Usage / Role
46%
Rotational defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2021-2024Virginia Tech
Cole Nelson
DL • 6'3" • 251 lbs • Johns Creek, GA, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Cole Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 20.4 disruption score.
Impact Production
48
Developing production for a defensive lineman
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
42
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2023 Postseason · Virginia Tech
21212223232424
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Virginia Tech
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Virginia
Player Story
Cole Nelson built his college career from 2021 through 2024 as a defensive lineman from Johns Creek, GA wearing No. 17, spending time with Virginia Tech. The clearest part of Cole Nelson's career was his defensive...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- South Alabama
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2026
Cole Nelson, DL. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2023 Postseason · Virginia Tech. Cole Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 20.4 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 91
- TFL
- 15.5
- Sacks
- 9
- QB hurries
- 8
- Passes defended
- 1
Quick Answers
Cole Nelson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Virginia Tech · DL
- Career Tackles
- 91
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 7 entries · 38 games
- Best season
- 2023 Postseason · Virginia Tech
- Top game
- Virginia
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Oxford · South Alabama
- High school pipeline
- Oxford · 17 FBS recruits · 3 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 17 · Senior
- 2024 Tackles rank
- 36 tackles · DL 91st (top 9%) · ACC 139th (top 19%) · National 1,101st (top 19%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 4 | 2 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 38.2 |
| 2021 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 4 | 3 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 38.2 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 10 | 23 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 45 |
| 2023 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 11 | 3 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 67.9 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 11 | 24 | 7.5 | 4.5 | 1 | - | 0 | 67.9 |
| 2024 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 13 | 4 | 0.5 | 0 | - | - | 0 | 52.4 |
| 2024 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 13 | 32 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 6 | - | 0 | 52.4 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Cole Nelson
Cole Nelson played DL for Virginia Tech. Across 4 tracked seasons, Cole Nelson recorded 18 rushing yards and 91 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2023 with Virginia Tech.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2023 Postseason
Virginia Tech paired 13 primary output with 22.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
2024 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 20.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2024 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Clemson
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2024 Postseason · Virginia Tech
Games
13
Havoc Plays / G
0.9
Efficiency
20.4
Usage
5.4
Consistency
55.7
Best Game by takeover score
Clemson
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Minnesota: 0.5. Vanderbilt: 0. Marshall: 1. Old Dominion: 0. Rutgers: 1. Miami: 1. Stanford: 1. Boston College: 1. Georgia Tech: 0. Syracuse: 0. Clemson: 3. Duke: 1. Virginia: 2
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Minnesota: 4 by 21.7. Vanderbilt: 1 by 4.2. Marshall: 2 by 18.3. Old Dominion: 2 by 8.3. Rutgers: 3 by 22.5. Miami: 3 by 22.5. Stanford: 3 by 22.5. Boston College: 3 by 22.5. Georgia Tech: 2 by 8.3. Syracuse: 4 by 16.7. Clemson: 3 by 42.5. Duke: 5 by 30.8. Virginia: 1 by 24.2
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0.8 · Games = 6 · -0.1 vs Losses
Losses0.9 · Games = 7 · +0.1 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Clemson
Best efficiency game
42.5 vs Clemson
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 1/4 | vs Minnesota | L 10-24 | 4 | 1 | — | 0.50 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 12/1 | vs VirginiaSplash game | W 37-17 | 1 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/24 | @ Duke | L 28-31 | 5 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/9 | vs ClemsonSplash game | L 14-24 | 3 | 1 | — | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/2 | @ Syracuse | L 31-38 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/26 | vs Georgia Tech | W 21-6 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Thu 10/17 | vs Boston College | W 42-21 | 3 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/5 | @ Stanford | W 31-7 | 3 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Fri 9/27 | @ Miami | L 34-38 | 3 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/21 | vs Rutgers | L 23-26 | 3 | 2 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/14 | @ Old Dominion | W 37-17 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/7 | vs Marshall | W 31-14 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 8/31 | @ Vanderbilt | L 27-34 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Cole Nelson story
Cole Nelson built his college career from 2021 through 2024 as a defensive lineman from Johns Creek, GA wearing No. 17, spending time with Virginia Tech. The clearest part of Cole Nelson's career was his defensive production: 91 tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, 9 sacks, and 1 pass defended across 38 career games in the available record. His career also includes 18 rushing yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. That gives Cole Nelson's career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Virginia Tech
2021-2024
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2021202120222023202320242024
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 0 | 5.2 | 1.1 | — |
| 2021 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 0 | 5.2 | 1.1 | 0 |
| 2022 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 9 | 18.6 | 5.3 | 9 |
| 2023 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 13 | 22.1 | 14.6 | 4 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 13 | 22.1 | 14.6 | 0 |
| 2024 Postseason | Virginia Tech | 11.5 | 20.4 | 5.4 | -1.5 |
| 2024 Regular Season | Virginia Tech | 11.5 | 20.4 | 5.4 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Virginia
Week 13 · W 55-17 · Conference game
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
4
Havoc Plays
88.3 takeover
4 disruption/tackle impact with 88.3 takeover score.
#2
vs Clemson
Week 11 · L 14-24 · Conference game
3
Havoc Plays
76.7 takeover
Loss with 3 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
3 disruption/tackle impact with 76.7 takeover score.
#3
vs Wofford
Week 3 · W 27-7
2
Havoc Plays
74.7 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 74.7 takeover score.
#4
@ Pittsburgh
Week 6 · L 29-45 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
65.3 takeover
Loss with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 65.3 takeover score.
#5
vs Boston College
Week 2 · W 27-10 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
61.7 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 61.7 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2023 Postseason · Virginia Tech
13 primary output · 22.1 efficiency · 14.6 usage
67.9
#2
2023 Regular Season · Virginia Tech
67.9
13 primary · 22.1 efficiency · 14.6 usage
#3
2024 Postseason · Virginia Tech
52.4
11.5 primary · 20.4 efficiency · 5.4 usage
Milestones
6
Impact games
9
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Cole Nelson
Move from the player story into the game log, career arc, team context, and video shelf.