Tahj Ra-El is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Purdue.
Ra-El plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Played for three head coaches at three programs in five seasons: Ricky Rahne, Ryan Silverfield and Barry Odom. On tape: 15 tackles against Rutgers, Week 9, 2025.
Play style
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
110 tackles. 5 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Purdue | 110 | 63 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 5 | -- |
| 2024 | Memphis | 18 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | 1 |
| 2023 | Old Dominion | 84 | 41 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 6 | 1 |
| 2022 | Old Dominion | 40 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Old Dominion | 8 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 260 | 132 | 8.0 | 0.0 | 12 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-0vs Ball State | 7 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 34-17vs Southern Illinois | 7 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-33vs USC | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 30-56@ No. 24 Notre Dame | 9 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 27-43vs No. 22 Illinois | 9 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 20-27@ Minnesota | 7 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | L 0-19@ Northwestern | 11 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 3 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-27vs Rutgers | 15 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 16-21@ No. 21 Michigan | 13 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 10-34vs No. 1 Ohio State | 10 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 13-49@ Washington | 7 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 3-56vs No. 2 Indiana | 12 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 110 | 63 | 2.5 | 0.0 | — | 5 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
5%5 pass breakupsTackle volume
110tackles this seasonTFL rate
2%2 TFL110 tackles · 2.5 for loss · 5 pass breakups.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
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
Head Coach
Barry Odom
Pass share
52.0%
404 pass / 373 run
Plays / game
64.8
12 games
Team sack rate
3.9%
441 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
110 tackles in 12 games, more tackles a game than nearly every FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
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
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2021–2025
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 3 schools: Ricky Rahne, Ryan Silverfield and Barry Odom.
