James Ester

Senior defensive tackle for Northern Illinois. 2023: 4 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 44 tackles.

DT · Northern Illinois · Sr. · #1

6′3″ · 298 lb · Detroit, MI

CFB Index 89 · #11 of 302 interior linemenLow confidenceAll-ConferenceNorthern Illinois 2023 alumnus

The story

4 defensive tackle for Northern Illinois. 2023: 4 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, 44 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Northern Illinois in 2019.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

WDE recruit

No. 3462 nationally · Signed with Northern Illinois

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

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

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2019

Signed with Northern Illinois2-star out of Cass Technical

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-MACthird

202210 games

All-MACthird

202313 games

All-MACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3462 national

CFB

College

Northern Illinois

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

6 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM

All-MAC 2nd team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

1 coach

2019–2023

Thomas Hammock

Northern Illinois

Played his entire career under Thomas Hammock.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Thomas Hammock — 24-33 over that span.

2019Northern Illinois5-7HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2020Northern Illinois0-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Balanced

2021Northern Illinois9-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2023Northern Illinois7-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

89All-Conference level #11 of 302?

Low confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (92nd percentile). Strength: qb hurries (83rd percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Sacks#202 / 2842 · 92nd pct

4.0

QB hurries#369 / 2842 · 83rd pct

Tackles for loss#459 / 2842 · 82nd pct

5.5

Tackles#744 / 2842 · 73rd pct

Passes defended#744 / 2842 · 67th pct

Solo tackles#992 / 2842 · 64th pct

Forced fumbles#54 / 710 · 46th 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home7g	3.3	0.4	0.3	0.3
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

2026 season

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 · 2023

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

89 · #11 of 302 interior linemen

Two-star recruit. Now #11 at the position.

Career stats

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	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023

W 23–13

vs Ohio

5 TOT · 2 SOLO

With R. Lombardi — 172 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 62.9 · 21 rush yds (6 car) · T. Foley — 36 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 42 LONG

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

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

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