Linebacker, Hawai’i, 2014–18
Jahlani Tavai
Lettered 2015–18 (school media guide)
- Number
- No. 31
- Height
- 6′4″
- Weight
- 245 lb
- Class (2018)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Redondo Beach, CA
- Born
- Sep 28, 1996, in Inglewood, California
Wikipedia readers: about 3,443 a month over the past year
Jahlani Tavai played linebacker at Hawai’i (2014–18). The Detroit Lions took Tavai in round 2, No. 43 overall in the 2019 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Career highs
15tackles, career highat Army, 20182sacks, career highthree times; last at Massachusetts, 2017Defense
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. A dash: the source has no number for that season (often an FCS season), and career totals count only the numbers on file.
Defense before 2016
| Season | G | Solo | Ast | Tkl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 12 of 13 | 23 | 23 | 46 |
Our box scores carry tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from 2016 only, so these come from other sources: ESPN play-by-play participants, via SportsDataverse: tackles only, counted in the games whose play-by-play names tacklers (G: those games, of his team’s), so part of the season, not its total. A dash: the source has no number for it.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Hawai’i | 31 | LB | RS | ||
| 2015 | Hawai’i | 31 | LB | Fr. | ||
| 2016 | Hawai’i | 31 | LB | So. | ||
| 2017 | Hawai’i | 31 | LB | Jr. | ||
| 2018 | Hawai’i | 31 | LB | Sr. | 6′4″ | 245 |
As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.
Game by game
2018 Hawai’i 8 games, 82 tackles, 2 sacks
2017 Hawai’i 12 games, 124 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26 | at Massachusetts | W 38–35 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2 | vs. Western Carolina | W 41–18 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 9 | at UCLA | L 23–56 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 23 | at Wyoming | L 21–28 | 10 | 7 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 30 | vs. Colorado State | L 21–51 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 7 | at Nevada | L 21–35 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 14 | vs. San José State | W 37–26 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Oct 28 | vs. San Diego State | L 7–28 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 4 | at UNLV | L 23–31 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 11 | vs. Fresno State | L 21–31 | 14 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 18 | at Utah State | L 0–38 | 13 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 25 | vs. BYU | L 20–30 | 13 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
2016 Hawai’i 14 games, 128 tackles, 7 sacks, 1 INT
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26 | vs. California | L 31–51 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 3 | at Michigan | L 3–63 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 10 | vs. UT Martin | W 41–36 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Sep 17 | at Arizona | L 28–47 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 1 | vs.Nevada | W 38–17 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Oct 8 | atSan José State | W 34–17 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 15 | vs.UNLV | L 38–41 | 14 | 9 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 22 | at Air Force | W 34–27 | 13 | 10 | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Oct 29 | vs. New Mexico | L 21–28 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Nov 5 | atSan Diego State | L 0–55 | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 12 | vs. Boise State | L 16–52 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 19 | atFresno State | W 14–13 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 26 | vs.Massachusetts | W 46–40 | 7 | 6 | 2.5 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 24 ✦ | vs. Middle Tennessee | W 52–35 | 11 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2015 Hawai’i 1 game, 2 punts, 54.0 average
| Date | Opponent | Result | Tkl | Solo | TFL | Sacks | Int | PD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 28 | vs. UL Monroe | W 28–26 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2019 | Combine or pro day 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′2⅜″ | |
| Weight | 250 lb | |
| Arm length | 31⅞″ | |
| Hand size | 9″ | |
| Wingspan | 78″W | |
| 40-yard dash | 4.86 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.70 sW | |
| Vertical jump | 33½″ | |
| Broad jump | 9′2″ | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.41 s |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
8 seasons, 104 games with a stat; latest team: Jacksonville Jaguars.
| Season | Team | G | Tkl | Sacks | Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Detroit Lions | 14 | 54 | 2 | 1 |
| 2020 | Detroit Lions | 15 | 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | New England Patriots | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | New England Patriots | 17 | 58 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2023 | New England Patriots | 17 | 89 | 1 | 2 |
| 2024 | New England Patriots | 17 | 109 | 1 | 1 |
| 2025 | New England Patriots | 12 | 41 | 0 | 0 |
| 2026 (so far) | Jacksonville Jaguars | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| NFL career | 104 | 422 | 5.5 | 4 | |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
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