Usage / Role
100%
Featured offensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2008-2010Illinois
Mikel Leshoure
RB • 6'0" • Champaign, IL, USA
Workhorse runnerSteady chain mover
Mikel Leshoure leans workhorse runner traits and 61.4 efficiency.
Impact Production
100
Top-tier box-score impact for a back
lowelite
Reliability
100
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
93
Blue-chip, NFL-level ceiling
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2010 Postseason · Illinois
08091010
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Illinois
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
Player Story
Mikel Leshoure built his college career from 2008 through 2010 as a running back from Champaign, IL wearing No. 5, spending time with Illinois. The clearest part of Mikel Leshoure's career was his backfield work:...
Read the story3★
- Committed To
- Illinois
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2008
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2011
- Selection
- Round 2 · Pick 25
- Overall
- No. 57
- NFL Team
- Detroit Lions
Mikel Leshoure, RB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2010 Postseason · Illinois. Mikel Leshoure leans workhorse runner traits and 61.4 efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Scrimmage yards
- 2,996
- Rushing yards
- 2,557
- Receiving yards
- 439
- Touchdowns
- 28
Featured Highlight
Watch Mikel Leshoure on film
Mikel Leshoure Illinois Highlights
2010 · Illinois · Player Highlight
Mikel Leshoure college highlights at Illinois.
- Season
- 2010
- Type
- Player highlight
Quick Answers
Mikel Leshoure quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Illinois · RB
- Career Scrimmage Yards
- 2,996
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 4 entries · 31 games
- Best season
- 2010 Postseason · Illinois
- Top game
- Northwestern
- Recruit profile
- 3-star · Unknown · Illinois
- High school pipeline
- Unknown · 10 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- NFL Draft
- 2011 · Round 2 · Pick 25 · Detroit Lions
- Latest roster
- No. 5 · Class 2010
- 2010 Scrimmage yards rank
- 1,893 scrimmage yards · RB 1st (top 1%) · Big Ten 1st (top 1%) · National 1st (top 1%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Scrimmage | Rush Yds | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Regular Season | Illinois | 8 | 192 | 126 | 66 | 1 | 32.9 |
| 2009 Regular Season | Illinois | 10 | 911 | 734 | 177 | 7 | 58.7 |
| 2010 Postseason | Illinois | 13 | 205 | 184 | 21 | 3 | 82.3 |
| 2010 Regular Season | Illinois | 13 | 1,688 | 1,513 | 175 | 17 | 82.3 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Mikel Leshoure
Mikel Leshoure played RB for Illinois. Across 3 tracked seasons, Mikel Leshoure recorded 2,557 rushing yards, 439 receiving yards, and 28 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2010 with Illinois.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2010 Postseason
Illinois paired 1,893 primary output with 61.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
2010 Postseason role shape
backfield-heavy usage with 61.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2010 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
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2010 Postseason · Illinois
Games
13
Scrimmage Yards / G
145.6
Efficiency
61.4
Usage
38.2
Consistency
67.8
Best Game by takeover score
Northwestern
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
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Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Baylor: 205. Missouri: 112. Southern Illinois: 109. Northern Illinois: 186. Ohio State: 82. Penn State: 151. Michigan State: 93. Indiana: 80. Purdue: 69. Michigan: 172. Minnesota: 151. Northwestern: 341. Fresno State: 142
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
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High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Baylor: 31 by 67.2. Missouri: 20 by 58.3. Southern Illinois: 15 by 77.6. Northern Illinois: 25 by 77.9. Ohio State: 21 by 42.6. Penn State: 28 by 50. Michigan State: 26 by 37.5. Indiana: 17 by 49.7. Purdue: 17 by 26.5. Michigan: 26 by 58.8. Minnesota: 19 by 82.1. Northwestern: 34 by 91.8. Fresno State: 19 by 77.9
