#39

Kenenna Odeluga

Senior linebacker for Illinois. 2025: 22 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss.

LB · Illinois · Sr. · #39

6′1″ · 235 lb · South Holland, IL

CFB Index 14 · #554 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceReturning to Illinois for 2026

The numbers

tackles · 2025

0.5 TFL · 1 PBU

Best game: 4 tackles, vs Tennessee

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Illinois. 2025: 22 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss.

Signed with Illinois in 2021.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

Passes defended: 48th percentile.

The full scouting read

Kenenna Odeluga

LB · Illinois · Sr · #39

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles. Fourth year in the Illinois linebacker corps, same address the whole way. The receipt: 4 tackles against Wisconsin — Week 13, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Bret Bielema — 32-19 over that span.

2022Illinois8-5HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

2023Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Balanced

2024Illinois10-3HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

14Below cohort / limited sample #554 of 583?

High confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (18th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct

Solo tackles#1622 / 2975 · 44th pct

Tackles#1869 / 2975 · 36th pct

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct

0.0

QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct

Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct

0.5

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

2025 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	2.4	0.1	0.0	0.2
Road4g	2.5	0.0	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.6	0.1	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+2g	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.5

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 · 2025

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

14 · #554 of 583 LBs

Unranked recruit. Now #554 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #70 of 72 Big Ten LBs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Illinois	22	13	0.5	0.0	1	--	--
2024	Illinois	7	4	1.5	1.5	--	--	--
2023	Illinois	37	24	4.0	1.0	1	--	--
2022	Illinois	6	4	3.5	2.0	1	--	--
Career		72	45	9.5	4.5	3	--	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 52-3vs Western Illinois	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	W 45-19@ Duke	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 38-0vs Western Michigan	4	1	0.5	—	0	Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 4	L 10-63@ Indiana	4	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 43-27@ Purdue	1	1	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 16-34vs Ohio State	3	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 10-27@ Wisconsin	4	3	0.0	—	0
Wk 14	W 20-13vs Northwestern	0	0	0.0	—	1
Bowl	W 30-28vs Tennessee	4	1	0.0	—	0
Total		22	13	0.5	—	1

How he plays

Play style

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

9 games

22Tackles

13Solo

0.5TFL

0Sacks

1Pass def.

0INT

22 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 0.5 TFL.

Week 141 PD

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.

2026 Outlook

Illinois

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Illinois

Returning around him

3 Illinois players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -7 net (20 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Illinois · Last season: 9-4 (AP #23) · Talent rank #51 · 2026 recruiting class #24

DNA match

Player DNA

Sideline-to-Sideline

Ranges from hash to hash and makes his own tackles.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jordan Cobbs’s 2023 season.

Jordan Cobbs

90%match

San José State · 2023

Lamin Touray

Nevada · 2021

84%

Owen McGowan

Boston College · 2024

81%

D.J. Herman

San Diego State · 2024

77%

Gereme Spraggins

Maryland · 2021

75%

Matches Jordan on

Tackle volume

TFL rate

Solo tackle rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jordan Cobbs's senior season at San José State (2023).

Jordan Cobbs

92%match

San José State · 2023

Jarrett Jerrels

Florida Atlantic · 2024

83%

D.J. Herman

San Diego State · 2025

81%

Luke Cameron

Eastern Michigan · 2023

80%

Quinton Urwiler

Northern Illinois · 2024

All-MAC

80%

Matches Jordan on

Class year

Height

Hurry rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Kenenna Odeluga

Tarian Lee Jr.

Georgia Southern · 2023

76%

Bam Martin-Scott

South Carolina · 2023

72%

Mike Smith Jr.

Baylor · 2023

61%

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