Zaire Franklin: LB · Syracuse · #4.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Zaire Franklin
Fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge. The three seasons at Syracuse span two head coaches: Scott Shafer and Dino Babers. A game that shows it: 16 tackles against Wake Forest — Week 11, 2017.
Play style
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
84 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
There is no official box score for these seasons, so this sack count comes from the play-by-play.
Each sack is credited to the player named on the play, and a sack shared by two players counts as half for each. We checked the same method against the official box scores for 2016 to 2019: it lands within half a sack for about 9 in 10 players. Tackles and passes defended are not shown for these seasons because the same check does not hold for them. Source: SportsDataverse play data.
Game log · Week-by-week
2017 season · 12 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 50-7vs Central Connecticut | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 23-30vs Middle Tennessee | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 41-17vs Central Michigan | 8 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 26-35@ No. 25 LSU | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 25-33@ NC State | 11 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-24vs Pittsburgh | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-24vs No. 2 Clemson | 4 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 19-27@ No. 8 Miami | 6 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 24-27@ Florida State | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 43-64vs Wake Forest | 16 | 12 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 16 tackles |
| Wk 12 | L 10-56@ Louisville | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 14-42vs Boston College | 8 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 84 | 41 | 5.5 | 1.5 | — | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
84tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%6 TFLSack rate
2%2 sacksPD rate
2%2 pass breakups84 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 1.5 sacks.
Splits · Per-game
2017 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 7.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 6.6 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 6.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 8.2 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dino Babers
Pass share
53.6%
548 pass / 474 run
Plays / game
85.2
12 games
Team sack rate
5.6%
587 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Player standing · 2017
84 tackles in 12 games, about as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
How it ended
Three seasons at Syracuse, 185 tackles — drafted at #235 overall by the Indianapolis Colts.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2014–2017
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Scott Shafer → Dino Babers. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Indianapolis ColtsEntering 9th NFL season
Indianapolis ColtsEntering 9th NFL season
