#98

Josh Fatu

Defensive tackle for USC. 2017: 6 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

DT · USC · #98

6′2″ · 315 lb · Long Beach, CA

USC 2017 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

DT recruit

No. 172 nationally · Joined USC

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2017 defensive tackle for USC. 2017: 6 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to USC in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at USC, 55 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

201611 games

Signed with USC3-star out of Long Beach City College

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#172 national

CFB

College

USC

2016–2017

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

2017 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Clay Helton, all balanced offenses — 21-6 over that span.

2016USC10-3HC: Clay Helton · Balanced

2017USC11-3HC: Clay Helton · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (96th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (89th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#87 / 2682 · 96th pct

6.0

Tackles for loss#276 / 2682 · 89th pct

8.0

QB hurries#717 / 2682 · 63rd pct

Tackles#1169 / 2682 · 56th pct

Passes defended#1090 / 2682 · 49th pct

Solo tackles#1447 / 2682 · 45th 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

2017 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.0	0.8	0.5	0.0
Road4g	3.2	0.6	0.6	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	3.9	0.9	0.6	0.1
Weeks 8+3g	1.0	0.3	0.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

46.0%

97 pass / 114 run

Plays / game

70.3

3 games

Team sack rate

2.0%

102 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2017

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2017	USC	34	16	8.0	6.0	1	--	--
2016	USC	21	12	1.5	1.0	--	--	--
Career		55	28	9.5	7.0	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2017

W 42–24

vs Stanford

2 TFL · 2 TOT · 2 SOLO

With S. Darnold — 316 yds · 4 TD · 2 INT · QBR 95.8 · 4 rush yds (2 car) · S. Carr — 119 rush yds (11 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week