Jonah Tavai: DL · San Diego State · #66.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Jonah Tavai
Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Played for two head coaches in four seasons at San Diego State. The first career honor came in 2022: All-Mountain West. On tape: 12 tackles and 1 tackle for loss against Air Force, Week 13, 2022.
Play style
Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
58 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 14 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 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | San Diego State | 58 | 30 | 14.0 | 10.5 | -- |
| 2021 | San Diego State | 47 | 23 | 14.0 | 8.5 | 1 |
| 2020 | San Diego State | 27 | 18 | 7.5 | 5.0 | -- |
| 2019 | San Diego State | 15 | 7 | 2.0 | 1.5 | -- |
| Career | 147 | 78 | 37.5 | 25.5 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 20-38vs Arizona | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-7vs Idaho State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 7-35@ No. 14 Utah | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 17-14vs Toledo | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-35@ Boise State | 5 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 16-14vs Hawai'i | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 23-7@ Nevada | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | 2 sacks |
| Wk 9 | L 28-32@ Fresno State | 6 | 2 | 2.5 | 2.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 sacks |
| Wk 10 | W 14-10vs UNLV | 5 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 43-27vs San José State | 3 | 3 | 3.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | 3 sacks |
| Wk 12 | W 34-10@ New Mexico | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 3-13vs Air Force | 12 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 12 tackles |
 Bowl | L 23-25vs Middle Tennessee | 2 | 1 | 1.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 58 | 30 | 14.0 | 10.5 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
24%14 TFLSack rate
18%10 sacksHurry rate
9%5 hurries58 tackles · 14 for loss · 10.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2022 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 5.0 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.7 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Brady Hoke
Pass share
42.5%
341 pass / 462 run
Plays / game
61.8
13 games
Team sack rate
5.9%
370 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2022
First team in his league at the position.
The All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #6 of 387 FBS edge rushers by CFB Zeitgeist Score.2022 profile
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #6 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at San Diego State, 26 sacks, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM
All-Mountain West 1st team (2022)
Coaching lineage · 2017–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Rocky Long → Brady Hoke. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
