#88

Nahki Johnson

Senior defensive lineman for Tulsa. 2025: 3 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

DL · Tulsa · Sr. · #88

6′3″ · 285 lb · Pittsburgh, PA

CFB Index 38 · #280 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Tulsa for 2026

How he plays

Disrupts the pocket from the interior.

Sacks: 89th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

6.5 TFL · 27 tackles

Best game: 1.5 TFL, 7 tackles, vs Abilene Christian

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Tulsa. 2025: 3 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, 27 tackles.

Transferred from Pittsburgh to Tulsa in 2025.

His career, year by year

Nahki Johnson

DL · Tulsa · Sr · #88

Disrupts the pocket from the interior. Across five seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Pat Narduzzi and Tre Lamb. One game to point at: 7 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Abilene Christian — Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Pittsburgh11-3HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Pittsburgh9-4HC: Pat Narduzzi · Run-leaning

2023Pittsburgh3-9HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced, slow tempo

2024Pittsburgh7-6HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

2025Tulsa4-8HC: Tre Lamb · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

38Below cohort / limited sample #280 of 420?

Medium confidenceBreakout6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (89th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (87th percentile). Concern: solo tackles (8th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct

3.0

Tackles for loss#340 / 2975 · 87th pct

6.5

Tackles#1543 / 2975 · 47th pct

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Solo tackles#2694 / 2975 · 8th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	3.2	0.6	0.3	0.0
Road5g	2.2	0.7	0.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-74g	3.5	0.8	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	0.6	0.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tre Lamb

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

38 · #280 of 420 edge rushers

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #29 of 53 American Athletic DLs

How the All-AAC estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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	Tulsa	27	5	6.5	3.0	--	--	--
2024	Pittsburgh	14	2	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
2023	Pittsburgh	3	--	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Pittsburgh	3	2	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
2021	Pittsburgh	3	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		50	11	9.0	4.0	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 35–7

vs Abilene Christian

7 TOT · 1 TFL

Dominant 28-point win at home against Abilene Christian.

With A. Davies — 50 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 80 LONG · K. Francis — 218 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 53.6 · 2 rush yds (4 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 35-7vs Abilene Christian	7	0	1.5	0.0	—	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 2	L 14-21@ New Mexico State	4	0	1.0	0.5	—
Wk 3	L 23-42vs Navy	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 7-45@ Memphis	2	1	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 27-41@ East Carolina	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 37-38vs Temple	4	0	0.5	0.5	—
Wk 11	L 21-40@ Florida Atlantic	2	2	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 12	W 31-14vs Oregon State	1	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 13	W 26-25@ Army	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 24-31vs UAB	3	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		27	5	6.5	3.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

10 games

27Tackles

5Solo

6.5TFL

3Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

27 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 6.5 TFL.

Week 20.5 sacks
Week 90.5 sacks
Week 111 sack
Week 121 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

Tulsa

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Tulsa

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -1 net (21 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Tulsa · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #84 · 2026 recruiting class #93

DNA match

Player DNA

3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Dion Washington’s 2024 season.

Dion Washington

87%match

Hawai'i · 2024

Martez Poynter

Toledo · 2024

86%

Elhadj Fall

Georgia Southern · 2024

86%

Sedarius McConnell

Boston College · 2025

86%

Zach Lohavichan

Wake Forest · 2024

85%

Matches Dion on

TFL rate

Weight

Sack rate

Differs from Dion on

Height (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Dayon Hayes's graduate season at Colorado (2024).

Dayon Hayes

77%match

Colorado · 2024

Paris Shand

LSU · 2024

75%

Latrell Jean

Temple · 2024

74%

Elijah Morris

East Carolina · 2024

72%

Patrick Jenkins

Tulane · 2024

All-AAC

72%

Matches Dayon on

Class year

Height

Sack rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Nahki Johnson

Nelson Ropati

Nevada · 2024

90%

Sekou Kromah

Temple · 2024

88%

Sedarius McConnell

Boston College · 2025

86%

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

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

3-Tech Penetrator

Players who play like Nahki Johnson