Advanced
Computed from every play, garbage time excluded. FBS rank among players with enough volume
| Defense | Value | FBS rank |
|---|---|---|
| Havoc plays | 3 | 1078th / 2758 |
| Tackles for loss | 1 | 1269th / 2112 |
| Run stops | 4 | 1914th / 3422 |
| Sacks | 0 | — |
| Pass breakups | 2 | — |
| Interceptions | 0 | — |
| Forced fumbles | 0 | — |
| Tackles | 6 | — |
Charting
Where Nelson's plays went: throw and catch spots, air yards and yards after the catch, read from the play-by-play
The play-by-play names the defender on breakups, interceptions and tackles, but not the man in coverage on every throw, so true times-targeted isn't in the text. Coverage plays is the closest stand-in; exact targets come from hand charting.
Career
3 seasons at 2 schools since 2014 · box-score totals, snap share estimated from play-by-play
| Season | Team | G | Snaps | Tkl | TFL | Sacks | INT | PD | Havoc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 so far |  NC State#67 · 4-4 | 3 | 20% | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 2025 |  Penn State#18 · 7-6 | 4 | 5% | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2024 | Penn State#4 · 13-3 | 4 | 6% | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Past seasons are summed from ESPN box scores; success rates and snap shares come from the play-by-play. Da'Kaari Nelson's team rank is that season's final TDC rank. A dash means the stat wasn't recorded.
Game Log
Da'Kaari Nelson's box score, game by game, from ESPN, with a 0–10 game score for each (hover it for how it works). Click a result for the full game
| Defense | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Opponent | Result | Game score | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Hur | PD | INT | TD |
| 1 | @ Virginia | L 8–34 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||
| 2 |  Richmond | W 73–0 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||
| 3 | @ Vanderbilt | L 31–35 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||
| 4 |  App State | W 41–31 | 7.2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | · | · |
| 5 |  Louisville | W 31–28 | 6.2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | · | · |
| 6 |  Wake Forest | L 14–38 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||
| 8 | @ Stanford | L 28–31 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||
| 9 |  California | W 31–10 | 4.1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | · | · |
| 2026 · 3 games | 5.8 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | · | · | ||
2026 Season Stats
FBS rank among qualifying players
| Defense | 2026 | FBS rank |
|---|---|---|
| Tackles | 7 | 2784th / 5664 |
| Solo | 5 | — |
| Tackles for loss | 1 | 1566th / 2634 |
| Sacks | 0 | — |
| QB hurries | 1 | 780th / 1549 |
| Passes defended | 2 | 471st / 1772 |
| Defensive TD | 0 | — |
Snaps by Game
Estimated snaps from a model trained on real NFL snap counts. Ranges in brackets are where the real number lands 80% of the time: wide for a single game, tighter over the season. How it works
| Game | Start | Opp. plays | Est. snaps | Plays made | Snap share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 4 · App State | ✓ LB | 61 | ~49 (25–58) | 4 | 80% |
| Wk 5 · Louisville | ✓ LB | 56 | ~33 (3–56) | 4 | 59% |
| Wk 9 · California | — | 72 | ~17 (2–31) | 1 | 24% |
| Season | 2 GS | 504 | 99 (26–133) | 9 | 20% |
Position Room
23 LBs on the NC State roster, ordered by tkl
| # | Player | Pos | Class | Tkl | TFL | Sacks | INT | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Popo Aguirre | LB | SR | 77 | 4 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 5 | Harvey Dyson III | LB | SR | 19 | 3.5 | 1.5 | — | 3 |
| 33 | Ziggy Moore | LB | FR | 17 | 1 | 1 | — | 2 |
| 58 | Elijah Satchell | LB | FR | 17 | 5 | 4 | — | 1 |
| 35 | LaCorian Hodge | LB | SO | 14 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 1 |
| 42 | Ke'Von Carter | LB | SO | 9 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 |
| 8 | Da'Kaari Nelson | LB | SR | 7 | 1 | 0 | — | 2 |
| 44 | Jordan Moreta | LB | FR | 7 | 0.5 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 31 | Bailey Benson | LB | SO | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 |
| 15 | AJ Richardson | LB | SR | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| Josh Warren Jr. | LB | 4 | 2 | 1 | — | 0 | ||
| Zane Williams | LB | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | ||
| 25 | Sterling Dixon | LB | JR | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 38 | Logan Foust | LB | JR | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
| 32 | Caleb Gordon | LB | FR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 33 | Nathan Huffman | LB | SO | — | — | — | — | — |
| 37 | Lawrence Brown Jr. | LB | FR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 43 | Koby Sarkodie | LB | FR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 45 | Isaac Peters | LB | SR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 46 | Ryan Klimp | LB | SR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 47 | Jackson Mastor | LB | JR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 48 | Hunter Jackson | LB | SO | — | — | — | — | — |
| 52 | David Collins | LB | SR | — | — | — | — | — |
Stats, EPA and usage come from CollegeFootballData.com and refresh daily. FBS ranks only count players with enough volume for the stat to mean something. Qualifying for EPA takes —+ plays per team game. NC State depth chart →