Ronnie Royal III
Two seasons in the NC State secondary to date. On tape: 10 tackles against Stanford, Week 8, 2026.
33 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
33 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 1.5 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 4 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 8-34@ Virginia | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 73-0vs Richmond | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 31-35@ Vanderbilt | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 41-31vs App State | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 31-28vs Louisville | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 14-38vs Wake Forest | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 28-31@ Stanford | 10 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 9 | W 31-10vs California | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 16 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 3 |
Oct. 31 · W 31-10 vs California, play by play
4 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: coverage — 3 passes defended in the 8 games with play by play.
How NC State’s defense played that day
California’s 13 drives: 11 stopped (1 takeaway) · 2 scored. While the game was within a score they held 8 of 9.
10 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 11 for him; the box score credits 10.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
1 tackle, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
3 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 4 for him; the box score credits 3.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
7 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Ratings of the games shown run from -11 to +12 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
9%3 pass breakupsTackle volume
33tackles this seasonTFL rate
5%2 TFL33 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 3 pass breakups.
2 seasons under Dave Doeren — 12-9 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Road3g | 6.7 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 7.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dave Doeren
Pass share
47.0%
258 pass / 291 run
Plays / game
68.6
8 games
Team sack rate
4.5%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Former four-star. Now #309 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-ACC
Based on 2025: #11 of 25 ACC Ss
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
2026 is in progress.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Dave Doeren.
