Senior defensive lineman for Northwestern. 2020: 1 sack, 4.5 tackles for loss, 14 tackles.
6′2″ · 295 lb · Loveland, OH
Recruiting
DT recruit
No. 901 nationally · Signed with Northwestern
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive lineman for Northwestern. 2020: 1 sack, 4.5 tackles for loss, 14 tackles.
Jake Saunders
Third year in the Northwestern defensive front, same address the whole way. One game to point at: 5 tackles against Wisconsin — Week 12, 2020.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Three seasons at Northwestern, 2 sacks — his college career is complete.
His career
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2018–2020
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Pat Fitzgerald.
Season context · Team result + system
3 seasons under Pat Fitzgerald — 19-16 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: tackles (19th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2020 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road3g | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 8+5g | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
David Braun
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 1 game in so far.
Player standing · 2020
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Northwestern | 14 | 9 | 4.5 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2019 | Northwestern | 15 | 8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2018 | Northwestern | 1 | -- | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 30 | 17 | 6.5 | 2.0 | -- | -- | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2020
W 17–7
vs Wisconsin
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 9 | W 21-20@ Iowa | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 21-13vs Nebraska | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 17-7vs Wisconsin | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 13 | L 20-29@ Michigan State | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 16 | L 10-22@ Ohio State | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 14 | 9 | 4.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 |