#11

Kyle Pugh

Senior linebacker for Northern Illinois. 2022: 51 tackles, 3 tackles for loss.

LB · Northern Illinois · Sr. · #11

6′0″ · 226 lb · Chicago Heights, IL

CFB Index 31 · #424 of 548 LBsHigh confidenceNorthern Illinois 2022 alumnus

The story

4 linebacker for Northern Illinois. 2022: 51 tackles, 3 tackles for loss.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Northern Illinois, 215 tackles — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20205 games

All-MACthird

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Northern Illinois

2017–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-MAC

All-MAC mention (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2022

2 coaches

2017–2018

Rod Carey

Northern Illinois

2019–2022

Thomas Hammock

Northern Illinois

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Rod Carey → Thomas Hammock. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Northern Illinois8-5HC: Rod Carey · Run-leaning

2018Northern Illinois8-6HC: Rod Carey · Run-leaning

2019Northern Illinois5-7HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2020Northern Illinois0-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Balanced

2021Northern Illinois9-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

31Below cohort / limited sample #424 of 548?

High confidence6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (80th percentile). Concern: sacks (24th percentile).

Box-score production (6)

Tackles#528 / 2755 · 80th pct

Tackles for loss#1001 / 2755 · 61st pct

3.0

QB hurries#823 / 2755 · 59th pct

Solo tackles#1183 / 2755 · 56th pct

Passes defended#1116 / 2755 · 48th pct

Sacks#1454 / 2755 · 24th pct

0.0

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

2022 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home5g	6.0	0.0	0.0	0.2
Road4g	5.2	0.8	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	6.3	0.3	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+3g	4.3	0.3	0.0	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rob Harley

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Part-time starter

Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #424 of 548 LBs

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Northern Illinois	51	18	3.0	0.0	1	--	--
2021	Northern Illinois	2	--	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2020	Northern Illinois	36	14	3.5	1.5	--	--	--
2019	Northern Illinois	9	4	3.0	0.0	--	--	--
2018	Northern Illinois	82	49	3.0	0.5	1	--	--
2017	Northern Illinois	35	15	1.0	0.0	1	1	--
Career		215	100	13.5	2.0	3	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 34–27

vs Eastern Illinois

2 SOLO · 8 TOT

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.

With R. Lombardi — 192 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 67.2 · H. Waylee — 83 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 34-27vs Eastern Illinois	8	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 35-38@ Tulsa	4	3	1.0	—	0
Wk 3	L 28-38vs Vanderbilt	12	1	0.0	—	0	Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 4	L 23-31@ Kentucky	3	0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 38-44@ Ball State	8	4	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	L 32-52vs Toledo	3	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 17-24@ Ohio	6	4	1.0	—	0
Wk 10	L 22-35vs Central Michigan	7	2	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	L 23-29vs Miami (OH)	0	0	0.0	—	1
Total		51	18	3.0	—	1

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

Kyle Pugh

20205 games

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

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