#55

Zach Petersen

Senior defensive end for Iowa State. 2021: 0.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 43 tackles.

DE · Iowa State · Sr. · #55

6′5″ · 275 lb · Long Grove, IA

CFB Index 53 · #168 of 370 edge rushersMedium confidenceIowa State 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

SDE recruit

No. 1224 nationally · Signed with Iowa State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive end for Iowa State. 2021: 0.5 sacks, 5 tackles for loss, 43 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Iowa State in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Iowa State, 4 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

20183 games

Signed with Iowa State3-star out of North Scott

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1224 national

CFB

College

Iowa State

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

1 coach

2018–2021

Matt Campbell

Iowa State

Played his entire career under Matt Campbell.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Matt Campbell — 31-20 over that span.

2018Iowa State8-5HC: Matt Campbell · Run-leaning

2019Iowa State7-6HC: Matt Campbell · Balanced

2020Iowa State9-3HC: Matt Campbell · Run-leaning

2021Iowa State7-6HC: Matt Campbell · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

53Rotational starter #168 of 370?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (84th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

QB hurries#323 / 2743 · 84th pct

Tackles for loss#592 / 2743 · 77th pct

5.0

Tackles#813 / 2743 · 70th pct

Solo tackles#1273 / 2743 · 52nd pct

Sacks#1293 / 2743 · 50th pct

0.5

Passes defended#1085 / 2743 · 49th pct

Forced fumbles#59 / 673 · 46th 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

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	4.0	0.5	0.1	0.0
Road6g	2.7	0.2	0.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	4.6	0.6	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	0.2	0.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jimmy Rogers

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Starter

Tackle volume for the position at a full-time starter's level.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

53 · #168 of 370 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #168 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Iowa State	43	18	5.0	0.5	1	--	--
2020	Iowa State	19	7	2.0	1.0	--	--	--
2019	Iowa State	41	23	5.5	2.0	1	--	--
2018	Iowa State	4	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		107	49	12.5	3.5	2	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2021

W 24–21

vs Oklahoma State

2 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With B. Purdy — 307 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.6 · -6 rush yds (9 car) · A. Mevis — 29 LONG · 100 PCT · 5 PTS

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 2	L 17-27vs Iowa	7	1	2.0	0.5	—	0	Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 3	W 48-3@ UNLV	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 29-31@ Baylor	6	3	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 59-7vs Kansas	6	5	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	W 33-20@ Kansas State	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 24-21vs Oklahoma State	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	L 31-38@ West Virginia	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	W 30-7vs Texas	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	L 38-41@ Texas Tech	3	1	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 21-28@ Oklahoma	1	0	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 48-14vs TCU	2	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		36	17	4.0	0.5	—	1

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

Zach Petersen

20183 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Versatile End

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