	1.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	W 24-7vs Kentucky	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 17-50vs Missouri	4	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 13-38@ Vanderbilt	6	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Total		51	29	5.0	1.0	1	1

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

2015

2018 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays