#18

Ibrahim Kante

Senior defensive end for Buffalo. 2022: 3 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 22 tackles.

DE · Buffalo · Sr. · #18

6′4″ · 245 lb · New York, NY

CFB Index 53 · #177 of 387 edge rushersMedium confidenceBuffalo 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WDE recruit

No. 1435 nationally · Signed with NC State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive end for Buffalo. 2022: 3 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 22 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to NC State in 2017.
Transferred from NC State to Buffalo in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Buffalo, 8 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

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

2017

Signed with NC State3-star out of Trinity-Pawling School

202211 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1435 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2022

2 coaches

2018–2020

Lance Leipold

Buffalo

2021–2022

Maurice Linguist

Buffalo

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Lance Leipold → Maurice Linguist. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018NC State9-4HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2019NC State4-8HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2020NC State8-4HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2021NC State9-3HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

2022Buffalo7-6HC: Maurice Linguist · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

53Rotational starter #177 of 387?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (86th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (81st percentile). Concern: solo tackles (30th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#341 / 2755 · 86th pct

3.0

Tackles for loss#481 / 2755 · 81st pct

5.5

Passes defended#492 / 2755 · 78th pct

QB hurries#823 / 2755 · 59th pct

Forced fumbles#58 / 737 · 46th pct

Tackles#1726 / 2755 · 36th pct

Solo tackles#1877 / 2755 · 30th 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

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home4g	2.2	0.0	0.0	0.8
Road7g	1.9	0.8	0.4	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.0	0.8	0.4	0.1
Weeks 8+4g	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pete Lembo

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

53 · #177 of 387 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #177 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Buffalo	22	10	5.5	3.0	3	--	--
2021	NC State	10	4	4.5	3.0	--	--	--
2020	NC State	12	5	2.0	0.0	--	--	--
2019	NC State	15	9	3.0	0.5	--	--	--
2018	NC State	13	2	3.5	1.0	--	--	--
Career		72	30	18.5	7.5	3	--	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 10-31@ Maryland	1	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 31-37vs Holy Cross	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 26-38@ Coastal Carolina	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 50-31@ Eastern Michigan	2	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 24-20vs Miami (OH)	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 6	W 38-7@ Bowling Green	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 34-7@ Massachusetts	5	2	3.0	2.0	—	0	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 10	L 24-45@ Ohio	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 27-31@ Central Michigan	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 27-30vs Kent State	3	1	0.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 14	W 23-22vs Akron	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		22	10	5.5	3.0	—	3

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

Ibrahim Kante

2017

202211 games

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Versatile End

Players who play like Ibrahim Kante