Keith Cooper Jr.

Former defensive lineman at Houston. 2024: 3.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 46 tackles.

DL · Houston · Sr. · #5

6′5″ · 280 lb · Dickinson, TX

CFB Index 72 · #87 of 426 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-ConferenceHouston 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

EDGE recruit

No. 881 nationally · Signed with Tulane

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former defensive lineman at Houston. 2024: 3.5 sacks, 8.5 tackles for loss, 46 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Tulane in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Houston, 14 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

202111 games

Signed with Tulane3-star out of Dickinson

202412 games

All-Big 12second

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#881 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-BIG 12 · 2ND TEAM

All-Big 12 2nd team (2024)

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

1 coach

2021–2024

Dana Holgorsen

Houston

Played his entire career under Dana Holgorsen.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Tulane2-10HC: Willie Fritz · Run-leaning

2022Tulane12-2HC: Willie Fritz · Run-leaning

2023Tulane11-3HC: Slade Nagle · Run-leaning

2024Houston4-8HC: Dana Holgorsen · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

72Quality starter #87 of 426?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (97th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (93rd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#68 / 2892 · 97th pct

Tackles for loss#191 / 2892 · 93rd pct

8.5

Sacks#243 / 2892 · 90th pct

3.5

Tackles#713 / 2892 · 75th pct

Solo tackles#781 / 2892 · 72nd pct

Passes defended#755 / 2892 · 67th pct

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th 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

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.7	0.5	0.2	0.2
Road6g	4.0	0.9	0.4	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.0	0.8	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.7	0.6	0.2	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Willie Fritz

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

72 · #87 of 426 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #87 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Houston	46	25	8.5	3.5	2	--	--
2023	Tulane	32	15	8.5	5.0	2	--	--
2022	Tulane	17	8	3.5	3.5	1	--	--
2021	Tulane	18	13	3.5	2.0	1	--	--
Career		113	61	24.0	14.0	6	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2024

W 24–19

vs Kansas State

4 TOT · 1 SOLO · 1 PD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 at home.

With L. Dougherty — 43 AVG · 5 IN 20 · 65 LONG · Z. Chriss — 103 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 72.7 · 75 rush yds (22 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 7-27vs UNLV	3	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 12-16@ Oklahoma	5	5	3.0	1.0	—	0	3.0 TFL
Wk 3	W 33-7vs Rice	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 0-34@ Cincinnati	5	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 0-20vs Iowa State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 30-19@ TCU	2	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 8	L 14-42@ Kansas	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 17-14vs Utah	3	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 24-19vs Kansas State	4	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 3-27@ Arizona	6	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 10-20vs Baylor	9	6	1.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 14	L 18-30@ BYU	4	2	0.5	0.0	—	1
Total		46	25	8.5	3.5	—	2

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology