#32

Quinton Urwiler

Senior linebacker for Northern Illinois. 2025: 127 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

LB · Northern Illinois · Sr. · #32

6′0″ · 226 lb · Mooseheart, IL

CFB Index 77 · #78 of 583 LBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Northern Illinois for 2026

How he plays

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait.

Solo tackles: 100th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

127

tackles · 2025

7.5 TFL · 1.5 sacks · 1 PBU

Statement game16 tackles · 2.5 TFLvs San Diego State (FBS) · L 3-6

Top 0.1% tackles game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 linebacker for Northern Illinois. 2025: 127 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Northern Illinois in 2021.

His career, year by year

Quinton Urwiler

LB · Northern Illinois · Sr · #32

Is steady in every phase without a signature trait. He has spent four seasons in the Northern Illinois linebacker corps. 2025 brought the first one: All-MAC. The receipt: 16 tackles, 2.5 TFL against San Diego State — Week 5, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Thomas Hammock — 21-29 over that span.

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

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

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

2025Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

77All-Conference level #78 of 583?

High confidenceBreakout7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (100th percentile). Strength: tackles (100th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#4 / 2975 · 100th pct

Tackles#10 / 2975 · 100th pct

127

Tackles for loss#234 / 2975 · 91st pct

7.5

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct

1.5

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct

Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st 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

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	12.8	1.1	0.2	0.2
Road5g	10.0	0.2	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	11.7	0.8	0.2	0.0
Weeks 8+5g	11.4	0.5	0.0	0.2

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 · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

77 · #78 of 583 LBs

Three-star recruit. Now #78 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-Mountain West

Based on 2025: #8 of 55 Mid-American LBs — his program moves to the Mountain West for 2026

How the All-Mountain West estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player. The base rate was measured on players who stayed in the same conference; this estimate is not adjusted for the move to the Mountain West.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Northern Illinois	127	65	7.5	1.5	1	1	--
2024	Northern Illinois	32	17	0.5	0.0	1	--	--
2023	Northern Illinois	7	4	0.0	0.0	--	--	--
2022	Northern Illinois	7	5	1.0	0.0	--	--	--
Career		173	91	9.0	1.5	2	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 19–17

vs Holy Cross

1 TFL · 0 SACKS · 5 SOLO

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 2 at home.

With D. Vuckovic — 40 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 54 LONG · D. Reynolds — 2 SOLO · 1 TD · 2 TOT

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	W 19-17vs Holy Cross	10	5	1.0	0.5	—	0
Wk 2	L 9-20@ Maryland	10	9	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 10-38@ Mississippi State	14	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 3-6vs San Diego State	16	10	2.5	0.0	—	0	Season-high 16 tackles
Wk 6	L 14-25vs Miami (OH)	14	9	1.5	1.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 10-16@ Eastern Michigan	6	0	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	L 21-48@ Ohio	12	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 9	W 21-7vs Ball State	14	9	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 12	W 45-3@ Massachusetts	8	3	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 19-35vs Western Michigan	11	7	0.0	0.0	—	1
Wk 14	L 31-35vs Kent State	12	5	0.5	0.0	1	0
Total		127	65	7.5	1.5	1	1

How he plays

Play style

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Activity vs finishing · season enumeration

What the box score actually says

11 games

127Tackles

65Solo

7.5TFL

1.5Sacks

1Pass def.

1INT

127 tackles. 1 passes defended. 1 interceptions. 7.5 TFL.

Week 10.5 sacks
Week 61 sack
Week 131 PD
Week 141 INT

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.

2026 Outlook

Northern Illinois

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Northern Illinois

Returning around him

Transfer portal: -15 net (7 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Northern Illinois · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #126 · 2026 recruiting class #82

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kyle Harmon’s 2021 season.

Kyle Harmon

86%match

San José State · 2021

All-Mountain West

KD Davis

North Texas · 2022

All-Conference USA

79%

Matt Salopek

Miami (OH) · 2023

All-MAC

78%

Marques Watson-Trent

Georgia Southern · 2024

All-Sun Belt

77%

Jaylen Wester

Western Kentucky · 2025

75%

Matches Kyle on

Tackle volume

Weight

PD rate

Differs from Kyle on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Matt Salopek's graduate season at Miami (OH) (2024).

Matt Salopek

82%match

Miami (OH) · 2024

All-MAC

Jacob Rodriguez

Texas Tech · 2025

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 2 · Pk 11

81%

Marques Watson-Trent

Georgia Southern · 2024

All-Sun Belt

81%

Jayden McDonald

UConn · 2024

77%

Caden Fordham

NC State · 2025

All-ACC

72%

Matches Matt on

Weight

Tackle volume

PD rate

Player DNA

Players who play like Quinton Urwiler

Kameron Arnold

Boston College · 2024

78%

Jacob Manu

Washington · 2025

74%

Justin Medlock

SMU · 2025

73%

Korey Smith

Middle Tennessee · 2025

70%

Jayden Montgomery

Iowa · 2025

66%

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

2021

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Linebacker

Players who play like Quinton Urwiler