Elijah Hicks

Former safety at California. 2021: 3 interceptions, 2 pass breakups, 72 tackles.

S · California · Sr. · #3

5′11″ · 200 lb · Long Beach, CA

CFB Index 55 · #216 of 509 safetiesMedium confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamChicago — drafted 2022, Rd 7, Pick 33, #254 overall

Recruiting

4★

CB recruit

No. 333 nationally · Signed with California

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former safety at California. 2021: 3 interceptions, 2 pass breakups, 72 tackles.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to California in 2017.
Drafted round 7 by the Chicago in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at California, 206 tackles, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #254 overall by Chicago.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

201711 games

Signed with California4-star out of La Mirada

202112 games

All-Pac-12First Team

2022

Drafted by Chicagoround 7, pick 254

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#333 national

CFB

College

California

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R7 · #254

Chicago · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🥈

ALL-PAC-12 · 1ST TEAM

All-Pac-12 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Justin Wilcox

California

Played his entire career under Justin Wilcox.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

ChicagoEntering 5th NFL season

#254Rd 7 · Pick 33

ChicagoEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Justin Wilcox — 26-28 over that span.

2017California5-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced

2018California7-6HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning

2019California8-5HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning

2020California1-3HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced

2021California5-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced

Where this defender ranks vs the field

Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort

55Rotational starter #216 of 509?

Medium confidence7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (95th percentile). Strength: tackles (91st percentile). Concern: qb hurries (24th percentile).

Box-score production (7)

Solo tackles#122 / 2743 · 95th pct

Tackles#243 / 2743 · 91st pct

Interceptions#36 / 824 · 90th pct

Tackles for loss#514 / 2743 · 80th pct

5.5

Passes defended#735 / 2743 · 67th pct

Sacks#829 / 2743 · 61st pct

1.0

QB hurries#1413 / 2743 · 24th 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

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Home6g	5.7	0.5	0.2	0.3
Road6g	6.3	0.4	0.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	TKL/g	TFL/g	SACK/g	PD/g
Weeks 1-76g	5.3	0.2	0.0	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	6.7	0.7	0.2	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tosh Lupoi

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

55 · #216 of 509 safeties

Former four-star. Now #216 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	California	72	49	5.5	1.0	2	3	--
2020	California	28	18	0.0	0.0	2	1	--
2019	California	42	27	2.0	2.0	5	--	--
2018	California	26	20	5.0	0.0	2	1	--
2017	California	38	28	2.0	0.0	3	--	--
Career		206	142	14.5	3.0	14	5	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2021

W 42–30

vs Sacramento State

1 SOLO · 4 TOT

Edged out Sacramento State at home in a shootout.

With C. Garbers — 288 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 59.8 · 68 rush yds (4 car) · 1 TD · N. Remigio — 1 rec · 18 yds

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	TKL	SOLO	TFL	SACK	INT	PD	Note
Wk 1	L 17-22vs Nevada	4	3	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 2	L 32-34@ TCU	8	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 3	W 42-30vs Sacramento State	4	1	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 4	L 24-31@ Washington	7	4	1.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 5	L 6-21vs Washington State	5	3	0.5	0.0	—	0
Wk 7	L 17-24@ Oregon	4	2	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 8	W 26-3vs Colorado	6	4	2.5	1.0	1	1	2.5 TFL
Wk 9	W 39-25vs Oregon State	8	7	0.0	0.0	1	1
Wk 10	L 3-10@ Arizona	4	3	1.5	0.0	1	0
Wk 12	W 41-11@ Stanford	6	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Wk 13	L 14-42@ UCLA	9	7	0.0	0.0	—	0	Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 14	W 24-14vs USC	7	5	0.0	0.0	—	0
Total		72	49	5.5	1.0	3	2

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