Jahlani Tavai
New England PatriotsModel Score
How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →
Season Stats · 12 games
Draft & College
He went well ahead of consensus.
Covers the college seasons in our data, which does not always reach back to a player's first year.
STM Take
2022 tier 3 (#23) STTM peak plus 2023 tier 4 (#25) finish puts Tavai in the structural mid-prime class, but the 2024-2025 decline confirms the structural late-career compression. The Hawaii Mountain West 2nd-round origin plus seven years of NFL development give him real journeyman veteran value. The 2026 question is whether Tavai holds tier 7 or better or whether the role compresses to swing depth.
Tavai came out of Hawaii as the Detroit Lions' 2nd-round pick (43rd overall) in 2019 and bounced through the Lions before signing with the New England Patriots in 2022. His STTM career runs tier 8 (#63) in 2020, tier 3 (#23) in 2022 peak, tier 4 (#25) in 2023, tier 7 (#53) in 2024, and tier 8 (#78) in 2025.
Strengths
- 2022 tier 3 (#23) STTM peak plus the 2023 tier 4 (#25) finish confirms structural top-25 LB ceiling at peak.
- Hawaii Mountain West 2nd-round origin plus seven years of NFL survival gives him real veteran market value.
Concerns
- Two-year regression from tier 4 (#25) in 2023 to tier 8 (#78) in 2025 confirms the structural late-career decline.
- Patriots' broader defensive identity transition plus the QB rebuild compresses the structural support around Tavai.
What to watch: Whether Tavai holds tier 7 or better in 2026 with the Patriots or whether the role compresses to swing depth.