Senior defensive back for Houston. 2022: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 47 tackles.
5′11″ · 192 lb · Denton, TX
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
ATH recruit
No. 1117 nationally · Signed with Oklahoma State
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive back for Houston. 2022: 1 interception, 1 pass breakup, 47 tackles.
Thabo Mwaniki
Plays like an extra linebacker near the line. Thabo Mwaniki has played for two head coaches across five seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 12 tackles, 0.5 TFL against South Florida — Week 9, 2022.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Five seasons at Houston, 125 tackles — his college career is complete.
His career
He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2017–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Major Applewhite → Dana Holgorsen. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: sacks (24th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2022 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 7.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 3.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 4.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 5.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Willie Fritz
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2022
Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #251 at the position.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Houston | 47 | 29 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Houston | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2020 | Houston | 33 | 25 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2018 | Oklahoma State | 17 | 11 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2017 | Oklahoma State | 22 | 19 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | 1 | -- |
| Career | 125 | 89 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 4 | 3 | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022
W 37–35
at UTSA
1 SOLO · 4 TOT
Edged out UTSA on the road in a shootout.
With C. Tune — 206 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 82.3 · 51 rush yds (15 car) · 1 TD · L. Wilkins — 46 AVG · 53 LONG · 5 NO
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 37-35@ UTSA | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 34-27vs Rice | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 24-27vs Tulane | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 38-20@ Navy | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-27vs South Florida | 12 | 8 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 12 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 63-77@ SMU | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 43-36vs Temple | 11 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-3@ East Carolina | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 30-37vs Tulsa | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 47 | 29 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
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
47 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 1.5 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.
Player DNA
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
His 2022 production profile sits closest to Gunner Maldonado’s 2022 season.
Matches Gunner on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Gunner Maldonado's senior season at Arizona (2022).
Matches Gunner on
Player DNA