Nathan Pickering: DT · Mississippi State · #22.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Nathan Pickering
Wins the gap play after play. The five seasons at Mississippi State span three head coaches: Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach and Greg Knox. One game to point at: 8 tackles and 2 sacks against South Carolina — Week 4, 2023.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
44 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.
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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
The Clarion-Ledger Oct 17Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Mississippi State | 44 | 17 | 3.0 | 2.0 | -- |
| 2022 | Mississippi State | 25 | 11 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Mississippi State | 27 | 13 | 7.0 | 4.0 | -- |
| 2020 | Mississippi State | 15 | 2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | -- |
| 2019 | Mississippi State | 11 | 5 | 6.0 | 3.0 | -- |
| Career | 122 | 48 | 22.5 | 13.0 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 48-7vs SE Louisiana | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 31-24vs Arizona | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 14-41vs No. 14 LSU | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 30-37@ South Carolina | 8 | 8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 5 | L 17-40vs No. 12 Alabama | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 41-28vs Western Michigan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 7-3@ Arkansas | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 13-27@ Auburn | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 3-24vs Kentucky | 3 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 10-51@ Texas A&M | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 41-20vs Southern Miss | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 7-17vs No. 12 Ole Miss | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 44 | 17 | 3.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
7%3 TFLSack rate
5%2 sacksHurry rate
7%3 hurries44 tackles · 3 for loss · 2 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 3.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 4.2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.2 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Greg Knox
Pass share
47.0%
348 pass / 393 run
Plays / game
61.8
12 games
Team sack rate
6.8%
367 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2023
44 tackles in 12 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive lineman who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #68 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Mississippi State, 122 tackles — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 44 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach, and Zach Arnett. Multi-era developmental context.
