#19

Justin Hardee

Wide receiver for Illinois. 2016: 25 catches, 314 receiving yards.

WR · Illinois · #19

6′1″ · Cleveland, OH

Illinois 2016 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1446 nationally · Signed with Illinois

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2016 wide receiver for Illinois. 2016: 25 catches, 314 receiving yards.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Illinois in 2012.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at Illinois, 554 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

The week the volume broke through — put up 125 yds at Northwestern.Northwestern · L 21-422016

2012

Signed with Illinois3-star out of Glenville

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1446 national

CFB

College

Illinois

2014–2016

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2014–2016

2 coaches

2014

Tim Beckman

Illinois

2016

Lovie Smith

Illinois

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tim Beckman → Lovie Smith. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2016 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2014Illinois6-7HC: Tim Beckman · Balanced

2016Illinois3-9HC: Lovie Smith · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score percentiles

7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: rec tds (6th percentile).

Box-score rates (7)

Rush yards#140 / 257 · 44th pct

Yards / catch#290 / 524 · 44th pct

12.6

Rush TDs#56 / 257 · 39th pct

Receptions#323 / 524 · 38th pct

Rec yards#345 / 524 · 34th pct

314

Long catch#384 / 524 · 26th pct

Rec TDs#461 / 524 · 6th pct

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2016 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	1.7	20.0	13.5	0.0
Road4g	3.8	48.5	12.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.2	21.2	11.1	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	2.8	41.6	14.7	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bret Bielema

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2016

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2016	Illinois	25	314	12.6	0	--
2014	Illinois	19	240	12.6	1	--
Career		44	554	12.6	1	--

Season	Team
2016	Illinois	1	12	--	--	--
2014	Illinois	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	12	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2016

W 31–27

vs Michigan State

1 rec · 23 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With R. Frain — 1 SOLO · 1 TOT · 39 AVG · K. Foster — 146 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2016 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 52-3vs Murray State	1	31	31.0	31
Wk 2	L 23-48vs North Carolina	1	4	4.0	4
Wk 3	L 10-34vs Western Michigan	5	49	9.8	15
Wk 5	L 16-31@ Nebraska	3	17	5.7	7
Wk 7	W 24-7@ Rutgers	1	5	5.0	5
Wk 9	L 17-40vs Minnesota	1	7	7.0	7
Wk 10	W 31-27vs Michigan State	1	23	23.0	23
Wk 11	L 3-48@ Wisconsin	2	47	23.5	35
Wk 12	L 0-28vs Iowa	1	6	6.0	6
Wk 13	L 21-42@ Northwestern	9	125	13.9	37	Season-high 125 yds
Total		25	314	12.9	37

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

Justin Hardee

2012

2016 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

DNA match

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