Sam Beal: DB · Western Michigan · #1.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Sam Beal
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for two head coaches in two seasons at Western Michigan. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Toledo — Week 13, 2017.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
26 tackles. 10 passes defended. 2 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.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Western Michigan | 26 | 17 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 |
| 2016 | Western Michigan | 55 | 39 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 8 | -- |
| Career | 81 | 56 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 18 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 11 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 31-49@ No. 4 USC | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-28@ Michigan State | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 37-28vs Idaho | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | W 49-14vs Wagner | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 55-3vs Ball State | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 6 | W 71-68@ Buffalo | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-17@ Eastern Michigan | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 28-35vs Central Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-20vs Kent State | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 31-35@ Northern Illinois | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-37@ Toledo | 4 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 26 | 17 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 10 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
38%10 pass breakupsInterceptions
2interceptionsTackle volume
26tackles this seasonTFL rate
12%3 TFL26 tackles · 3 for loss · 10 pass breakups · 2 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.6 |
| Road6g | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.7 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Tim Lester
Pass share
34.4%
294 pass / 561 run
Plays / game
71.2
12 games
Team sack rate
7.7%
324 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Player standing · 2017
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive backs who play every week.
How it ended
Two seasons at Western Michigan, 81 tackles — the college career is complete.
Coaching lineage · 2015–2017
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: P.J. Fleck → Tim Lester. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
