Kerby Joseph: DB · Illinois · #25.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Kerby Joseph
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away. Played for three head coaches at Illinois: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith and Bret Bielema. The first career honor came in 2021: All-Big Ten. A game that shows it: 6 tackles against Maryland — Week 3, 2021.
Play style
Hits like a linebacker and still takes the ball away.
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
57 tackles. 2 passes defended. 5 interceptions. 1 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.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Game log · Week-by-week
2021 season · 12 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-22vs Nebraska | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 30-37vs UTSA | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-42@ Virginia | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-20vs Maryland | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 9-13@ Purdue | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-14vs Charlotte | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 0-24vs Wisconsin | 9 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 20-18@ No. 7 Penn State | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 14-20vs Rutgers | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 14-6@ Minnesota | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 23-33@ No. 18 Iowa | 6 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 47-14vs Northwestern | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 57 | 41 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 5 | 2 |
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
4%2 pass breakupsInterceptions
5interceptionsTackle volume
57tackles this seasonTFL rate
2%1 TFL57 tackles · 1 for loss · 1 sack · 2 pass breakups · 5 interceptions.
Splits · Per-game
2021 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Road5g | 5.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
41.0%
321 pass / 462 run
Plays / game
65.2
12 games
Team sack rate
6.3%
378 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Player standing · 2021
First team in his league at the position.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #13 at the position.
How it ended
Four seasons at Illinois, 116 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #97 overall by the Detroit Lions.
A stat line in 31 games over four seasons.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2021)
Coaching lineage · 2018–2021
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Next stop · NFL
Detroit LionsEntering 5th NFL season
Detroit LionsEntering 5th NFL season
