Eric Rankin is VMI’s tackle-hunting tone-setter at linebacker
In the 2024 season, Eric Rankin emerged as one of the Southern Conference’s most disruptive linebackers, finishing with 120 tackles, 11.5 tackles for loss, and 6.0 sacks while earning second-team All-SoCon honors and FCS National Player of the Week recognition after an 18-tackle, 2.0-sack explosion against The Citadel. He brings the kind of downhill, around-the-ball motor coaches love: physical, durable, and playmaking, with a nose for negative-yardage stops and splash moments. If you want a defender who raises the intensity and cleans up chaos, Rankin is absolutely your guy.
