#45

Khalan Tolson

Junior linebacker for Illinois. 2021: 48 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

LB · Illinois · Jr. · #45

6′0″ · 220 lb · Saint Petersburg, FL

CFB Index 56 · #237 of 578 LBsHigh confidenceIllinois 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

OLB recruit

No. 933 nationally · Signed with Illinois

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 linebacker for Illinois. 2021: 48 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Illinois in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Illinois, 126 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

20183 games

Signed with Illinois3-star out of Admiral Farragut Academy

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#933 national

CFB

College

Illinois

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

3 coaches

2018–2019

Lovie Smith

Illinois

2020

Rod Smith

Illinois

era →

2021

Bret Bielema

Illinois

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Lovie Smith, Rod Smith, and Bret Bielema. Multi-era developmental context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Illinois4-8HC: Lovie Smith · Run-heavy

2019Illinois6-7HC: Lovie Smith · Run-leaning

2020Illinois2-6HC: Rod Smith · Run-heavy

2021Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

56Quality starter #237 of 578?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#647 / 2743 · 76th pct

Solo tackles#677 / 2743 · 75th pct

Passes defended#735 / 2743 · 67th pct

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

QB hurries#827 / 2743 · 59th pct

Tackles for loss#1233 / 2743 · 52nd pct

2.5

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

2021 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	4.8	0.0	0.0	0.2
Road5g	4.8	0.5	0.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-75g	5.8	0.0	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	3.8	0.5	0.2	0.4

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 · 2021

Rotational

Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

56 · #237 of 578 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #237 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Illinois	48	28	2.5	1.0	2	--	--
2020	Illinois	35	15	5.0	1.5	1	--	--
2019	Illinois	38	23	1.5	0.0	1	--	--
2018	Illinois	5	3	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		126	69	9.0	2.5	4	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 10 · 2021

W 14–6

at Minnesota

1 TFL · 2 SOLO · 4 TOT

With B. Hayes — 43 AVG · 4 IN 20 · 52 LONG · C. Brown — 147 rush yds (32 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 30-37vs UTSA	6	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 14-42@ Virginia	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 9-13@ Purdue	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	W 24-14vs Charlotte	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 0-24vs Wisconsin	9	6	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 8	W 20-18@ Penn State	6	2	1.0	1.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 14-20vs Rutgers	2	0	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 10	W 14-6@ Minnesota	4	2	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 23-33@ Iowa	5	4	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	W 47-14vs Northwestern	2	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		48	28	2.5	1.0	—	2

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

Khalan Tolson

20183 games

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

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