Elijah Roberts

Former defensive end at SMU. 2024: 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 32 tackles.

DE · SMU · Sr. · #5

6′4″ · 278 lb · Miami, FL

CFB Index 69 · #101 of 426 edge rushersMedium confidenceTampa Bay — drafted 2025, Rd 5, Pick 21, #157 overall

The story

Former defensive end at SMU. 2024: 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for loss, 32 tackles.

Transferred from Miami to SMU in 2023.
Drafted round 5 by the Tampa Bay in 2025.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at SMU, 16 sacks — drafted at #157 overall by Tampa Bay.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

202312 games

Entered the portal
All-AACsecond

2025

Drafted by Tampa Bayround 5, pick 157

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

R5 · #157

Tampa Bay · 2025

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-AAC · 2ND TEAM

All-AAC 2nd team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

3 coaches

2020

Sonny Dykes

SMU

2021

Jim Leavitt

SMU

era →

2022–2024

Rhett Lashlee

SMU

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Sonny Dykes, Jim Leavitt, and Rhett Lashlee. Multi-era developmental context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Tampa BayEntering 2nd NFL season

#157Rd 5 · Pick 21

Tampa BayEntering 2nd NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Miami8-3HC: Manny Diaz · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Miami7-5HC: Jess Simpson · Balanced

2022Miami5-7HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced

2023SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning

2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

69Quality starter #101 of 426?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (99th percentile). Strength: sacks (98th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#14 / 2892 · 99th pct

Sacks#58 / 2892 · 98th pct

6.5

Tackles for loss#114 / 2892 · 96th pct

10.0

Tackles#1275 / 2892 · 55th pct

Solo tackles#1430 / 2892 · 49th pct

Passes defended#1155 / 2892 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th 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

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.0	0.9	0.5	0.0
Road6g	2.3	0.8	0.6	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	1.0	0.7	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	1.7	0.7	0.4	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

69 · #101 of 426 edge rushers

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	SMU	32	15	10.0	6.5	1	--	--
2023	SMU	37	21	12.5	8.5	2	--	--
2022	Miami	9	6	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Miami	8	3	0.5	0.5	--	--	--
2020	Miami	4	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		90	47	24.0	15.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 6 · 2024

W 34–27

at Louisville

5 TOT · 2 SOLO · 1 SACKS

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With K. Jennings — 281 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 95.8 · 113 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · I. Pearson — 54 AVG · 56 LONG · 2 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 29-24@ Nevada	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 2	L 15-18vs BYU	3	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 66-42vs TCU	3	2	2.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 42-16vs Florida State	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 6	W 34-27@ Louisville	5	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 40-10@ Stanford	3	2	1.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 9	W 28-27@ Duke	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 48-25vs Pittsburgh	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 33-7@ Virginia	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	W 38-6vs California	4	2	1.5	1.0	—	0
Wk 15	L 31-34vs Clemson	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Bowl	L 10-38@ Penn State	4	1	2.0	2.0	—	0
Total		32	15	10.0	6.5	—	1

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