Elijah Chatman: DT · SMU · #40.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Elijah Chatman
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Played for three head coaches at SMU: Sonny Dykes, Jim Leavitt and Rhett Lashlee. That makes three straight seasons on the honors list: All-AAC again in 2023. One game to point at: 5 tackles against East Carolina — Week 7, 2023.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
31 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 8 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-14vs Louisiana Tech | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 69-0vs Prairie View A&M | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 17-34@ TCU | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-16vs Charlotte | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 31-10@ East Carolina | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 55-0@ Temple | 3 | 2 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 9 | W 69-10vs Tulsa | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 36-31@ Rice | 4 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 45-21vs North Texas | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 38-34@ Memphis | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 59-14vs Navy | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | L 14-23vs Boston College | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 31 | 21 | 8.0 | 4.5 | — | 0 |
Week 10 · 2023
W 36-31
at Rice
1.5 sacks · 1.5 tackles for loss · 4 tackles
Edged out Rice on the road in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
26%8 TFLSack rate
15%4 sacksHurry rate
10%3 hurries31 tackles · 8 for loss · 4.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 1.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rhett Lashlee
Pass share
46.1%
463 pass / 541 run
Plays / game
71.7
14 games
Team sack rate
3.5%
455 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
First team in his league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #15 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at SMU, 144 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 53 games over five seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM
All-AAC 1st team (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Sonny Dykes → Rhett Lashlee. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
