Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 0-40@ Iowa | 4/10 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 1.7 | — | Season-high 17 yds |
| Wk 2 | L 24-28vs Illinois State | 1/3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1.0 | -- | |
| Total | 5/13 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 1.4 | — |
#14
Jalen Macon
Senior quarterback for Northern Illinois. 2026: 2 games with a box-score line.
6′5″ · 230 lb · Nashville, TN
Returning to Northern Illinois for 2026
The numbers
20
passing yards · 2026
1 INT · 1.5 per attempt
2 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 17 pass yds, -4 rush yds, at Iowa
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 quarterback for Northern Illinois. 2026: 2 games with a box-score line.
- Transferred from Arkansas-Pine Bluff to Northern Illinois in 2024.
Jalen Macon
Jalen Macon has played for two head coaches in three seasons at Northern Illinois. The receipt on tape: 17 pass yds against Iowa, Week 1, 2026.
20 PASS YDS · 0 PASS TD · -1 RUSH YDS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
2024
- Entered the portal
Career arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Northern Illinois
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
2 coaches2024–2025
Northern Illinois
2026era →
Rob Harley
Northern Illinois
Coaching transition mid-career: Thomas Hammock → Rob Harley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2024Northern Illinois8-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning
2025Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, slow tempo
2026Northern Illinois0-2HC: Rob Harley · Run-leaning, slow tempo
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Box-score percentiles
Concern: pass yards (0th percentile).
Box-score rates (7)
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Splits & context
Splits
Per-game splits
Through 2 games: 10.0 YDS/g, 0.0 TD/g, 1.4 YPA, 0.5 INT/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rob Harley
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northern Illinois | 5 | 13 | 38.5% | 20 | 1.5 | 0 | 1 | 36.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2025 | Northern Illinois | 9 | 21 | 42.9% | 105 | 5.0 | 1 | 0 | 100.6 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Northern Illinois | 4 | 7 | 57.1% | 50 | 7.1 | 0 | 0 | 117.1 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 18 | 41 | 43.9% | 175 | 4.3 | 1 | 1 | 82.9 | -- | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Northern Illinois | 10 | -1 | -0.1 | 0 | -- |
| 2025 | Northern Illinois | 45 | 216 | 4.8 | 5 | -- |
| 2024 | Northern Illinois | 5 | 27 | 5.4 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 60 | 242 | 4.0 | 6 | -- |
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 1 · Iowa · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.02(09:45) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Macon pass complete short left to #0 L.Bryant caught at NIU26, for 9 yards to the NIU26 (#8 D.Lee)
- Week 2 · Illinois State · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA -0.64(12:09) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Macon sacked for loss of 3 yards to the NIU24 (#46 T.Niekamp)
- Week 1 · Iowa · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -0.59(03:34) Shotgun #14 J.Macon rush left for 1 yard gain to the NIU26 (#6 Z.Lutmer)
- Week 1 · Iowa · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -0.59(14:57) Shotgun #14 J.Macon pass complete short right to #45 T.Johnson Jr. caught at NIU20, for 1 yard to the NIU26 (#33 C.Buffington; #5 A.Hawkins)
- Week 2 · Illinois State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA -0.42(13:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Macon pass complete short right to #9 G.Dimopoulos caught at NIU40, for 3 yards to the NIU40 (#8 D.Dubose)
- Week 1 · Iowa · 3&7 · Q3 · EPA -0.37(13:49) Shotgun #14 J.Macon sacked for loss of 8 yards to the NIU20 (#13 D.Campbell, #96 B.Hawthorne)
- Week 2 · Illinois State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +0.33(14:59) Shotgun #14 J.Macon rush left for 6 yards gain to the NIU31 (#4 L.Brown; #6 S.Oduma)
- Week 1 · Iowa · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -0.33(07:32) Shotgun #14 J.Macon rush right for 2 yards gain to the NIU20 (#33 C.Buffington), out of bounds
- Week 1 · Iowa · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA -0.30(06:22) Shotgun #14 J.Macon rush right for 0 yards to the NIU24 (#6 Z.Lutmer)
- Week 1 · Iowa · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +0.17(06:40) No Huddle-Shotgun #14 J.Macon rush middle for 6 yards gain to the NIU31 (#33 C.Buffington)
Game log
How he plays
2026 Outlook
Northern Illinois
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Quarterback · Northern Illinois
Returning around him
- 44% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- Transfer portal: -15 net (7 in / 22 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Northern Illinois · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #126 · 2026 recruiting class #82
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology