← the board · drewhoover.com · 2024–2026
Colorado's best defenders since 2024
DJ McKinney leads with 95 tackles in 22 games at Colorado; Preston Hodge had 88.
Every defender with 5 or more games at Colorado since 2024, ranked by tackles; the lines are each player's tackles game by game, the top 8 drawn. A link opens the player's page, where he has one, or his row on the board.
80 defenders with 5+ games at Coloradotackles
| # | player | seasons | games | tackles | sacks | tackles for loss | interceptions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DJ McKinney | 2024–2025 | 22 | 95 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 2 | Preston Hodge | 2024–2025 | 21 | 88 | 0 | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Nikhai Hill-Green | 2024 | 12 | 82 | 2 | 12 | 2 |
| 4 | Tawfiq Byard | 2025 | 12 | 79 | 0.5 | 8 | 1 |
| 5 | Keaten Wade | 2024–2025 | 18 | 66 | 6.5 | 18 | 0 |
| 6 | Randon Fontenette | 2026 | 6 | 51 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 7 | Reginald Hughes | 2025 | 11 | 49 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 8 | Gideon ESPN Lampron | 2026 | 6 | 48 | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| 9 | Naeten Mitchell | 2026 | 6 | 44 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | Ben Finneseth | 2024–2026 | 21 | 43 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Liona Lefau | 2026 | 6 | 41 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 12 | Shaun Myers | 2025 | 9 | 36 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 13 | Anquin Barnes Jr. | 2024–2025 | 16 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 14 | B.J. Green II | 2024 | 13 | 33 | 7.5 | 14 | 0 |
| 15 | Samuel Okunlola | 2024–2025 | 12 | 31 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| 16 | Chidozie Nwankwo | 2024 | 11 | 31 | 2.5 | 6 | 0 |
| 17 | Tawfiq Thomas | 2024–2025 | 13 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 18 | Martavius French | 2025 | 8 | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | RJ Johnson | 2024–2026 | 12 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Colton Hood | 2024 | 13 | 24 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 | London Merritt | 2025 | 10 | 24 | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| 22 | John Slaughter | 2025 | 5 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Taje McCoy | 2024 | 9 | 23 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| 24 | Boo Carter | 2026 | 6 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 | Ivan Yates | 2024–2025 | 10 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | Teon Parks | 2025 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | Santana Hopper | 2026 | 6 | 19 | 1 | 11 | 0 |
| 28 | Toby Anene | 2026 | 6 | 19 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 29 | Cree Thomas | 2026 | 6 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Dylan Manuel | 2026 | 6 | 18 | 0.5 | 4 | 1 |
| 31 | Quency Wiggins | 2024–2026 | 13 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 32 | Brandon Davis-Swain | 2024–2025 | 9 | 16 | 1.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | Alexander McPherson | 2025 | 8 | 15 | 0.5 | 1 | 0 |
| 34 | Jaylen Wester | 2024 | 6 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 35 | Makari Vickers | 2025–2026 | 9 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Kylan Salter | 2025–2026 | 9 | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 37 | Jehiem Oatis | 2025 | 6 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Immanuel Ezeogu | 2026 | 5 | 8 | 0.5 | 3 | 0 |
| 39 | Gage Goldberg | 2024–2026 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 40 | Tavian Coleman | 2025 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 41 | Nathaniel Watson | 2024–2025 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 42 | Sav'ell Smalls | 2024 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | Arden Walker | 2023–2025 | 28 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 44 | Amari McNeill | 2023–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 45 | Carter Stoutmire | 2023–2025 | 23 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 46 | Ronnie Blackmon | 2017–2018 | 22 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 47 | Travis Hunter | 2023–2024 | 22 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 48 | Cam'Ron Silmon-Craig | 2023–2024 | 21 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 49 | LaVonta Bentley | 2023–2024 | 18 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 50 | Shilo Sanders | 2023–2024 | 17 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 51 | Jeremiah Brown | 2023–2025 | 16 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 52 | Shane Cokes | 2023–2024 | 15 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 53 | Trevor Woods | 2021–2024 | 14 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 54 | Isaiah Oliver | 2016–2017 | 13 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 55 | Nikko Reed | 2021–2022 | 12 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 56 | Ryan Severson | 2013–2014 | 12 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 57 | Tedric Thompson | 2014–2016 | 12 | — | — | — | 13 |
| 58 | Marques Mosley | 2012–2013 | 10 | — | — | — | 1 |
| 59 | Ken Crawley | 2012–2015 | 9 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 60 | Nate Landman | 2017–2021 | 9 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 61 | Brendan Gant | 2023–2024 | 8 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 62 | Derrick McLendon | 2023 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 63 | Jordan Domineck | 2023 | 7 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 64 | Kenneth Olugbode | 2015–2016 | 7 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 65 | Mark Perry | 2021 | 7 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 66 | Ahkello Witherspoon | 2015–2016 | 6 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 67 | Carson Wells | 2019–2021 | 6 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 68 | Chidobe Awuzie | 2015–2016 | 6 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 69 | Isaiah Lewis | 2021–2022 | 6 | — | — | — | 3 |
| 70 | Jered Bell | 2012–2015 | 6 | — | — | — | 7 |
| 71 | Rodrick Ward | 2023 | 6 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 72 | Afolabi Laguda | 2016–2017 | 5 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 73 | Derrion Rakestraw | 2018–2020 | 5 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 74 | Evan Worthington | 2017–2018 | 5 | — | — | — | 4 |
| 75 | Jaden Milliner-Jones | 2023 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 76 | Jeff Hall | 2012–2013 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 77 | Leonard Payne | 2023 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
| 78 | Mekhi Blackmon | 2020–2021 | 5 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 79 | Rick Gamboa | 2016–2018 | 5 | — | — | — | 2 |
| 80 | Taijh Alston | 2023 | 5 | — | — | — | 0 |
Also at Colorado: quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, tight ends, kickers, punters. Every school and conference: schools, conferences. The games are ESPN's box scores since 2004 (the Method says where they fall short); a position is the roster's, else read off the box score, so a tight end from before 2014 may be listed with the wide receivers.