#55

Josiah Tauaefa

Junior linebacker for UTSA. 2018: 111 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

LB · UTSA · Jr. · #55

6′1″ · 240 lb · Corinth, TX

UTSA 2018 alumnus

The story

3 linebacker for UTSA. 2018: 111 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to UTSA in 2015.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

DT recruit

No. 2786 nationally · Signed with UTSA

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Three seasons at UTSA, 255 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2015

Signed with UTSA2-star out of Lake Dallas

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2786 national

CFB

College

UTSA

2016–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2018

1 coach

2016–2018

Frank Wilson

UTSA

Played his entire career under Frank Wilson.

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Frank Wilson — 15-21 over that span.

2016UTSA6-7HC: Frank Wilson · Run-leaning

2017UTSA6-5HC: Frank Wilson · Run-leaning

2018UTSA3-9HC: Frank Wilson · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (99th percentile). Strength: tackles (99th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Solo tackles#34 / 2662 · 99th pct

Tackles#38 / 2662 · 99th pct

111

Tackles for loss#102 / 2662 · 96th pct

11.5

Sacks#149 / 2662 · 94th pct

4.5

QB hurries#287 / 2662 · 86th pct

Passes defended#1661 / 2662 · 19th 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

2018 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	9.8	1.3	0.6	0.0
Road6g	8.7	0.6	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	7.7	1.1	0.5	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	11.4	0.7	0.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Traylor

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

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	UTSA	111	62	11.5	4.5	--	--	--
2017	UTSA	29	12	2.0	1.0	3	--	--
2016	UTSA	115	50	9.0	6.0	1	1	--
Career		255	124	22.5	11.5	4	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 4 · 2018

W 25–21

vs Texas State

9 TOT · 7 SOLO · 2 SACKS

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

With Y. Routsas — 45 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 55 LONG · C. Grundy — 127 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · 31 rush yds (8 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week