Dominic Oliver

Senior linebacker for Western Kentucky. 2025: 20 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks.

LB · Western Kentucky · Sr. · #9

6′3″ · 250 lb · San Jose, CA

CFB Index 40 · #377 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Western Kentucky for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 4 pm ETat IndianaMemorial Stadium (Bloomington, IN)Indiana by 44

How he plays

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

Sacks: 89th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

4 TFL · 3 sacks

Best game: 5 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sacks, vs North Alabama

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Western Kentucky. 2025: 20 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to San Diego State in 2021.
Transferred from San Diego State to Western Kentucky in 2025.

His career, year by year

Dominic Oliver

LB · Western Kentucky · Sr · #9

Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Across four seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Brady Hoke, Sean Lewis and Tyson Helton. The receipt: 5 tackles against Toledo — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022San Diego State7-6HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023San Diego State4-8HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning

2024San Diego State3-9HC: Sean Lewis · Run-leaning

2025Western Kentucky9-4HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

40Rotational starter #377 of 583?

High confidenceAscending6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (89th percentile). Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct

3.0

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct

4.0

Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct

Tackles#1998 / 2975 · 32nd pct

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th 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

2025 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home3g	2.7	1.0	0.7	0.0
Road6g	2.0	0.2	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-74g	3.0	0.5	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	1.6	0.4	0.4	0.0

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 · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

40 · #377 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #377 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Conference USA

Based on 2025: #29 of 45 Conference USA LBs

How the All-Conference USA estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Western Kentucky	20	11	4.0	3.0	--	--	--
2024	San Diego State	15	7	1.5	0.5	--	--	--
2023	San Diego State	2	1	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
2022	San Diego State	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		38	20	6.5	4.5	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 55–6

vs North Alabama

2 TFL · 1 SACKS · 4 SOLO

Dominant 49-point win at home against North Alabama.

With M. McIvor — 305 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.6 · 7 rush yds (1 car) · C. Maynard — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 53 AVG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 55-6vs North Alabama	5	4	2.0	1.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2	L 21-45@ Toledo	5	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 27-22@ Missouri State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 6-25vs Florida International	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 28-27@ Louisiana Tech	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 35-16vs New Mexico State	1	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 13	L 10-13@ LSU	3	3	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 14	L 34-37@ Jacksonville State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	W 27-16@ Southern Miss	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		20	11	4.0	3.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

9 games

20Tackles

11Solo

4TFL

3Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

20 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 101 sack
Week 131 sack

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.

2026 Outlook

Western Kentucky

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Western Kentucky

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -4 net (19 in / 23 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Western Kentucky · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #87 · 2026 recruiting class #81

DNA match

Player DNA

Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to David Bailey’s 2023 season.

David Bailey

75%match

Stanford · 2023

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 2

Brandon Mack

Houston · 2025

74%

Nate Givhan

Toledo · 2022

69%

Jordan Domineck

Arkansas · 2022

68%

Aakil Washington

Liberty · 2021

68%

Matches David on

Weight

Solo tackle rate

Tackle volume

Differs from David on

Hurry rate (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Connor O'Toole's senior season at Utah (2024).

Connor O'Toole

82%match

Utah · 2024

Ernest Cooper

Stanford · 2025

81%

Devin Grant

West Virginia · 2025

78%

Steve Linton

Texas Tech · 2023

76%

Boone Bonnema

Western Michigan · 2023

76%

Matches Connor on

Solo tackle rate

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Differs from Connor on

Sack rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Dominic Oliver

Ernest Cooper

Stanford · 2024

79%

Brandon Mack

Houston · 2025

74%

Kameron Olds

Kentucky · 2025

71%

Jah-Marien Latham

Alabama · 2024

69%

The linebacker corps · Western Kentucky

#21Jaylen WesterLB · Sr.106 tackles · 2025
#3Anthony BrackenridgeLB · Sr.74 tackles · 2025
#9Dominic OliverLB · Sr.20 tackles · 2025
#22Jordan DonaldLB · So.14 tackles · 2025
#18Geajorm AkpalooLB · Jr.13 tackles · 2025

9 more on the roster · Western Kentucky team page

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

2021

20259 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Thumper

Players who play like Dominic Oliver

The linebacker corps · Western Kentucky