Dele Harding

Senior linebacker for Illinois. 2019: 153 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss.

LB · Illinois · Sr. · #9

6′1″ · 230 lb · Elkton, MD

Illinois 2019 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

ILB recruit

No. 712 nationally · Signed with Illinois

Statement game16 tackles · 1 TFLvs Wisconsin (FBS) · W 24-23

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Illinois. 2019: 153 tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Illinois in 2016.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Illinois, 235 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

20164 games

Signed with Illinois3-star out of Eastern Christian

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#712 national

CFB

College

Illinois

2016–2019

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2016–2019

1 coach

2016–2019

Lovie Smith

Illinois

Played his entire career under Lovie Smith.

2019 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Lovie Smith — 15-34 over that span.

2016Illinois3-9HC: Lovie Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2017Illinois2-10HC: Lovie Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

2018Illinois4-8HC: Lovie Smith · Run-heavy

2019Illinois6-7HC: Lovie Smith · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (100th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (99th percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles#2 / 2688 · 100th pct

153

Solo tackles#19 / 2688 · 99th pct

Tackles for loss#45 / 2688 · 98th pct

14.5

Interceptions#50 / 779 · 88th pct

QB hurries#478 / 2688 · 77th pct

Forced fumbles#78 / 721 · 45th pct

Sacks#1426 / 2688 · 23rd pct

0.0

Passes defended#1690 / 2688 · 19th 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

2019 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home8g	12.0	1.1	0.0	0.0
Road5g	11.4	1.1	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	10.9	1.1	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	12.8	1.2	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 · 2019

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2019	Illinois	153	66	14.5	0.0	--	3	--
2018	Illinois	37	21	5.5	1.0	--	--	--
2017	Illinois	32	17	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2016	Illinois	13	4	1.5	0.0	--	--	--
Career		235	108	21.5	1.0	--	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2019

W 24–23

vs Wisconsin

16 TOT · 4 SOLO · 1 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 1 at home.

With B. Hayes — 46 AVG · 55 LONG · 5 NO · B. Peters — 174 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 40.8 · -15 rush yds (6 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2019 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	Note
Wk 1	W 42-3vs Akron	5	3	0.0	—
Wk 2	W 31-23@ UConn	8	1	1.5	1
Wk 3	L 31-34vs Eastern Michigan	17	7	1.5	—	Season-high 17 tackles
Wk 4	L 38-42vs Nebraska	12	3	1.0	—
Wk 6	L 17-40@ Minnesota	15	5	1.0	1
Wk 7	L 25-42vs Michigan	13	6	1.0	—
Wk 8	W 24-23vs Wisconsin	16	4	1.0	—
Wk 9	W 24-6@ Purdue	8	6	0.0	—
Wk 10	W 38-10vs Rutgers	12	7	2.0	1
Wk 11	W 37-34@ Michigan State	14	4	1.5	—
Wk 13	L 10-19@ Iowa	12	4	1.5	—
Wk 14	L 10-29vs Northwestern	15	12	1.0	—
Bowl	L 20-35vs California	6	4	1.5	—
Total		153	66	14.5	3

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