Patrick Willis, linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, had the most solo tackles in 2007 with 135. He also had 39 assist tackles, totaling 174 total tackles. DJ Williams of Denver came in second with 108 solo tackles and Jon Beason of Carolina was in third with 106.
Dallas Cowboy Free Safety Barry Church has the most tackles in the league for a defensive back thru week 16 in the 2013 season. He has 127 combines tackles, with 100 solo tackles and 27 assists.
Through game 14 of the 2011 season, Clay Matthews has 44 tackles (32 solo/12 assists).
1,520 tackles, 1367 solo tackles
Free safety Chris Milligan was selected twice in that season on selection he had 17 solo tackles
Linebacker Lee Roy Jordan (1963-1976) holds the Dallas Cowboys record for career solo tackles with 743.
Solo Tackles
In 2010, Troy Polamalu had 63 combined tackles. He had 49 solo tackles and 14 assists.
LB Karlos Dansby with 94 solo tackles and 25 assisted tackles.
In the 2010 season, only one punter/kicker was credited with a solo tackle and that was P Jason Baker of the Carolina Panthers with 1. 15 or so punters/kickers were credited with assisted tackles, the most being 4 by K Neil Rackers of the Houston Texans and 2 by K Dan Carpenter of the Miami Dolphins and K David Buehler of the Dallas Cowboys.
He averaged 146 per season after his tenth year in the league according to the 1984 Pittsburgh Steelers media guide. He then recorded 19 in his final season. So he had a total of 1,479 with 1,045 being solo.
Tackles are typically measured by the number of times a defensive player successfully stops the offensive player with the ball. A tackle is counted when a player physically brings down the opponent with possession of the ball to the ground. Stats like total tackles, solo tackles, and assisted tackles are commonly used to track a player's defensive performance.
In 2005 Roye had 59 solo tackles and led the team with 12 quarterback pressures, ranking third with 3 sacks.