“Announcers praised Kreutz and immediately misses the gap he has to fill lol”
James Kreutz
Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. Fifth year in the same linebacker corps at Illinois. On tape: 15 tackles and 1 sack against Michigan State, Week 6, 2026.
50 tackles · 1 sack
Play style
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
50 tackles. 1 pass defended. 0 interceptions. 3.5 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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Last game (Wk 9): 7 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 8 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-23vs UAB | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 27-31vs Duke | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-10vs Southern Illinois | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 19-42@ No. 7 Ohio State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-24vs Purdue | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-37@ Michigan State | 15 | 8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 21-10vs Oregon | 9 | 6 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 20-17@ Maryland | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 24 | 3.5 | 1.0 | — | 1 |
Oct. 31 · W 20-17 at Maryland, play by play
7 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 3 tackles for loss, 1 of them a sack, in the 8 games with play by play.
How Illinois’s defense played that day
Maryland’s 10 drives: 7 stopped (2 takeaways) · 3 scored. While the game was within a score they held 7 of 10.
9 tackles, including 1 more for loss.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
A big game: 15 tackles, including 1 sack.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. It places 16 for him; the box score credits 15.
Sacked the quarterback for a 5-yard loss. First quarter, up 3-0.
5 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
2 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
4 tackles, including 1 pass broken up.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
5 tackles.
3 tackles.
Each small tick is one of his tackles on the play-by-play. His sacks are drawn as sacks.
Week 6 · 2026
W 38-37
1 sack · 1 tackle for loss · 15 tackles
Edged out Michigan State on the road in a shootout.
Ratings of the games shown run from -10 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
Tackle volume
50tackles this seasonTFL rate
7%4 TFLSack rate
2%1 sackPD rate
2%1 pass breakups50 tackles · 3.5 for loss · 1 sack.
5 seasons under Bret Bielema — 37-22 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 5.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 8.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 5.7 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 8.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
49.5%
243 pass / 248 run
Plays / game
61.4
8 games
Team sack rate
3.7%
271 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS linebacker who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #254 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #63 of 72 Big Ten LBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
The No. 1,774 recruit in the country is starting at linebacker in the Big Ten.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 44 games over five seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Bret Bielema.
