Alec Bryant

Senior linebacker for Illinois. 2025: 26 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

LB · Illinois · Sr. · #3

6′3″ · 250 lb

CFB Index 22 · #516 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Illinois for 2026

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

QB hurries: 72nd percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

tackles · 2025

3 TFL · 0.5 sacks

Best game: 3 tackles, 1 TFL, 0.5 sacks, vs Western Michigan

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Illinois. 2025: 26 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Shadow Creek in 2020.
Transferred from Virginia Tech to Illinois in 2021.

His career, year by year

Alec Bryant

LB · Illinois · Sr · #3

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. He got to Illinois by way of Virginia Tech. One game to point at: 4 tackles against Washington — Week 9, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Bret Bielema — 32-19 over that span.

2022Illinois8-5HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

2023Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Balanced

2024Illinois10-3HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

22Below cohort / limited sample #516 of 583?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (18th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct

3.0

Sacks#1367 / 2975 · 51st pct

0.5

Tackles#1609 / 2975 · 45th pct

Solo tackles#2127 / 2975 · 26th pct

Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct

Percentiles are versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score production. There are no play-by-play efficiency bars here: CFBD's play-value model credits offensive players only, so no defensive EPA exists to rank.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	2.4	0.4	0.1	0.0
Road5g	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.1	0.2	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	2.2	0.3	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

22 · #516 of 583 LBs

Former four-star. Now #516 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #67 of 72 Big Ten LBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Illinois	26	9	3.0	0.5	--	--	--
2024	Illinois	22	15	2.0	2.0	2	--	--
2023	Illinois	26	8	2.5	0.5	--	--	--
2022	Illinois	9	6	3.5	1.5	1	--	--
Career		83	38	11.0	4.5	3	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2025

W 34–32

vs USC

4 TOT · 3 SOLO

Edged out USC at home in a shootout.

With L. Altmyer — 328 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 97.5 · 28 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · H. Beatty — 3 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 100.0

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 52-3vs Western Illinois	2	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 45-19@ Duke	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 3	W 38-0vs Western Michigan	3	0	1.0	0.5	—
Wk 4	L 10-63@ Indiana	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 34-32vs USC	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 6	W 43-27@ Purdue	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 9	L 25-42@ Washington	4	2	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 35-13vs Rutgers	3	0	0.5	0.0	—
Wk 12	W 24-6vs Maryland	1	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	L 10-27@ Wisconsin	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 14	W 20-13vs Northwestern	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Bowl	W 30-28vs Tennessee	2	0	0.0	0.0	—
Total		26	9	3.0	0.5	—

How he plays

Play style

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

12 games

26Tackles

9Solo

3TFL

0.5Sacks

0Pass def.

0INT

26 tackles. 0 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 3 TFL.

Week 30.5 sacks

Counts only, never a rate — splash-event sample sizes this small (interceptions, pass breakups, TFL) are noise as a rate and signal only as a tally.

2026 Outlook

Illinois

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Illinois

Returning around him

3 Illinois players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -7 net (20 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Illinois · Last season: 9-4 (AP #23) · Talent rank #51 · 2026 recruiting class #24

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Chase Pine’s 2021 season.

Chase Pine

84%match

Pittsburgh · 2021

Alec Bryant

Illinois · 2023

82%

Tyler Taylor

UAB · 2021

74%

Braylon Ryan

Coastal Carolina · 2023

73%

Kameron Olds

Kentucky · 2025

73%

Matches Chase on

Weight

TFL rate

Solo tackle rate

Differs from Chase on

Class year (higher)

Hurry rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Hayden Hatcher's senior season at Kansas (2023).

Hayden Hatcher

84%match

Kansas · 2023

Kobe Hilton

Miami (OH) · 2024

82%

Mattheus Carroll

Kent State · 2025

81%

Dennard Flowers

South Florida · 2025

81%

Tyreak Sapp

Florida · 2025

All-SEC

81%

Matches Hayden on

Hurry rate

Tackle volume

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Alec Bryant

Alec Bryant

Illinois · 2025

82%

Kameron Olds

Kentucky · 2025

73%

Fernando Sanchez III

Central Michigan · 2025

72%

Braylon Ryan

Coastal Carolina · 2023

67%

Wilfredo Aybar

Stanford · 2025

64%

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

2020

2021

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Alec Bryant