De'Shawn Rucker is a cornerback who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at South Florida.
Rucker gets targeted often and tackles in space. Played for three head coaches across five seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 11 tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss against Boise State — Week 1, 2025.
Play style
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
58 tackles. 4 passes defended. 1 interception. 1.5 TFL.
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | South Florida | 58 | 42 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 4 | 1 |
| 2024 | South Florida | 41 | 36 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 7 | -- |
| 2023 | Tennessee | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Tennessee | 7 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Tennessee | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 112 | 91 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 12 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-7vs No. 25 Boise State | 11 | 7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 18-16@ No. 13 Florida | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 12-49@ No. 5 Miami | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 63-14vs South Carolina State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 54-26vs Charlotte | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 63-36@ North Texas | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 48-13vs Florida Atlantic | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 31-34@ Memphis | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 55-23vs UTSA | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 38-41@ Navy | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 48-18@ UAB | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | W 52-3vs Rice | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
 Bowl | L 10-24vs Old Dominion | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 58 | 42 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 4 |
Week 1 · 2025
W 34-7
vs Boise State
0.5 tackles for loss · 11 tackles · 1 pass breakup
Dominant 27-point win at home against Boise State.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
7%4 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
58tackles this season58 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 4 pass breakups · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 4.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road6g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kevin Patrick
Pass share
44.8%
404 pass / 498 run
Plays / game
69.4
13 games
Team sack rate
4.3%
397 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2025
58 tackles in 13 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #202 at the position.
2026 outlook
In the mix for All-AAC
Based on 2025: #10 of 27 American Athletic CBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 35% of returning players who ranked #4–10 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 31–38%).
A stat line in 34 games over five seasons.
The role got bigger.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
2 coachesPlayed for 2 head coaches at 2 schools: Josh Heupel and Alex Golesh.
