#47

Hardy Nickerson Jr.

Linebacker for Illinois. 2016: 107 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

LB · Illinois · #47

6′0″ · Oakland, CA

Illinois 2016 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

ILB recruit

No. 1497 nationally · Signed with California

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2016 linebacker for Illinois. 2016: 107 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to California in 2012.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at Illinois, 107 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

2012

Signed with California3-star out of Bishop O'Dowd

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1497 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2014–2016

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2014–2016

2 coaches

2014

Tim Beckman

Illinois

2016

Lovie Smith

Illinois

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tim Beckman → Lovie Smith. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2016 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2014California5-7HC: Sonny Dykes · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

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

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (98th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (83rd percentile). Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Tackles#46 / 2668 · 98th pct

107

Solo tackles#443 / 2668 · 83rd pct

Sacks#489 / 2668 · 78th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#542 / 2668 · 78th pct

5.5

Interceptions#152 / 763 · 68th pct

QB hurries#640 / 2668 · 66th pct

Forced fumbles#77 / 736 · 45th pct

Passes defended#1657 / 2668 · 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

2016 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	8.7	0.6	0.1	0.0
Road5g	9.2	0.3	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	9.7	0.6	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	8.2	0.3	0.2	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 · 2016

Impact starter

Producing measurably more than a replacement-level starter.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2016	Illinois	107	38	5.5	2.0	--	2	--
2014	California	--	--	--	--	--	1	--
Career		107	38	5.5	2.0	--	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2016

W 31–27

vs Michigan State

10 TOT · 6 SOLO · 1 TFL

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With R. Frain — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 39 AVG · K. Foster — 146 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week