MJ Tafisi

Senior linebacker for Utah State. 2023: 142 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss.

LB · Utah State · Sr. · #2

6′0″ · 250 lb · West Jordan, UT

CFB Index 67 · #148 of 577 LBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamUtah State 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

ILB recruit

No. 503 nationally · Signed with Washington

Statement game12 tackles · 3 TFLat Iowa (FBS) · L 14-24

Top 1% tackles for loss game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Utah State. 2023: 142 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Washington in 2018.
Transferred from Washington to Utah State in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Utah State, 249 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2018

Signed with Washington3-star out of Alta

20228 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal
All-Mountain Westhonorable_mention

202313 games

All-Mountain Westfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#503 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM

All-Mountain West 1st team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2023

4 coaches

2018

Matt Wells

Utah State

2019

Gary Andersen

Utah State

era →

2020

Frank Maile

Utah State

era →

2021–2023

Blake Anderson

Utah State

era →

Played under 4 different head coaches: Matt Wells, Gary Andersen, Frank Maile, and Blake Anderson. Multi-era developmental context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Washington10-4HC: Chris Petersen · Run-leaning

2019Washington8-5HC: Chris Petersen · Balanced

2020Washington3-1HC: Jimmy Lake · Run-leaning

2021Washington4-8HC: Jimmy Lake · Balanced

2022Utah State6-7HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning

2023Utah State6-7HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

67Quality starter #148 of 577?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (100th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (98th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#3 / 2842 · 100th pct

142

Solo tackles#51 / 2842 · 98th pct

Tackles for loss#176 / 2842 · 93rd pct

8.5

QB hurries#574 / 2842 · 74th pct

Passes defended#1113 / 2842 · 50th pct

Sacks#1503 / 2842 · 24th pct

0.0

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

2023 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	10.0	0.6	0.0	0.1
Road6g	12.0	0.7	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	10.0	0.8	0.0	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	12.4	0.4	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bronco Mendenhall

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

67 · #148 of 577 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #148 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Utah State	142	55	8.5	0.0	1	--	--
2022	Utah State	69	27	7.0	1.0	1	--	--
2021	Washington	20	12	0.5	0.0	1	--	--
2020	Washington	4	3	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
2019	Washington	13	10	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Washington	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		249	108	17.0	2.0	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2023

W 78–28

vs Idaho State

1 TFL · 2 TOT

Dominant 50-point win at home against Idaho State.

With R. Briggs — 101 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD · S. Kotsanlee — 45 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 69 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 14-24@ Iowa	12	8	3.0	—	0	3.0 TFL
Wk 2	W 78-28vs Idaho State	2	0	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 21-39@ Air Force	9	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 38-45vs James Madison	7	2	0.5	—	0
Wk 5	W 34-33@ UConn	13	4	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 44-24vs Colorado State	9	4	2.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 32-37vs Fresno State	17	4	0.0	—	1	Season-high 17 tackles
Wk 8	L 21-42@ San José State	14	6	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 32-24@ San Diego State	13	9	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 41-24vs Nevada	12	3	0.5	—	0
Wk 12	L 10-45vs Boise State	12	3	0.5	—	0
Wk 13	W 44-41@ New Mexico	11	3	1.0	—	0
Bowl	L 22-45vs Georgia State	11	5	0.0	—	0
Total		142	55	8.5	—	1

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

MJ Tafisi

2018

20228 games

202313 games

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

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