Senior defensive tackle on Buffalo's 2025 roster.
6′1″ · 285 lb · Camas, WA
The numbers
sacks · 2025
0.5 TFL · 3 tackles
3 games into 2025 so far -- Best game: 0.5 TFL, 1 tackles, at Bowling Green
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive tackle on Buffalo's 2025 roster.
Tristan Souza
Wins his gap play after play. Two seasons at Buffalo, two different head coaches: Maurice Linguist and Pete Lembo. One game to point at: 1 tackles, 0.5 TFL against Bowling Green — Week 10, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2024–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Maurice Linguist → Pete Lembo. 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: tackles (0th 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
2025 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road1g | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-72g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+1g | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pete Lembo
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2024
Tackle volume for the position at the early end of the ladder.
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 5 | L 17-20vs UConn | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 1 tackles |
| Wk 6 | W 31-30vs Eastern Michigan | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 28-3@ Bowling Green | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 |
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Buffalo
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive tackle · Buffalo
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Buffalo · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #120 · 2026 recruiting class #101
Player DNA
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
His 2024 production profile sits closest to Tevita Tafuna’s 2022 season.
Matches Tevita on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a freshman, his production profile tracks closest to Taleeq Robbins's freshman season at Houston (2023).
Matches Taleeq on
Player DNA