Senior linebacker for Northwestern. 2020: 86 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss.
6′4″ · 246 lb · Katy, TX
Recruiting
ILB recruit
No. 1063 nationally · Signed with Northwestern
Statement game17 tackles · 0.5 TFLvs Michigan State (FBS) · W 39-31
Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 linebacker for Northwestern. 2020: 86 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss.
Paddy Fisher
This is his fourth year in the same linebacker corps at Northwestern. 2020 brought the first one: Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the Year. The receipt on tape: 13 tackles, 2 TFL against Wisconsin, Week 12, 2020.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Four seasons at Northwestern, 401 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — his college career is complete.
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
Career arc
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM
All-Big Ten 1st team (2020)
Coaching lineage · 2017–2020
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Pat Fitzgerald.
Season context · Team result + system
4 seasons under Pat Fitzgerald — 29-19 over that span.
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: tackles (99th percentile). Strength: solo tackles (98th percentile). 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 · 8 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 9.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road4g | 9.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 8+8g | 9.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
David Braun
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 1 game in so far.
Player standing · 2020
First team in his league at the position.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Northwestern | 86 | 47 | 4.5 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2019 | Northwestern | 88 | 39 | 6.0 | 1.0 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| 2018 | Northwestern | 116 | 63 | 5.0 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2017 | Northwestern | 111 | 65 | 9.5 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 401 | 214 | 25.0 | 2.0 | 10 | 4 | 1 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 12 · 2020
W 17–7
vs Wisconsin
Game log · Week-by-week
2020 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 8 | W 43-3vs Maryland | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 21-20@ Iowa | 11 | 6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | W 21-13vs Nebraska | 13 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 13 tackles |
| Wk 11 | W 27-20@ Purdue | 5 | 4 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 17-7vs Wisconsin | 13 | 8 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-29@ Michigan State | 12 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | W 28-10vs Illinois | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 16 | L 10-22@ Ohio State | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 74 | 41 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 2 |
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
74 tackles. 2 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 3.5 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.