#26

Dionte Ruffin

Senior defensive back for Western Kentucky. 2020: 1 interception, 11 pass breakups, 23 tackles.

DB · Western Kentucky · Sr. · #26

5′11″ · 185 lb · Kenner, LA

Western Kentucky 2020 alumnus

The story

4 defensive back for Western Kentucky. 2020: 1 interception, 11 pass breakups, 23 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Western Kentucky in 2017.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

CB recruit

No. 2480 nationally · Signed with Western Kentucky

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Four seasons at Western Kentucky, 78 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

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

20173 games

Signed with Western Kentucky2-star out of Paulding County

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2480 national

CFB

College

Western Kentucky

2017–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2020

2 coaches

2017–2018

Mike Sanford Jr.

Western Kentucky

2019–2020

Tyson Helton

Western Kentucky

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Sanford Jr. → Tyson Helton. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Western Kentucky6-7HC: Mike Sanford Jr. · Pass-leaning

2018Western Kentucky3-9HC: Mike Sanford Jr. · Balanced

2019Western Kentucky9-4HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

2020Western Kentucky5-7HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (100th percentile). Strength: forced fumbles (96th percentile). Concern: tackles for loss (9th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Passes defended#3 / 2211 · 100th pct

Forced fumbles#4 / 497 · 96th pct

Solo tackles#798 / 2211 · 62nd pct

Tackles#1159 / 2211 · 46th pct

Interceptions#180 / 568 · 34th pct

QB hurries#917 / 2211 · 29th pct

Sacks#1032 / 2211 · 27th pct

0.0

Tackles for loss#1821 / 2211 · 9th pct

0.0

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

2020 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	2.6	0.0	0.0	1.4
Road5g	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.6	0.0	0.0	1.0
Weeks 8+5g	1.8	0.0	0.0	1.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	Western Kentucky	23	18	0.0	11	1	1
2019	Western Kentucky	25	19	1.0	9	--	--
2018	Western Kentucky	28	24	0.0	3	--	1
2017	Western Kentucky	2	1	0.0	1	--	--
Career		78	62	1.0	24	1	2

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2020

W 13–10

vs Chattanooga

1 PD · 1 FUM · 1 LOST

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With J. Haggerty — 47 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 53 LONG · G. Walker — 88 rush yds (17 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2020 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	L 21-35@ Louisville	1	1	—	0
Wk 3	L 24-30vs Liberty	2	2	—	3
Wk 5	W 20-17@ Middle Tennessee	1	1	—	0
Wk 6	L 14-38vs Marshall	4	4	—	0
Wk 7	L 14-37@ UAB	5	5	—	2	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 8	W 13-10vs Chattanooga	0	0	—	1
Wk 9	L 10-41@ BYU	1	1	1	1
Wk 11	W 10-7vs Southern Miss	5	3	—	1
Wk 12	W 38-21vs Florida International	2	0	—	2
Wk 14	W 37-19@ Charlotte	1	1	—	1
Total		22	18	1	11

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

20173 games

2020 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays