#98

Sam Hammond

Senior defensive end for Nevada. 2021: 5.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

DE · Nevada · Sr. · #98

6′5″ · 265 lb · Yerington, NV

CFB Index 31 · #299 of 370 edge rushersMedium confidenceNevada 2021 alumnus

The story

4 defensive end for Nevada. 2021: 5.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 34 tackles.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Nevada, 12 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20208 games

All-Mountain Westsecond

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Nevada

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 2ND TEAM

All-Mountain West 2nd team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

2 coaches

2017–2020

Jay Norvell

Nevada

2021

Vai Taua

Nevada

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Jay Norvell → Vai Taua. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Nevada3-9HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning

2018Nevada8-5HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2019Nevada7-6HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2020Nevada7-2HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2021Nevada8-5HC: Vai Taua · Pass-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

31Below cohort / limited sample #299 of 370?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (95th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (90th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Sacks#122 / 2743 · 95th pct

5.5

Tackles for loss#253 / 2743 · 90th pct

8.0

QB hurries#530 / 2743 · 75th pct

Solo tackles#873 / 2743 · 67th pct

Tackles#1169 / 2743 · 56th pct

Passes defended#1085 / 2743 · 49th 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

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.3	0.7	0.3	0.2
Road5g	2.4	0.7	0.7	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.7	0.7	0.7	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	4.4	0.7	0.3	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 · 2021

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #299 of 370 edge rushers

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Nevada	34	24	8.0	5.5	1	--	--
2020	Nevada	32	19	7.5	4.0	2	--	--
2019	Nevada	35	18	3.0	1.5	--	--	--
2018	Nevada	17	5	1.0	1.0	--	--	--
2017	Nevada	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		119	67	19.5	12.0	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2021

W 41–31

at Boise State

1 TFL · 1 SACKS · 2 SOLO

Edged out Boise State on the road in a shootout.

With C. Strong — 263 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 76.8 · -20 rush yds (5 car) · J. Diaz — 51 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 58 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 22-17@ California	2	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 49-10vs Idaho State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 17-38@ Kansas State	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 41-31@ Boise State	3	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 55-28vs New Mexico State	2	2	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 7	W 34-17vs Hawai'i	0	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 51-20vs UNLV	1	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	W 27-24vs San José State	4	2	2.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 21-23@ San Diego State	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 39-41vs Air Force	11	11	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 13	W 52-10@ Colorado State	3	1	1.5	1.5	—	0
Total		32	24	7.5	5.5	—	1

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

Sam Hammond

20208 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Finisher

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