Ryheem Craig

Senior linebacker for East Carolina. 2025: 40 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · East Carolina · Sr. · #5

6′3″ · 231 lb · Taylorsville, NC

CFB Index 43 · #352 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to East Carolina for 2026

How he plays

Carries tight ends down the field in coverage.

Passes defended: 78th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

3.5 TFL · 1 sacks · 3 PBU

Best game: 2 tackles, 1 TFL, 0.5 sacks, vs Tulsa

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for East Carolina. 2025: 40 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Louisville in 2021.
Transferred from Louisville to East Carolina in 2024.

His career, year by year

Ryheem Craig

LB · East Carolina · Sr · #5

Carries tight ends down the field in coverage. Ryheem Craig has played for four head coaches across five seasons and two programs. The receipt on tape: 7 tackles against Army, Week 5, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Louisville6-7HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Louisville8-5HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning

2023Louisville10-4HC: Jeff Brohm · Run-leaning

2024East Carolina8-5HC: Mike Houston · Balanced

2025East Carolina9-4HC: Blake Harrell · Run-leaning, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

43Rotational starter #352 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Box-score production (6)

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles#906 / 2975 · 69th pct

Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct

3.5

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct

1.0

Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.9	0.3	0.1	0.3
Road5g	2.6	0.3	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.0	0.4	0.1	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	2.4	0.2	0.1	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Harrell

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

43 · #352 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #352 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #37 of 61 American Athletic LBs

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	East Carolina	40	17	3.5	1.0	3	--	--
2024	East Carolina	49	16	6.0	2.0	--	--	--
2023	Louisville	3	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Louisville	5	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Louisville	1	1	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
Career		98	36	10.5	4.0	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 23–17

vs Pittsburgh

5 TOT · 2 SOLO · 0 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 6 at home.

With A. Smith — 4 rec · 156 yds · 2 TD · C. Ditta — 177 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 29.7 · -17 rush yds (10 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 17-24@ NC State	5	2	0.5	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	W 56-3vs Campbell	2	0	0.5	0.5	—	0
Wk 3	W 38-0@ Coastal Carolina	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 13-34vs BYU	4	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 28-6vs Army	7	3	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 7	L 19-26@ Tulane	2	1	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 41-27vs Tulsa	2	0	1.0	0.5	—	2
Wk 11	W 48-22vs Charlotte	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 31-27vs Memphis	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 24-58@ UTSA	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 42-3@ Florida Atlantic	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Bowl	W 23-17vs Pittsburgh	5	2	0.5	0.0	—	0
Total		40	17	3.5	1.0	—	3

How he plays

Play style

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

40Tackles

17Solo

3.5TFL

1Sacks

3Pass def.

0INT

40 tackles. 3 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 TFL.

Week 11 PD
Week 20.5 sacks
Week 80.5 sacks · 2 PD

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

East Carolina

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · East Carolina

Returning around him

1 East Carolina player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -2 net (24 in / 26 out)

2026 Award watch

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

East Carolina · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #83 · 2026 recruiting class #94

DNA match

Player DNA

Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Drew Francis’s 2022 season.

Drew Francis

75%match

Middle Tennessee · 2022

Kenny Soares Jr.

Northwestern · 2023

74%

Mikai Gbayor

Nebraska · 2024

74%

Bo Bauer

Notre Dame · 2021

72%

Noah Harvey

Michigan State · 2021

72%

Matches Drew on

Solo tackle rate

Weight

Differs from Drew on

PD rate (higher)

Class year (higher)

Hurry rate (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to K.D. McDaniel's graduate season at Georgia State (2024).

K.D. McDaniel

79%match

Georgia State · 2024

Lanell Carr

Indiana · 2024

76%

Isaiah Bagnah

BYU · 2024

74%

Jesiah Pierre

UCF · 2024

74%

Clyde Washington

Utah State · 2024

73%

Matches K.D. on

TFL rate

Solo tackle rate

Hurry rate

Differs from K.D. on

PD rate (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Ryheem Craig

James Jackson

Virginia · 2024

87%

Steven Cattledge

Troy · 2025

82%

Jeremy Naborne

Colorado State · 2025

76%

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

2021

202412 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Coverage 'Backer

Players who play like Ryheem Craig