#43

Nelson Ropati

Senior defensive lineman for Nevada. 2025: 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 22 tackles.

DL · Nevada · Sr. · #43

6′3″ · 291 lb · San Francisco, CA

CFB Index 37 · #286 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceReturning to Nevada for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Sacks: 80th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

sacks · 2025

4 TFL · 22 tackles

Best game: 1 sacks, 1 TFL, 3 tackles, at Penn State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Nevada. 2025: 2 sacks, 4 tackles for loss, 22 tackles.

Signed with Nevada in 2024.

His career, year by year

Nelson Ropati

DL · Nevada · Sr · #43

Wins his gap play after play. He has spent two seasons in the Nevada defensive front. One game to point at: 3 tackles, 1 TFL against UNLV — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Jeff Choate — 6-19 over that span.

2024Nevada3-10HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning

2025Nevada3-9HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

37Below cohort / limited sample #286 of 420?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct

4.0

Solo tackles#1735 / 2975 · 40th pct

Tackles#1869 / 2975 · 36th pct

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	2.2	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road6g	1.8	0.5	0.3	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	0.4	0.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	1.8	0.3	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Choate

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

37 · #286 of 420 edge rushers

Unranked recruit. Now #286 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Mountain West

Based on 2025: #18 of 35 Mountain West DLs

How the All-Mountain West estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Nevada	22	12	4.0	2.0	--	--	--
2024	Nevada	19	9	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		41	21	5.5	2.0	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 20–17

vs Sacramento State

2 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With C. Purdy — 144 yds · 0 TD · 2 INT · QBR 17.2 · 115 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD · M. Bellon — 5 rush yds (1 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 11-46@ Penn State	3	3	1.0	1.0	—	Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 2	W 20-17vs Sacramento State	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	L 16-31@ Western Kentucky	2	1	1.0	1.0	—
Wk 6	L 17-20@ Fresno State	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 10-44vs San Diego State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 8	L 22-24@ New Mexico	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 3-24vs Boise State	3	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 14-51@ Utah State	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 55-10vs San José State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 13-7@ Wyoming	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	L 17-42vs UNLV	3	1	1.0	0.0	—
Total		22	12	4.0	2.0	—

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

22Tackles

12Solo

4TFL

2Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

22 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 4 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 41 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

Nevada

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Nevada

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -7 net (14 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Nevada · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #118 · 2026 recruiting class #98

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jeremiah Littles’s 2020 season.

Jeremiah Littles

90%match

South Alabama · 2020

All-Sun Belt

Antwuan Jackson

Ohio State · 2021

87%

Tyre West

Tennessee · 2023

NFL Rd 7

87%

Jamond Gordon

Ole Miss · 2023

86%

Dion Washington

Boise State · 2025

86%

Matches Jeremiah on

Sack rate

TFL rate

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Matt Henningsen's sophomore season at Wisconsin (2021).

Matt Henningsen

94%match

Wisconsin · 2021

All-Big TenNFL Rd 6

Tyre West

Tennessee · 2023

NFL Rd 7

88%

Curtis Harper

Syracuse · 2021

87%

Antwuan Jackson

Ohio State · 2021

86%

Isaiah Nichols

Arkansas · 2021

86%

Matches Matt on

Class year

Height

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Nelson Ropati

Nahki Johnson

Pittsburgh · 2024

90%

Andrew Tillett

Air Force · 2025

90%

Ashun Shepphard

Mississippi State · 2024

88%

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

202411 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base

Players who play like Nelson Ropati