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins163 · Games = 7 · +37.7 vs Losses
Losses125.3 · Games = 6 · -37.7 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Scrimmage Yards
Top game by takeover score
Northwestern
Best efficiency game
91.8 vs Northwestern
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 12/29 | @ Baylor100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 38-14 | 29 | 184 | 6.30 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 6.6 |
| Sat 12/4 | @ Fresno State100 rush yards | L 23-25 | 19 | 142 | 7.50 | 1 | — | — | 7.5 |
| Sat 11/20 | @ Northwestern100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 48-27 | 33 | 330 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 10.0 |
| Sat 11/13 | vs Minnesota100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | L 34-38 | 18 | 141 | 7.80 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 7.9 |
| Sat 11/6 | @ Michigan100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | L 65-67 | 24 | 120 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 52 | 6.6 |
| Sat 10/30 | vs Purdue2+ TD | W 44-10 | 15 | 23 | 1.50 | 2 | 2 | 46 | 4.1 |
| Sat 10/23 | vs Indiana | W 43-13 | 16 | 77 | 4.80 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4.7 |
| Sat 10/16 | @ Michigan State | L 6-26 | 23 | 83 | 3.60 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 3.6 |
| Sat 10/9 | @ Penn State100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 33-13 | 27 | 119 | 4.40 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 5.4 |
| Sat 10/2 | vs Ohio State | L 13-24 | 19 | 80 | 4.20 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3.9 |
| Sat 9/18 | vs Northern Illinois100 rush yards · 150 scrimmage yards | W 28-22 | 24 | 180 | 7.50 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7.4 |
| Sat 9/11 | vs Southern Illinois100 rush yards · 2+ TD | W 35-3 | 14 | 106 | 7.60 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7.3 |
| Sat 9/4 | @ Missouri100 rush yards | L 13-23 | 20 | 112 | 5.60 | 0 | — | — | 5.6 |
Player Story
Mikel Leshoure story
Mikel Leshoure built his college career from 2008 through 2010 as a running back from Champaign, IL wearing No. 5, spending time with Illinois. The clearest part of Mikel Leshoure's career was his backfield work: 2,557 rushing yards, 424 carries, 23 rushing touchdowns, and 439 receiving yards across 31 career games in the available record. His career also includes 439 receiving yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. That gives Mikel Leshoure's career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Illinois
2008-2010
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2008200920102010
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Regular Season | Illinois | 192 | 47.2 | 9 | — |
| 2009 Regular Season | Illinois | 911 | 65 | 21.1 | 719 |
| 2010 Postseason | Illinois | 1,893 | 61.4 | 38.2 | 982 |
| 2010 Regular Season | Illinois | 1,893 | 61.4 | 38.2 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Northwestern
Week 12 · W 48-27 · Conference game
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
341
Scrimmage Yards
97.3 takeover
341 scrimmage yards and 44.7 usage.
#2
vs Fresno State
Week 14 · L 52-53
206
Scrimmage Yards
86.4 takeover
Loss with 206 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.
206 scrimmage yards and 20.7 usage.
#3
vs Michigan
Week 9 · W 38-13 · Conference game
164
Scrimmage Yards
84.5 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
164 scrimmage yards and 34.4 usage.
#4
vs Northern Illinois
Week 3 · W 28-22
186
Scrimmage Yards
77.5 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
186 scrimmage yards and 44.6 usage.
#5
@ Baylor
Week 1 · W 38-14 · Postseason
205
Scrimmage Yards
75.8 takeover
Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.
205 scrimmage yards and 45.6 usage.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2010 Postseason · Illinois
1,893 primary output · 61.4 efficiency · 38.2 usage
82.3
#2
2010 Regular Season · Illinois
82.3
1,893 primary · 61.4 efficiency · 38.2 usage
#3
2009 Regular Season · Illinois
58.7
911 primary · 65 efficiency · 21.1 usage
Milestones
12
100+ rush yards
8
150+ scrimmage yards
8
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Mikel Leshoure
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