#17

Tyler Taafe

Senior linebacker for Toledo. 2018: 53 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

LB · Toledo · Sr. · #17

6′1″ · 230 lb · Hubbard, OH

Toledo 2018 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

OLB recruit

No. 2029 nationally · Signed with Toledo

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Toledo. 2018: 53 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Toledo in 2015.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Toledo, 172 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

2015

Signed with Toledo3-star out of Hubbard

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2029 national

CFB

College

Toledo

2016–2018

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2018

1 coach

2016–2018

Jason Candle

Toledo

Played his entire career under Jason Candle.

2018 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Jason Candle, all run-leaning offenses — 27-13 over that span.

2016Toledo9-4HC: Jason Candle · Run-leaning

2017Toledo11-3HC: Jason Candle · Run-leaning

2018Toledo7-6HC: Jason Candle · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Tackles#549 / 2662 · 79th pct

Interceptions#130 / 805 · 72nd pct

QB hurries#730 / 2662 · 63rd pct

Tackles for loss#1212 / 2662 · 52nd pct

2.5

Sacks#1282 / 2662 · 50th pct

0.5

Solo tackles#1330 / 2662 · 48th pct

Passes defended#1661 / 2662 · 19th 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

2018 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	4.4	0.2	0.0	0.0
Road5g	3.6	0.1	0.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.0	0.1	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.3	0.3	0.1	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Jacobs

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

Awards

Player standing · 2018

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2018	Toledo	53	17	2.5	0.5	--	2	--
2017	Toledo	49	15	2.5	0.0	--	--	--
2016	Toledo	70	32	6.0	0.5	2	--	--
Career		172	64	11.0	1.0	2	2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2018

W 66–3

vs VMI

4 TOT · 2 SOLO

Dominant 63-point win at home against VMI.

With B. Flint — 43 AVG · 4 IN 20 · 54 LONG · M. Guadagni — 265 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · 20 rush yds (4 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week