#16

Rico Tolefree

Senior linebacker for San José State. 2022: 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack.

LB · San José State · Sr. · #16

6′1″ · 233 lb · Richmond, CA

CFB Index 13 · #555 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceSan José State 2022 alumnus

The story

4 linebacker for San José State. 2022: 12 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to San José State in 2017.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

OLB recruit

No. 3852 nationally · Signed with San José State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Five seasons at San José State, 94 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2017

Signed with San José State2-star out of De Anza Senior

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3852 national

CFB

College

San José State

2017–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2022

1 coach

2017

Brent Brennan

San José State

2019–2022

Brent Brennan

San José State

Played his entire career under Brent Brennan.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Brent Brennan — 26-31 over that span.

2017San José State2-11HC: Brent Brennan · Run-leaning

2019San José State5-7HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-heavy

2020San José State7-1HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-leaning

2021San José State5-7HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced, slow tempo

2022San José State7-5HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

13Below cohort / limited sample #555 of 578?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (9th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#845 / 2755 · 61st pct

1.0

Tackles for loss#1784 / 2755 · 29th pct

1.0

QB hurries#1444 / 2755 · 24th pct

Passes defended#1741 / 2755 · 18th pct

Solo tackles#2394 / 2755 · 11th pct

Tackles#2469 / 2755 · 9th 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

2022 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	1.6	0.2	0.2	0.0
Road4g	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	1.4	0.2	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	1.2	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Ken Niumatalolo

Pass share

51.0%

106 pass / 102 run

Plays / game

69.3

3 games

Team sack rate

1.8%

110 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

13 · #555 of 578 LBs

Two-star recruit. Now #555 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	San José State	12	6	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
2021	San José State	28	19	4.5	1.0	--	--	--
2020	San José State	3	2	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2019	San José State	50	21	2.5	2.0	--	2	--
2017	San José State	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		94	49	8.0	4.0	--	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 21–17

vs Portland State

2 SOLO · 2 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With T. Benham — 44 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 57 LONG · C. Cordeiro — 239 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 25.4

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 21-17vs Portland State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 2 tackles
Wk 4	W 34-6vs Western Michigan	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 33-16@ Wyoming	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 10-17@ Fresno State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	W 35-28vs Nevada	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 11	L 27-43@ San Diego State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 31-35@ Utah State	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 27-14vs Hawai'i	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	L 27-41vs Eastern Michigan	1	1	1.0	1.0	—
Total		12	6	1.0	1.0	—

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

Rico Tolefree

2017

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Sideline-to-Sideline

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