#16

Sione Takitaki

Former linebacker at BYU. 2018: 101 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

LB · BYU · Sr. · #16

6′2″ · 231 lb · Fontana, CA

Cleveland — drafted 2019, Rd 3, Pick 16, #80 overall

Recruiting

3★

FB recruit

No. 779 nationally · Signed with BYU

Statement game19 tackles · 1 TFL · 1 sackvs Western Michigan (FBS) · W 49-18

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former linebacker at BYU. 2018: 101 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to BYU in 2014.
Drafted round 3 by the Cleveland in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at BYU, 180 tackles — drafted at #80 overall by Cleveland.

His career

2014

Signed with BYU3-star out of Heritage

2019

Drafted by Clevelandround 3, pick 80

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#779 national

CFB

College

BYU

2017–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #80

Cleveland · 2019

Where He Ended Up · NFL

ClevelandEntering 8th NFL season

#80Rd 3 · Pick 16

ClevelandEntering 8th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Kalani Sitake — 11-15 over that span.

2017BYU4-9HC: Kalani Sitake · Balanced

2018BYU7-6HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (98th percentile). Strength: tackles (98th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Solo tackles#43 / 2662 · 98th pct

Tackles#59 / 2662 · 98th pct

101

QB hurries#287 / 2662 · 86th pct

Tackles for loss#350 / 2662 · 86th pct

7.0

Sacks#489 / 2662 · 78th pct

2.0

Passes defended#519 / 2662 · 76th 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

2018 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	9.0	0.7	0.3	0.2
Road5g	9.4	0.6	0.0	0.4

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	8.1	0.5	0.1	0.4
Weeks 8+3g	12.0	1.0	0.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kalani Sitake

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	BYU	101	61	7.0	2.0	3	--	--
2017	BYU	79	43	12.5	5.0	2	--	--
Career		180	104	19.5	7.0	5	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2018

W 24–21

at Wisconsin

12 TOT · 7 SOLO · 1 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.

With R. Almond — 48 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 50 LONG · A. Hifo — 31 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · 45 rush yds (5 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week