Player
Alex Anzalone
LB · Lions
Alex Anzalone: facts drawn from the play-by-play.
600 career tackles across 9 seasons — the Saints reclamation project who became the Lions' on-field coach.
TrendAnzalone by season (regular season)
| Season | Team | Solo | Asst | Total | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | NO | 11 | 5 | 16 | 1 |
| 2018 | NO | 42 | 16 | 58 | 3 |
| 2019 | NO | 7 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 2020 | NO | 27 | 23 | 50 | 3 |
| 2021 | DET | 44 | 29 | 73 | 1 |
| 2022 | DET | 50 | 48 | 98 | 7 |
| 2023 | DET | 87 | 48 | 135 | 9 |
| 2024 | DET | 47 | 21 | 68 | 9 |
| 2025 | DET | 52 | 43 | 95 | 4 |
Anzalone was a 3rd-round Saints pick (2017) whose first four years were marred by injuries — only 7 tackles in 2019 before bouncing back in 2020. Then Detroit signed him as a free agent in 2021, and he's been the defensive signal-caller for the Lions' rise ever since.
The Detroit trajectory: 73 → 98 → 135 → 68 → 95 tackles. The 2024 dip was an injury-shortened year — the surrounding seasons show what he is when healthy: a 130-tackle middle linebacker who runs the defense.
Combined tackles per season
| Season | Tackles |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 16 |
| 2018 | 58 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2020 | 50 |
| 2021 | 73 |
| 2022 | 98 |
| 2023 | 135 |
| 2024 | 68 |
| 2025 | 95 |
Saints era: 131 tackles in 4 years. Lions era: 469 tackles in 5 years.
SplitEra split — NO vs DET
| Era | Seasons | Tackles | TFL | Tackles/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NO (2017-2020) | 4 | 131 | 8 | 32.8 |
| DET (2021-2025) | 5 | 469 | 30 | 93.8 |
The Detroit move tripled his output. Anzalone went from a 32.8 tackles/year part-time Saints role to 93.8 tackles/year as a full-time middle linebacker in Aaron Glenn's defense.
His 30 TFL in Detroit in 5 years is more than 3x what he did in 4 New Orleans seasons (8). The role change — from rotational WLB to MLB signal-caller — was the entire career.
135 tackles in 2023 — career high, and the on-field engine of Detroit's NFC Championship run.
MilestoneAnzalone's 2023 season — 87 solo, 48 assist, 135 combined, 9 TFL — was the career line. That Lions defense was the foundation under their first conference title game appearance since 1991.
He also recorded 3 sacks, 13 QB hits, 6 PDs, and 1 FR in 2023 — peripheral disruption to go with the tackle volume. Among the top 12 tacklers in the league that year.
36 career pass defenses for a non-rusher LB — coverage range that doesn't always show up in volume stats.
RareAnzalone career resume
| Stat | Career |
|---|---|
| Solo Tackles | 367 |
| Asst Tackles | 233 |
| Combined | 600 |
| TFL | 38 |
| Sacks | 13.0 |
| QB Hits | 41 |
| Pass Defenses | 36 |
| Forced Fumbles | 4 |
The 36 career pass defenses is the underrated stat. Anzalone has never been used as a primary blitzer — his 13 career sacks across 9 years is low — but the 5+ PDs in three different Detroit seasons (2021, 2022, 2023, 2025) shows him as a true 3-down linebacker who survives in coverage.
He's not a thumper-only MLB; he's a hybrid coverage/run-stopper, which is why he's been on the field for 100% of Detroit's defensive snaps in healthy years.
388 combined tackles since 2022 — among the top 15 LBs in the league across that span.
ComparisonAnzalone's recent (2022-2025) tackle totals
| Season | Solo | Asst | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 50 | 48 | 98 |
| 2023 | 87 | 48 | 135 |
| 2024 | 47 | 21 | 68 |
| 2025 | 52 | 43 | 95 |
Even with the 2024 injury dropping him to 68 tackles in a partial season, Anzalone's 396 combined tackles from 2022-2025 puts him in the top tier of NFL linebackers across that window.
For context, the league's top 10 tacklers since 2021 (Roquan Smith, Foye Oluokun, Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, Nick Bolton, Zaire Franklin, Alex Singleton, Bobby Okereke, T.J. Edwards, Fred Warner) range from 600-770 tackles over that span. Anzalone's 452 since 2021 sits just outside that elite club — and he's been the leader of the unit's success.
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