Elijah Rikard is a defensive back who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Central Michigan.
Rikard moves between deep coverage and the slot. Played for two head coaches in four seasons at Central Michigan. One game to point at: 9 tackles against Toledo — Week 14, 2025.
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
46 tackles. 0 passes defended. 1 interception. 1.5 TFL.
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Central Michigan | 46 | 28 | 1.5 | 0.0 | -- | 1 |
| 2024 | Central Michigan | 56 | 27 | 2.5 | 1.0 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Central Michigan | 23 | 14 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2022 | Central Michigan | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 127 | 71 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 2 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 16-14@ San José State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 17-45@ Pittsburgh | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 3-63@ No. 23 Michigan | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 49-10vs Wagner | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-13vs Eastern Michigan | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 22-28@ Akron | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 27-6@ Bowling Green | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 38-13vs Massachusetts | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 21-24@ Western Michigan | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 38-19vs Buffalo | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 28-16@ Kent State | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 3-21vs Toledo | 9 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
 Bowl | L 7-34vs Northwestern | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 46 | 28 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
0%0 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
46tackles this seasonTFL rate
3%2 TFL46 tackles · 1.5 for loss · 1 interception.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road7g | 3.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Drinkall
Pass share
32.2%
252 pass / 531 run
Plays / game
60.2
13 games
Team sack rate
7.3%
261 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2025
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #368 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-MAC
Based on 2025: #25 of 40 Mid-American DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
The No. 1,628 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Mid-American as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2025
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Jim McElwain → Matt Drinkall. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
