Former defensive back at Illinois. 2020: 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 32 tackles.
6′0″ · 195 lb · Louisville, KY
Recruiting
CB recruit
No. 1716 nationally · Signed with Illinois
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Former defensive back at Illinois. 2020: 1 interception, 2 pass breakups, 32 tackles.
Nate Hobbs
Nate Hobbs has played for two head coaches in four seasons at Illinois. One game to point at: 9 tackles, 2 TFL against Wisconsin — Week 8, 2020.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Four seasons at Illinois, 170 tackles — drafted at #167 overall by Las Vegas.
His career
He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2017–2020
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Rod Smith. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Las VegasEntering 6th NFL season
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: sacks (27th percentile).
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 · Per-game
2020 season · 5 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 5.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Road3g | 7.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 8+5g | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2020
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2020
W 41–23
at Nebraska
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 5 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 8 | L 7-45@ Wisconsin | 9 | 8 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 9 | L 24-31vs Purdue | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 11 | W 23-20@ Rutgers | 8 | 8 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 41-23@ Nebraska | 5 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 21-35vs Iowa | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 32 | 23 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |