#11

Nadame Tucker

Senior defensive end for Western Michigan. 2025: 14.5 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss, 55 tackles.

DE · Western Michigan · Sr. · #11

6′3″ · 250 lb · New York, NY

CFB Index 98 · #1 of 420 edge rushersMedium confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamReturning to Western Michigan for 2026

How he plays

Wins the corner before the tackle can set.

Tackles for loss: 100th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

14.5

sacks · 2025

21.5 TFL · 55 tackles · 16 hurries

Statement game7 tackles · 3.5 TFL · 3.5 sacksvs Ball State (FBS) · W 42-0

Top 1% sacks game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive end for Western Michigan. 2025: 14.5 sacks, 21.5 tackles for loss, 55 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Houston in 2022.
Named MAC Vern Smith Leadership Award in 2025.
Named MAC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025.

His career, year by year

Nadame Tucker

DE · Western Michigan · Sr · #11

Wins the corner before the tackle can set. Nadame Tucker has played for two head coaches across four seasons and two programs. In 2025 the league put his name on paper for the first time: MAC Defensive Player of the Year. One game to point at: 4 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Miami (OH) — Week 9, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Houston8-5HC: Dana Holgorsen · Pass-leaning

2023Houston4-8HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced

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

2025Western Michigan10-4HC: Lance Taylor · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

98All-America level #1 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (100th percentile). Strength: sacks (100th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles for loss#1 / 2975 · 100th pct

21.5

Sacks#1 / 2975 · 100th pct

14.5

QB hurries#1 / 2975 · 100th pct

Solo tackles#386 / 2975 · 87th pct

Tackles#484 / 2975 · 83rd pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th 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

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.6	1.7	1.3	0.0
Road6g	3.8	1.6	0.9	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.0	1.8	1.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	1.5	1.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lance Taylor

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #1 of 420 FBS edge rushers by CFB Index Score.2025 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

98 · #1 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #1 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-MAC

Based on 2025: #1 of 13 Mid-American DEs

How the All-MAC estimate is computed

49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Western Michigan	55	34	21.5	14.5	1	--	--
2024	Houston	2	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Houston	7	5	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Houston	1	--	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		65	40	23.0	14.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025

W 47–14

vs Rhode Island

5 TOT · 3 SOLO · 0 SACKS

Dominant 33-point win at home against Rhode Island.

With B. Lowry — 143 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 58.9 · 52 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD · D. Miles — 54 rush yds (12 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 6-23@ Michigan State	5	5	3.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 2	L 30-33vs North Texas	3	1	1.0	0.5	—	0
Wk 3	L 0-38@ Illinois	2	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 14-13vs Toledo	3	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 47-14vs Rhode Island	5	3	1.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 6	W 21-3@ Massachusetts	3	3	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 7	W 42-0vs Ball State	7	3	3.5	3.5	—	0	3.5 sacks
Wk 9	L 17-26@ Miami (OH)	4	1	1.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	W 24-21vs Central Michigan	6	4	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 17-13vs Ohio	2	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 35-19@ Northern Illinois	8	6	1.5	0.5	—	0	Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 14	W 31-21@ Eastern Michigan	1	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 15	W 23-13vs Miami (OH)	6	2	3.0	2.5	—	0	2.5 sacks
Total		55	34	21.5	14.5	—	1

How he plays

Play style

Bends the edge and wins with first-step quickness. Lighter frame, relentless motor.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

13 games

55Tackles

34Solo

21.5TFL

14.5Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

55 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 21.5 TFL.

Week 12 sacks
Week 20.5 sacks
Week 50.5 sacks
Week 62 sacks
Week 73.5 sacks
Week 91 PD
Week 101 sack
Week 121 sack
Week 130.5 sacks
Week 141 sack

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Western Michigan

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive end · Western Michigan

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +1 net (14 in / 13 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Western Michigan · Last season: 10-4 · Talent rank #108 · 2026 recruiting class #112

DNA match

Player DNA

Speed Rusher

Bends the edge and wins with first-step quickness. Lighter frame, relentless motor.

EDGE

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jereme Robinson’s 2024 season.

Jereme Robinson

84%match

Kansas · 2024

Malachi Lawrence

UCF · 2023

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 23

75%

David Perales

Fresno State · 2022

All-Mountain West

75%

Jahfari Harvey

SMU · 2024

75%

Isaac Terrell

Washington State · 2025

73%

Matches Jereme on

Sack rate

Hurry rate

TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to David Bailey's senior season at Texas Tech (2025).

David Bailey

74%match

Texas Tech · 2025

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 2

Josaiah Stewart

Michigan · 2024

All-Big TenNFL Rd 3 · Pk 26

72%

Aidan Hubbard

Northwestern · 2025

70%

Jimmori Robinson

UTSA · 2024

All-AAC

68%

Max Llewellyn

Iowa · 2025

NFL Rd 7

68%

Matches David on

Class year

TFL rate

Sack rate

Differs from David on

Hurry rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Nadame Tucker

Isaac Terrell

Washington State · 2025

73%

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

2022

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Speed Rusher

Players who play like Nadame Tucker