Jalen Thornton: DL · West Virginia · #97.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Jalen Thornton
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Four seasons in the West Virginia defensive front to date. One game to point at: 4 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against North Carolina — Bowl, 2023.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
14 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5 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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| Season | Team | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | West Virginia | 14 | 4 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
| 2022 | West Virginia | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2021 | West Virginia | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| 2020 | West Virginia | 4 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Career | 24 | 10 | 5.0 | 3.0 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 9 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | W 17-6vs Pittsburgh | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-21@ TCU | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 34-48vs Oklahoma State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 41-28@ UCF | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 10 | W 37-7vs BYU | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 20-59@ No. 17 Oklahoma | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-21vs Cincinnati | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 34-31@ Baylor | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 30-10vs North Carolina | 4 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 4 | 5.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
36%5 TFLSack rate
21%3 sacksHurry rate
14%2 hurries14 tackles · 5 for loss · 3 sacks.
4 seasons under Neal Brown — 26-22 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 1.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Neal Brown
Pass share
37.6%
332 pass / 552 run
Plays / game
68.0
13 games
Team sack rate
3.0%
329 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2023
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
How it ended
Four seasons at West Virginia, 3 sacks — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
1 coachPlayed every college season under Neal Brown.
