Joseph Ossai: LB · Texas · #46.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Joseph Ossai
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. Third year in the Texas linebacker corps. The first career honor came in 2020: All-America (Consensus). One game to point at: 12 tackles and 6 tackles for loss against Oklahoma State — Week 9, 2020.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
55 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 15.5 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.
Yahoo Sports Oct 31
Saturday Down South Oct 25Yahoo Sports Oct 20Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 9 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 59-3vs UTEP | 8 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 63-56@ Texas Tech | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 5 | L 31-33vs TCU | 11 | 2 | 3.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | 3.5 TFL |
| Wk 6 | L 45-53vs Oklahoma | 10 | 6 | 2.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 27-16vs Baylor | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 41-34@ No. 6 Oklahoma State | 12 | 7 | 6.0 | 3.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 12 tackles |
| Wk 10 | W 17-13vs West Virginia | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-23vs No. 15 Iowa State | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 69-31@ Kansas State | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 55 | 25 | 15.5 | 5.5 | — | 2 |
Week 9 · 2020
W 41-34
3 sacks · 6 tackles for loss · 12 tackles
Edged out Oklahoma State on the road in a shootout.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
55tackles this seasonTFL rate
28%16 TFLSack rate
10%6 sacksPD rate
4%2 pass breakups55 tackles · 15.5 for loss · 5.5 sacks.
3 seasons under Tom Herman — 25-12 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2020 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 5.6 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 5.7 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 7.8 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.8 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tom Herman
Pass share
48.7%
344 pass / 363 run
Plays / game
78.6
9 games
Team sack rate
5.8%
379 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2020
First team on a majority of the recognized selector lists.
Selector Grid · 2020
Named Consensus All-American — recognized on 3+ of the 5 NCAA-recognized selector lists.
How it ended
Three seasons at Texas, 165 tackles, a Consensus All-American season (2020) — drafted at #69 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals.
A blue-chip recruit with honors.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-AMERICA · CONSENSUS
Consensus AA (2020)
5 first-team selectors
ALL-BIG 12 · 1ST TEAM
All-Big 12 1st team (2020)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2020
1 coachPlayed every college season under Tom Herman.
Next stop · NFL
Cincinnati BengalsEntering 6th NFL season
Cincinnati BengalsEntering 6th NFL season
