Sean McLaughlin: DL · Northwestern · #97.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Sean McLaughlin
Wins the gap play after play. Played for two head coaches in five seasons at Northwestern. A game that shows it: 3 tackles against Iowa — Week 9, 2024.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
14 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
OregonLive Oct 29Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Northwestern | 14 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 2 |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 18 | 8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 5 |
| 2022 | Northwestern | 31 | 17 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 1 |
| 2021 | Northwestern | 11 | 8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | -- |
| 2020 | Northwestern | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- |
| Career | 76 | 42 | 9.0 | 3.5 | 8 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2024 season · 8 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 13-6vs Miami (OH) | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 5-24@ Washington | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 24-41vs No. 23 Indiana | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 37-10@ Maryland | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 3-23vs Wisconsin | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 14-40@ Iowa | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 7-31vs No. 2 Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 6-50@ Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
4%0 TFLSack rate
0%0 sacksHurry rate
0%0 hurries14 tackles · 0.5 for loss.
Splits · Per-game
2024 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road4g | 2.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
David Braun
Pass share
53.3%
392 pass / 344 run
Plays / game
61.3
12 games
Team sack rate
5.4%
408 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2024
Fewer tackles a game than most FBS defensive linemen who play every week.
How it ended
Five seasons at Northwestern, 4 sacks — the college career is complete.
A stat line in 38 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2020–2024
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Pat Fitzgerald → David Braun. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
