#93

Isaiah Nichols

Senior defensive lineman for Purdue. 2023: 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss, 20 tackles.

DL · Purdue · Sr. · #93

6′3″ · 300 lb · Springdale, AR

CFB Index 24 · #353 of 418 edge rushersLow confidencePurdue 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

SDE recruit

No. 816 nationally · Signed with Arkansas

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 defensive lineman for Purdue. 2023: 1 sack, 3 tackles for loss, 20 tackles.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Arkansas in 2018.
Transferred from Arkansas to Purdue in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Purdue, 4 sacks — his college career is complete.

His career

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

2018

Signed with Arkansas3-star out of Springdale

202310 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#816 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2018–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2023

2 coaches

2018–2022

Jeff Brohm

Purdue

2023

Ryan Walters

Purdue

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Jeff Brohm → Ryan Walters. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Arkansas2-10HC: Chad Morris · Run-leaning

2019Arkansas2-10HC: Chad Morris · Balanced

2020Arkansas3-7HC: Sam Pittman · Run-leaning

2021Arkansas9-4HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy

2022Arkansas7-6HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy

2023Purdue4-8HC: Ryan Walters · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

24Below cohort / limited sample #353 of 418?

Medium confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (19th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

QB hurries#574 / 2842 · 74th pct

Sacks#847 / 2842 · 62nd pct

1.0

Tackles for loss#1055 / 2842 · 60th pct

3.0

Solo tackles#1508 / 2842 · 45th pct

Tackles#1927 / 2842 · 31st pct

Passes defended#1751 / 2842 · 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

2023 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	1.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
Road4g	2.2	0.8	0.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.1	0.4	0.1	0.0
Weeks 8+3g	1.7	0.0	0.0	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Barry Odom

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

24 · #353 of 418 edge rushers

Three-star recruit. Now #353 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Purdue	20	14	3.0	1.0	--	--	--
2022	Arkansas	16	8	1.0	0.0	1	--	--
2021	Arkansas	21	6	3.5	1.5	--	--	--
2020	Arkansas	23	6	0.5	0.5	1	--	--
2019	Arkansas	17	7	1.0	0.5	--	--	--
2018	Arkansas	1	1	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		98	42	9.0	3.5	2	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2023

W 24–17

at Virginia Tech

2 TFL · 1 SACKS · 4 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 on the road.

With H. Card — 248 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 59.0 · 16 rush yds (12 car) · 1 TD · J. Ansell — 39 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 50 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	Note
Wk 1	L 35-39vs Fresno State	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2	W 24-17@ Virginia Tech	4	4	2.0	1.0	—
Wk 3	L 20-35vs Syracuse	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 4	L 17-38vs Wisconsin	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 5	W 44-19vs Illinois	1	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 6	L 14-20@ Iowa	2	1	1.0	0.0	—
Wk 7	L 7-41vs Ohio State	0	0	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 10	L 13-41@ Michigan	2	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 12	L 15-23@ Northwestern	1	1	0.0	0.0	—
Wk 13	W 35-31vs Indiana	2	2	0.0	0.0	—
Total		20	14	3.0	1.0	—

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