UAB · W 42-23
No tackles.
Heckel has tackles in 7 of Illinois’s 8 games: none against UAB.
Tanner Heckel
Three seasons in the Illinois secondary to date. A game that shows it: 7 tackles against Michigan State — Week 6, 2026.
24 tackles · 0 sacks
Play style
Moves between deep coverage and the slot.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.
LancasterOnline Oct 25
Yahoo Sports Oct 25His game this year: disruption in the backfield — 2 tackles for loss, in the 7 games with play by play.
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Last game (Wk 9): 4 tackles.
Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 7 games
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| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | L 27-31vs Duke | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-10vs Southern Illinois | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 19-42@ No. 7 Ohio State | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-24vs Purdue | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 38-37@ Michigan State | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 21-10vs Oregon | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 20-17@ Maryland | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 24 | 16 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 |
Week 9 · 2026
W 20-17
at Maryland
1 interception · 4 tackles · 3 solo tackles
A close one, won by 3 on the road.
Ratings of the games shown run from -3 to +29 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).
Where his impact shows up on the stat sheet
PD rate
4%1 pass breakupsInterceptions
1interceptionsTackle volume
24tackles this seasonTFL rate
8%2 TFL24 tackles · 2 for loss · 1 pass breakup · 1 interception.
3 seasons under Bret Bielema — 24-10 over that span.
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 7 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home4g | 3.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 4.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
49.5%
243 pass / 248 run
Plays / game
61.4
8 games
Team sack rate
3.7%
271 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Player standing · 2026
About as many tackles a game as a typical FBS defensive back who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
Three-star recruit. Now #288 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big Ten
Based on 2025: #48 of 77 Big Ten DBs
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).
The No. 1,576 recruit in the country is starting in the secondary in the Big Ten as a junior.
2026 is in progress.
A stat line in 23 games over three seasons.
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coachPlayed every college season under Bret Bielema.
