Nate Valcarcel

Former safety at Northern Illinois. 2024: 3 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 53 tackles.

S · Northern Illinois · Sr. · #9

6′1″ · 192 lb · Greenfield, WI

CFB Index 85 · #23 of 537 safetiesMedium confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamNorthern Illinois 2024 — college career complete

The story

Former safety at Northern Illinois. 2024: 3 interceptions, 8 pass breakups, 53 tackles.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to South Dakota in 2020.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

ATH recruit

No. 3115 nationally · Signed with South Dakota

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Four seasons at Northern Illinois, 114 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2024) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2020

Signed with South Dakota2-star out of Whitnall

202413 games

All-MACfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3115 national

CFB

College

Northern Illinois

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-MAC · 1ST TEAM

All-MAC 1st team (2024)

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

1 coach

2021–2024

Thomas Hammock

Northern Illinois

Played his entire career under Thomas Hammock.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Thomas Hammock — 27-25 over that span.

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

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

2023Northern Illinois7-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2024Northern Illinois8-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

85All-Conference level #23 of 537?

Medium confidence8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (97th percentile). Strength: interceptions (89th percentile).

Box-score production (8)

Passes defended#58 / 2892 · 97th pct

Interceptions#52 / 862 · 89th pct

QB hurries#255 / 2892 · 89th pct

Solo tackles#460 / 2892 · 84th pct

Tackles#541 / 2892 · 81st pct

Sacks#502 / 2892 · 79th pct

2.0

Tackles for loss#1412 / 2892 · 47th pct

2.0

Forced fumbles#55 / 700 · 46th pct

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

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	3.0	0.0	0.0	1.2
Road7g	5.0	0.3	0.3	0.1

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.9	0.1	0.1	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	4.3	0.2	0.2	0.7

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 · 2024

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

85 · #23 of 537 safeties

Two-star recruit. Now #23 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Northern Illinois	53	32	2.0	2.0	8	3	--
2023	Northern Illinois	47	17	1.5	0.5	1	3	--
2022	Northern Illinois	9	7	0.5	0.0	--	--	--
2021	Northern Illinois	5	5	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		114	61	4.0	2.5	9	6	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2024

W 16–14

at Notre Dame

1 QB HUR · 1 PD · 1 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 2 on the road.

With E. Hampton — 198 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 87.1 · 21 rush yds (5 car) · A. Brown — 99 rush yds (20 car)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 54-15vs Western Illinois	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 2	W 16-14@ Notre Dame	5	1	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 4	L 20-23vs Buffalo	5	4	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 17-24@ NC State	4	2	1.0	1.0	—	0
Wk 6	W 34-20vs Massachusetts	1	1	0.0	0.0	—	2
Wk 7	W 17-7@ Bowling Green	7	4	0.0	0.0	1	0
Wk 8	L 6-13vs Toledo	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 9	L 23-25@ Ball State	8	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 11	W 42-28@ Western Michigan	—	—	—	—	1	—
Wk 12	W 29-16vs Akron	3	3	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 13	L 9-20@ Miami (OH)	9	5	1.0	1.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 14	W 24-16vs Central Michigan	3	2	0.0	0.0	—	2
Bowl	W 28-20@ Fresno State	2	2	0.0	0.0	1	0
Total		53	32	2.0	2.0	3	8

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