Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 2 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 66-14vs Idaho | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 43-10vs Arkansas | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Total | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 |
#21
Nate Tilmon
Sophomore safety on Utah's 2026 roster.
6′1″ · 196 lb · Arlington, TX · Mansfield Timberview HS
Returning to Utah for 2026
Recruiting
3★
S recruit
No. 889 nationally · Signed with Utah
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
2 safety on Utah's 2026 roster.
- Signed as a 3-star recruit to Utah in 2025.
Nate Tilmon
Moves between deep coverage and the slot. Nate Tilmon has been at Utah through two head coaches in two seasons. One game to point at: 3 tackles, 1 sacks against Arkansas — Week 2, 2026.
5 TACKLES · 1 SACKS
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- game log
His career
20254 games
- Signed with Utah3-star out of Mansfield Timberview
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
Utah
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Coaching lineage · 2025–2026
2 coaches2025
Utah
2026era →
Morgan Scalley
Utah
Coaching transition mid-career: Kyle Whittingham → Morgan Scalley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
2026 snapshot
Season context · Team result + system
2025Utah11-2HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-heavy
2026Utah2-0HC: Morgan Scalley · Run-leaning
Where this defender ranks vs the field
Box-score production percentiles vs the position cohort
Elite: sacks (87th percentile). Concern: tackles (0th percentile).
Box-score production (6)
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 splits
Through 2 games: 2.5 TKL/g, 0.5 TFL/g, 0.5 SACK/g, 0.0 PD/g — splits start at 3 games.
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Morgan Scalley
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Awards
Player standing · 2025
Rotational
Tackle volume for the position in rotation-piece range.
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career stats
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2026
W 66–14
vs Idaho
2 TOT · 1 SOLO
Dominant 52-point win at home against Idaho.
With D. Dampier — 176 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 93.5 · 31 rush yds (6 car) · B. Ficklin — 93 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 80.1 · 70 rush yds (8 car)
Game log
How he plays
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Utah
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Safety · Utah
Returning around him
- 3 Utah players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -5 net (17 in / 22 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Utah · Last season: 11-2 (AP #15) · Talent rank #58 · 2026 recruiting class #27
DNA match
Player DNA
Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jamare Glasker’s 2023 season.
92%match
Matches Jamare on
Tackle volume
Height
TFL rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a freshman, his production profile tracks closest to Markus Boswell's freshman season at Akron (2025).
95%match
Matches Markus on
Class year
PD rate
TFL rate
Player DNA
Players who play like Nate Tilmon
Background
2025: Played in 11 games, both on defense and special teams. 17 tackles (1.0 sack) on the season, with seven stops coming in the win at West Virginia. Also credited a QB hurry at WVU. First collegiate sack went for six yards against Arizona State, as part of a three-tackle night. Capped off the s...
The secondary · Utah
- #23Jackson Bennee62 tackles · 2025
- #11Elijah Reed44 tackles · 2025
- #5James Chenault32 tackles · 2025
- #9Elijah Davis28 tackles · 2025
- #21Nate Tilmon17 tackles · 2025
20 more on the roster · Utah team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology