Keanu Tanuvasa

Keanu Tanuvasa is a captain, a 300-pound anchor, and a veteran who chose to come back for a fifth year -- because he believes this BYU defense is on the verge of something special, and he wants one more shot at it.

DT · BYU · Cl 3 · #57

CFB Zeitgeist 66

The Utah transfer settled in as BYU's defensive-line leader in 2025 -- 26 tackles, two sacks, and the steady interior presence a defense organizes around -- and was named a team captain. He returned for a fifth season largely because head coach Kalani Sitake stayed, framing 2026 openly as his draft-stock final ride. The forward stakes are a team's ceiling: a veteran anchor in the middle is the unglamorous foundation of good run defense, and Tanuvasa believes the unit around him is ready to break through. He's not a stat-sheet stuffer -- he's the captain who holds the point and sets the tone for a defense with real ambitions.

PLAY STYLE

Tanuvasa is a classic anchor tackle -- 6-4, 300, built to occupy blockers and hold the interior against the run. The value isn't in flashy numbers (his sack and tackle totals are modest); it's in the dirty work and the leadership, the captain who two-gaps, eats double-teams, and frees the players around him to make plays. He's a veteran's veteran, a former missionary and fifth-year leader whose game is about reliability and toughness in the middle. On a defense aiming to take a step, his job is the foundation everything else is built on.

SOURCES

Career Arc

Recruit

★★★

#780 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2022–2025

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach

2022

Kalani Sitake

BYU

2023

Kalani Sitake

BYU

2024

Kalani Sitake

BYU

2025

Kalani Sitake

BYU

Played his entire career under Kalani Sitake.

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Utah10-4HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-leaning

2023Utah8-5HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-heavy

2024Utah5-7HC: Kyle Whittingham · Balanced

2025BYU12-2HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

66Solid starter

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (81st). Concern: solo tackles (16th).

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct

3defe

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0defe

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

3defe

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct

4.5defe

Tackles#1869 / 2975 · 36th pct

22defe

Solo tackles#2397 / 2975 · 17th pct

7defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Career stats

Defense

Season-by-season defensive box score for disruption and splash plays.

Season	Team	TOT	SOLO	TFL	SACK	PD	INT	FF
2025	BYUFinal snapshot	22	7	4.5	2.0	3	--	--
2024	UtahFinal snapshot	16	8	4.5	1.0	4	--	--
2023	UtahFinal snapshot	27	7	6.0	2.0	--	--	--
2022	UtahFinal snapshot	6	3	1.5	1.0	1	--	--
Career	4 loaded seasonsCareer row reflects the stat seasons currently loaded in this database.	71	25	16.5	6.0	8	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 24–21

vs Utah

3 TOT · 1 SOLO · 0 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

Game log

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 69-0vs Portland State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 27-3vs Stanford	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 4	W 34-13@ East Carolina	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 38-24vs West Virginia	3	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 24-21vs Utah	3	1	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 41-27@ Iowa State	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 11	L 7-29@ Texas Tech	3	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 44-13vs TCU	2	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 41-21vs UCF	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 15	L 7-34@ Texas Tech	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Bowl	W 25-21vs Georgia Tech	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Total		22	7	4.5	2.0	—	3

How he plays

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

66Solid starter

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (81st). Concern: solo tackles (16th).

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct

3defe

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0defe

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

3defe

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct

4.5defe

Tackles#1869 / 2975 · 36th pct

22defe

Solo tackles#2397 / 2975 · 17th pct

7defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

PLAY STYLE

2026 Outlook

Returning to BYU for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · BYU

Returning around him

87% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
2 BYU players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -4 net (9 in / 13 out)

2026 Award watch

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

BYU · Last season: 12-2 (AP #12) · Talent rank #70 · 2026 recruiting class #55

Perception vs tape

Keanu Tanuvasa is a captain, a 300-pound anchor, and a veteran who chose to come back for a fifth year — because he believes this BYU defense is on the verge of something special, and he wants one more shot at it.

The Utah transfer settled in as BYU's defensive-line leader in 2025 — 26 tackles, two sacks, and the steady interior presence a defense organizes around — and was named a team captain. He returned for a fifth season largely because head coach Kalani Sitake stayed, framing 2026 openly as his draft-stock final ride. The forward stakes are a team's ceiling: a veteran anchor in the middle is the unglamorous foundation of good run defense, and Tanuvasa believes the unit around him is ready to break through. He's not a stat-sheet stuffer — he's the captain who holds the point and sets the tone for a defense with real ambitions.

How he plays

Tanuvasa is a classic anchor tackle — 6-4, 300, built to occupy blockers and hold the interior against the run. The value isn't in flashy numbers (his sack and tackle totals are modest); it's in the dirty work and the leadership, the captain who two-gaps, eats double-teams, and frees the players around him to make plays. He's a veteran's veteran, a former missionary and fifth-year leader whose game is about reliability and toughness in the middle. On a defense aiming to take a step, his job is the foundation everything else is built on.

2026 outlook · as of 2026-06-13

src

DNA match

Player DNA

The Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Amari McNeill’s 2023 season.

Amari McNeill

91%match

Colorado · 2023

Jordan Kelley

Oklahoma · 2023

90%

Darius Alexander

Toledo · 2024

All-MACNFL Rd 3 · Pk 1

88%

Raishein Thomas

Mississippi State · 2025

87%

Warren Brinson

Georgia · 2024

NFL Rd 6

86%

Matches Amari on

Sack rate

Height

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jaray Bledsoe's senior season at Mississippi State (2025).

Jaray Bledsoe

77%match

Mississippi State · 2025

Anthony Holmes Jr.

Texas Tech · 2025

77%

Derrick Harmon

Oregon · 2024

All-Big TenNFL Rd 1 · Pk 21

70%

Daniel Lyons

Florida State · 2025

69%

Merhauti Xepera

Fresno State · 2025

66%

Matches Jaray on

Class year

Height

TFL rate

Differs from Jaray on

Sack rate (higher)

Peer comparator

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 6 metrics

Keanu TanuvasaBYURay ConeyTulsa· 59% simTreylin PayneTexas State· 59% simRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 59% sim

QB hurries

82
Tanuvasa

88
Coney

82
Payne

88
Biles

Sacks

80
Tanuvasa

80
Coney

80
Payne

95
Biles

Passes defended

78
Tanuvasa

67
Coney

67
Payne

86
Biles

Tackles for loss

77
Tanuvasa

90
Coney

87
Payne

100
Biles

Tackles

36
Tanuvasa

100
Coney

98
Payne

98
Biles

Solo tackles

17
Tanuvasa

93
Coney

95
Payne

91
Biles

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.