#26

Tony Anyanwu

Senior defensive lineman for Rice. 2025: 6.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 63 tackles.

DL · Rice · Sr. · #26

6′2″ · 249 lb · Rowlett, TX

CFB Index 80 · #48 of 420 edge rushersLow confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Rice for 2026

How he plays

Wins his gap play after play.

Sacks: 98th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

6.5

sacks · 2025

8 TFL · 63 tackles · 3 hurries

Best game: 1.5 sacks, 1.5 TFL, 11 tackles, vs Texas State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Rice. 2025: 6.5 sacks, 8 tackles for loss, 63 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Sachse in 2020.
Transferred from Baylor to Stephen F. Austin in 2024.

His career, year by year

Tony Anyanwu

DL · Rice · Sr · #26

Wins his gap play after play. Two head coaches in three seasons, at two different programs. In 2025 the league put his name on paper for the first time: All-AAC. The receipt on tape: 11 tackles, 1.5 sacks against Texas State, Bowl, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Baylor2-7HC: Dave Aranda · Balanced

2022Baylor6-7HC: Dave Aranda · Run-leaning

2025Rice5-8HC: Scott Abell · Run-heavy

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

80All-Conference level #48 of 420?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (98th percentile). Strength: tackles for loss (93rd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#55 / 2975 · 98th pct

6.5

Tackles for loss#198 / 2975 · 93rd pct

8.0

Tackles#360 / 2975 · 88th pct

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct

Solo tackles#559 / 2975 · 80th pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	4.1	0.3	0.3	0.0
Road6g	5.7	1.0	0.8	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-78g	4.6	0.7	0.6	0.1
Weeks 8+5g	5.2	0.5	0.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Abell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

80 · #48 of 420 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #48 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-AAC

Based on 2025: #2 of 53 American Athletic DLs

How the All-AAC estimate is computed

49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. 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	Rice	63	29	8.0	6.5	1	--	--
2022	Baylor	7	5	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
2020	Baylor	--	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		70	34	9.5	6.5	1	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025

W 38–17

vs Prairie View A&M

3 TOT · 2 SOLO

Dominant 21-point win at home against Prairie View A&M.

With C. Jenkins — 87 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 39.6 · 124 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD · A. Turner — 68 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 14-12@ Louisiana	4	4	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 11 tackles
Wk 2	L 9-35vs Houston	3	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 38-17vs Prairie View A&M	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	W 28-17@ Charlotte	4	3	2.0	2.0	—	0	2 sacks
Wk 5	L 13-21@ Navy	4	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 21-27vs Florida Atlantic	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 13-61@ UTSA	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	W 37-34vs UConn	9	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 14-38vs Memphis	3	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 24-17vs UAB	3	1	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 24-56vs North Texas	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	L 3-52@ South Florida	9	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Bowl	L 10-41@ Texas State	11	7	1.5	1.5	—	0
Total		63	29	8.0	6.5	—	1

How he plays

Play style

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

13 games

63Tackles

29Solo

8TFL

6.5Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

63 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 8 TFL.

Week 11 sack
Week 11.5 sacks
Week 42 sacks
Week 71 PD
Week 101 sack
Week 111 sack

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

Rice

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Rice

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -2 net (20 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Rice · Last season: 5-8 · Talent rank #100 · 2026 recruiting class #104

DNA match

Player DNA

Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to William Whitlow Jr.’s 2022 season.

William Whitlow Jr.

85%match

Memphis · 2022

Justin Wodtly

Cincinnati · 2022

84%

Anthonie Cooper

Arizona State · 2021

84%

Tony Pierce Jr.

Colorado State · 2023

83%

Gabriel Lopez

New Mexico · 2023

81%

Matches William on

Hurry rate

Height

Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to D.J. Harris Jr.'s senior season at South Florida (2024).

D.J. Harris Jr.

86%match

South Florida · 2024

Jared Bartlett

West Virginia · 2023

All-Big 12

86%

Aaron Brule

Michigan State · 2023

84%

Kydran Jenkins

Purdue · 2024

All-Big Ten

84%

Daniel Grzesiak

Cincinnati · 2023

All-Mountain West

84%

Matches D.J. on

Class year

Weight

TFL rate

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

2020

2024

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Two-Gap Base