Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons²

Rakeem Nunez-Roches

Defensive Tackle, Tampa Bay Buccaneers · #56.

Player facts

Team: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Position: Defensive Tackle
Number: 56
Born: Jul 3, 1993 (age 33)
Birthplace: DANGRIGA, Belize
Height: 6' 2"
Weight: 305 lbs
College: Southern Miss
Experience: 12 seasons
Status: Active

Stats

2026 Defense

	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	FR	YDS	INT	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	PD	STF	STFYDS	KB
Regular Season	3	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	1	2	0
Career	236	104	132	9	1	1	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	4	28.5	34	0

Recent games

			Tackles				Fumbles		Interceptions
Date	Opponent	Result	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	FR	INT	YDS	AVG	TD	LNG	PD	KB
Thu, Oct 8	@ DAL	W 24-16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Oct 4	vs GB	L 17-14	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 20	vs CLE	L 23-19	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0
Sun, Sep 13	@ CIN	L 33-27	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0	0	0	0

Last 4 games. Click a game for its box score.

About

Rakeem Nathan Nuñez-Roches (born July 3, 1993) is a Belizean professional American football nose tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL draft. He played college football for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. He has also played for the New York Giants.

From Wikipedia’s article on Rakeem Nuñez-Roches, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.¹

Background

Early life

Nuñez-Roches migrated with his family from Belize to Alabama when he was eight years old He attended Central High School in Phenix City, Alabama where he started to play football. For his high school football career, he recorded 132 career tackles, 17 sacks, and four forced fumbles. In football, he was rated as a three-star defensive lineman by ESPN, as well as two stars from Rivals.com and Scout.com. He was selected Second-team All-Area by the Opelika-Auburn News and was an Alabama Top 50 player.

College career

Nuñez-Roches played at the University of Southern Mississippi from 2011 to 2014 where he majored in biological sciences.

As a freshman in 2011, he appeared in six games and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman team. For the 2011 season, he recorded two tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.

As a sophomore in 2012, he started 11 of 12 games, his only non-start being Southern Miss' senior night game against UTEP. For the 2012 season, he recorded 37 tackles, of which 22 were solo, six tackles-for-loss, one sack, and one forced fumble.

As a junior in 2013, he started the first two games of the season, before suffering a season-ending injury, which earned him a medical redshirt. For the season, he recorded eight tackles, of which two were solo, and 0.5 tackles-for-loss.

As a redshirt junior in 2014, he appeared in 11 games. He recorded 63 tackles (35 solo), 15 tackles-for-loss, four sacks, and one forced fumble. Following the 2014 season, he decided to forgo his final year of eligibility and entered the 2015 NFL draft.