#21

Tahj Ra-El

Senior defensive back on Purdue's 2025 roster.

DB · Purdue · Sr. · #21

6′2″ · 208 lb · Charlotte, NC

CFB Index 78 · #54 of 544 safetiesLow confidenceReturning to Purdue for 2026

How he projects

Plays like an extra linebacker near the line.

The full scouting read

Recruiting

2★

S recruit

No. 2485 nationally · Signed with Old Dominion

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive back on Purdue's 2025 roster.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Old Dominion in 2021.

His career, year by year

Tahj Ra-El

DB · Purdue · Sr · #21

Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Three head coaches in five seasons, at three different programs. The receipt on tape: 15 tackles against Rutgers, Week 9, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Old Dominion6-7HC: Ricky Rahne · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Old Dominion3-9HC: Ricky Rahne · Pass-leaning, slow tempo

2023Old Dominion6-7HC: Ricky Rahne · Run-leaning

2024Memphis11-2HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2025Purdue2-10HC: Barry Odom · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

78All-Conference level #54 of 544?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (100th percentile). Strength: tackles (99th percentile). Concern: qb hurries (22nd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#12 / 2975 · 100th pct

Tackles#26 / 2975 · 99th pct

110

Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct

Tackles for loss#1222 / 2975 · 56th pct

2.5

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd 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	9.0	0.2	0.0	0.1
Road5g	9.4	0.2	0.0	0.8

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	7.0	0.3	0.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	11.3	0.1	0.0	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Barry Odom

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Impact starter

Tackle volume for the position among the most productive regulars.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

78 · #54 of 544 safeties

Two-star recruit. Now #54 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #11 of 77 Big Ten DBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Purdue	110	63	2.5	5	--	--
2024	Memphis	18	6	0.0	--	1	--
2023	Old Dominion	84	41	5.5	6	1	--
2022	Old Dominion	40	20	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Old Dominion	8	2	0.0	1	--	--
Career		260	132	8.0	12	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 34–17

vs Southern Illinois

7 SOLO · 7 TOT

With R. Browne — 170 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 79.5 · 50 rush yds (9 car) · D. Mockobee — 126 rush yds (32 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 31-0vs Ball State	7	7	1.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 34-17vs Southern Illinois	7	7	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 17-33vs USC	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 30-56@ Notre Dame	9	8	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 27-43vs Illinois	9	1	0.5	—	0
Wk 7	L 20-27@ Minnesota	7	4	0.5	—	1
Wk 8	L 0-19@ Northwestern	11	2	0.5	—	3
Wk 9	L 24-27vs Rutgers	15	3	0.0	—	0	Season-high 15 tackles
Wk 10	L 16-21@ Michigan	13	11	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 10-34vs Ohio State	10	5	0.0	—	1
Wk 12	L 13-49@ Washington	7	6	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 3-56vs Indiana	12	7	0.0	—	0
Total		110	63	2.5	—	5

How he plays

Play style

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

110Tackles

63Solo

2.5TFL

0Sacks

5Pass def.

0INT

110 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 TFL.

Week 71 PD
Week 83 PD
Week 111 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

Purdue

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Purdue

Returning around him

Transfer portal: +5 net (29 in / 24 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Purdue · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #55 · 2026 recruiting class #55

DNA match

Player DNA

Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Devin Lafayette’s 2025 season.

Devin Lafayette

93%match

Troy · 2025

All-Sun Belt

Donovan McMillon

Pittsburgh · 2024

All-ACC

83%

Tra Fluellen

Middle Tennessee · 2022

All-Conference USA

79%

Beau Freyler

Iowa State · 2023

77%

Eli Blakey

Miami (OH) · 2025

All-MAC

77%

Matches Devin on

Class year

PD rate

TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Donald Willis's graduate season at Western Michigan (2024).

Donald Willis

88%match

Western Michigan · 2024

All-MAC

Eli Blakey

Miami (OH) · 2025

All-MAC

81%

Maxen Hook

Toledo · 2024

All-MAC

77%

Tuasivi Nomura

Fresno State · 2024

All-Mountain West

76%

Jay Higgins

Iowa · 2024

Consensus All-American

75%

Matches Donald on

Class year

Tackle volume

PD rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Tahj Ra-El

Devin Lafayette

Troy · 2025

93%

Jake Martin

Air Force · 2024

93%

Berry Buxton III

Syracuse · 2024

91%

Tyrece Mills

Penn State · 2024

86%

Ben Finneseth

Colorado · 2025

85%

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

20214 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Impact starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Box Safety

Players who play like Tahj Ra-El