#54

Derrick Tangelo

Senior defensive tackle for Penn State. 2021: 2 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

DT · Penn State · Sr. · #54

6′2″ · 307 lb · Potomac, MD

CFB Index 81 · #27 of 274 interior linemenLow confidencePenn State 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

DT recruit

No. 1299 nationally · Signed with Duke

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive tackle for Penn State. 2021: 2 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 29 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Duke in 2017.
Transferred from Duke to Penn State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Penn State, 140 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20175 games

Signed with Duke3-star out of The Bullis School

202111 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1299 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

James Franklin

Penn State

Played his entire career under James Franklin.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Duke7-6HC: David Cutcliffe · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2018Duke8-5HC: David Cutcliffe · Balanced

2019Duke5-7HC: David Cutcliffe · Run-leaning

2020Duke2-9HC: David Cutcliffe · Balanced

2021Penn State7-6HC: James Franklin · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

81All-Conference level #27 of 274?

Low confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Box-score production (7)

Tackles for loss#514 / 2743 · 80th pct

5.5

Sacks#529 / 2743 · 78th pct

2.0

QB hurries#827 / 2743 · 59th pct

Passes defended#1085 / 2743 · 49th pct

Tackles#1433 / 2743 · 47th pct

Forced fumbles#59 / 673 · 46th pct

Solo tackles#1594 / 2743 · 40th 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

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.7	0.6	0.1	0.1
Road4g	2.5	0.4	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	0.4	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	3.0	0.6	0.3	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Matt Campbell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

81 · #27 of 274 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #27 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Penn State	29	14	5.5	2.0	1	--	--
2020	Duke	36	22	4.0	2.0	1	--	--
2019	Duke	23	11	2.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Duke	46	20	4.5	1.5	--	--	--
2017	Duke	6	4	2.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		140	71	18.0	6.5	2	--	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	W 44-13vs Ball State	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 28-20vs Auburn	3	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 38-17vs Villanova	3	1	1.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 24-0vs Indiana	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 20-23@ Iowa	2	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 18-20vs Illinois	3	2	1.5	1.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 24-33@ Ohio State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 31-14@ Maryland	4	4	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 11	L 17-21vs Michigan	4	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	W 28-0vs Rutgers	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 27-30@ Michigan State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		29	14	5.5	2.0	—	1

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

Derrick Tangelo

20175 games

202111 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Nose Anchor

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