James Ester: DT · Northern Illinois · #1.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
James Ester
Wins the gap play after play. A two-star recruit with five seasons on the field at Northern Illinois since. All-MAC in 2023 made it three straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 6 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss against Eastern Michigan, Week 8, 2023.
Play style
Stout at the point of attack — steady tackle-for-loss production without a standout pass-rush number.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
44 tackles. 2 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 5.5 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.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
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| Season | Team | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Northern Illinois | 44 | 21 | 5.5 | 4.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | 20 | 7 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1 | 1 |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | 25 | 7 | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2020 | Northern Illinois | 16 | 8 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2019 | Northern Illinois | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- |
| Career | 107 | 45 | 16.5 | 9.0 | 6 | 1 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 13 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-24@ Boston College | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 11-14vs Southern Illinois | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 11-35@ Nebraska | 5 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 14-22vs Tulsa | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 33-35@ Toledo | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 55-14@ Akron | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 23-13vs Ohio | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 20-13vs Eastern Michigan | 6 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 31-37@ Central Michigan | 5 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 17-20vs Ball State | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 24-0vs Western Michigan | 3 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | W 37-27@ Kent State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
 Bowl | W 21-19vs Arkansas State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 44 | 21 | 5.5 | 4.0 | — | 2 |
Week 8 · 2023
W 20-13
1 sack · 1.5 tackles for loss · 6 tackles
A close one, won by 7 at home.
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
TFL rate
12%6 TFLSack rate
9%4 sacksHurry rate
7%3 hurries44 tackles · 5.5 for loss · 4 sacks.
5 seasons under Thomas Hammock — 24-33 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2023 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 2.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Thomas Hammock
Pass share
44.3%
363 pass / 456 run
Plays / game
63.0
13 games
Team sack rate
3.7%
378 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2023
Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Two-star recruit. Now #11 at the position.
How it ended
Five seasons at Northern Illinois, 107 tackles — the college career is complete.
Recruited as a two-star, and honored since.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM
All-MAC 2nd team (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
1 coachPlayed every college season under Thomas Hammock.
