Senior defensive back on Illinois's 2023 roster.
6′1″ · 210 lb · Bowling Green, KY
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
S recruit
No. 1492 nationally · Signed with South Warren
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 defensive back on Illinois's roster.
Clayton Bush
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Two head coaches in two seasons, at two different programs. The receipt: 11 tackles, 1.5 TFL against Indiana — Week 11, 2023.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Two seasons at Illinois, 46 tackles — his college career is complete.
His career
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2019–2023
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Lovie Smith → Bret Bielema. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Concern: sacks (24th 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
2023 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 6.2 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 3.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 3.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 6.2 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
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 · 2023
Tackle volume for the position in part-time-starter range.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #365 at the position.
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Illinois | 42 | 19 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2019 | Western Kentucky | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Career | 46 | 21 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | 1 |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023
W 27–24
at Maryland
1 TOT
A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 on the road.
With L. Altmyer — 206 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 63.1 · 29 rush yds (13 car) · H. Robertson — 43 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 53 LONG
Game log · Week-by-week
2023 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 30-28vs Toledo | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 23-34@ Kansas | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 13-30vs Penn State | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | L 19-44@ Purdue | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-24@ Maryland | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 27-26@ Minnesota | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-45vs Indiana | 11 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 12 | L 13-15@ Iowa | 8 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 43-45vs Northwestern | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 19 | 2.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
Activity vs finishing · season enumeration
What the box score actually says
42 tackles. 1 passes defended. 0 interceptions. 2.5 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.
Player DNA
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
His 2023 production profile sits closest to CJ Christian’s 2023 season.
Matches CJ on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Andrew Johnson's senior season at Wyoming (2025).
Matches Andrew on
Player DNA