This study leverages over 4000 admission CT scans from the CENTER-TBI study to create a detailed pictorial overview of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Common Data Elements (CDEs). It aims to standardize the assessment and reporting of TBI imaging findings by providing visual examples and quantifying lesion occurrence. Key findings include the most common CT findings in acute TBI: traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage (45.3%), skull fractures (37.4%), contusions (31.3%), and acute subdural hematoma (28.9%). The study also highlights the difference in lesion frequency and complexity between patients with mild TBI and those with moderate-severe TBI, indicating more complex lesion patterns and worse predicted outcomes in the latter group. The critical appraisal of the NINDS CDEs suggests their utility but also identifies areas for improvement, such as time consumption, low-frequency CDEs, redundancies, and ambiguous definitions. The study advocates for the implementation of CDE templates in clinical practice, suggesting the need for an abbreviated version. This comprehensive overview not only serves as an educational resource but also provides empirical evidence for updating the NINDS radiologic CDEs to version 3.0, enhancing the standardization and reporting of TBI imaging findings.