#49

Jernias Tafia

Senior defensive lineman on Colorado State's 2026 roster.

DL · Colorado State · Sr. · #49

6′3″ · 305 lb · West Seattle, WA

CFB Index 32 · #247 of 330 interior linemenLow confidenceReturning to Colorado State for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7:30 pm ETvs BYUCanvas StadiumBYU by 17.5

How he plays

Controls the point of attack and doesn't move.

Tackles: 49th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

0.5 TFL · 28 tackles

Best game: 0.5 TFL, 2 tackles, at Washington

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman on Colorado State's 2025 roster.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Eastside Catholic in 2020.
Transferred from Washington State to Colorado State in 2024.

His career, year by year

Jernias Tafia

DL · Colorado State · Sr · #49

Controls the point of attack and doesn't move. Across three seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Jake Dickert, Jay Norvell and Tyson Summers. The receipt on tape: 5 tackles against Hawai'i, Week 8, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2023Washington State5-7HC: Jake Dickert · Pass-leaning

2024Colorado State8-5HC: Jay Norvell · Run-leaning

2025Colorado State2-10HC: Tyson Summers · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

32Below cohort / limited sample #247 of 330?

Low confidenceAscending6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#1469 / 2975 · 49th pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Solo tackles#2282 / 2975 · 21st pct

Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct

0.5

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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.1	0.0	0.0	0.1
Road5g	2.6	0.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.7	0.1	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	3.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jim Mora

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

32 · #247 of 330 interior linemen

Three-star recruit. Now #247 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Pac-12

Based on 2025: #24 of 35 Mountain West DLs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026

How the All-Pac-12 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. The base rate was measured on players who stayed in the same conference; this estimate is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Colorado State	28	8	0.5	1	--	--
2024	Colorado State	13	2	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Washington State	4	1	0.0	--	--	--
Career		45	11	0.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 21–17

vs Northern Colorado

1 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With B. Fowler-Nicolosi — 132 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.1 · 22 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · B. Hansen — 57 AVG · 58 LONG · 2 NO

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 21-38@ Washington	2	0	0.5	—	0
Wk 2	W 21-17vs Northern Colorado	1	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 16-17vs UTSA	2	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 3-20vs Washington State	3	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 24-45@ San Diego State	2	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 49-21vs Fresno State	0	0	0.0	—	1
Wk 8	L 19-31vs Hawai'i	5	1	0.0	—	0	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 9	L 0-28@ Wyoming	3	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 10-42vs UNLV	3	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 17-20@ New Mexico	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 21-49@ Boise State	3	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 21-42vs Air Force	1	0	0.0	—	0
Total		28	8	0.5	—	1

How he plays

Play style

The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

28Tackles

8Solo

0.5TFL

0Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

28 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0.5 TFL.

Week 71 PD

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

Colorado State

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Colorado State

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -6 net (32 in / 38 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Colorado State · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #75 · 2026 recruiting class #73

DNA match

Player DNA

Nose Anchor

The heaviest frame on the interior. Sack production is intentionally not the point of this profile.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kylen McCracken’s 2021 season.

Kylen McCracken

93%match

Ohio · 2021

Jacob Bandes

Washington · 2021

93%

Immanuel Hickman Sr.

Virginia Tech · 2025

92%

Gavin Ransaw

Arkansas State · 2025

92%

Kyron Mims

Ball State · 2023

90%

Matches Kylen on

Weight

Sack rate

Hurry rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Devin Brandt-Epps's junior season at Old Dominion (2023).

Devin Brandt-Epps

93%match

Old Dominion · 2023

Kurott Garland

Tennessee · 2022

91%

Marquis Burks

Auburn · 2022

91%

Na'im Rodman

Colorado · 2022

90%

Kevin Hester Jr.

North Carolina · 2022

90%

Matches Devin on

Class year

Height

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Jernias Tafia

Zaire Angoy

Rutgers · 2025

94%

Immanuel Hickman Sr.

Virginia Tech · 2025

92%

Gavin Ransaw

Arkansas State · 2025

92%

Fuches Lewis II

Georgia State · 2024

86%

The defensive line · Colorado State

#9Stephon WrightDL · Gr.3.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#93Robby HarrisonDL · R-Sr.2 tackles for loss · 2025
#39DeAndre Gill Jr.DL · Jr.2 tackles for loss · 2025
#10Brandon KellyDL · Sr.1.5 tackles for loss · 2025
#49Jernias TafiaDL · Sr.0.5 tackles for loss · 2025

18 more on the roster · Colorado State team page

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

2020

20247 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Nose Anchor

Players who play like Jernias Tafia

The defensive line · Colorado State