Usage / Role
80%
Major defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2019SMU
Patrick Nelson
DB • 6'0" • 216 lbs • Chicago, IL, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Patrick Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 51.4 disruption score.
Impact Production
84
High-end production for a defensive back
lowelite
Reliability
100
Regular contributor with several takeover games
lowhigh
Star Power
67
Useful peak profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2019 Postseason · SMU
14151617181919
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 2
- Unique Seasons
- 6
- Program Path
- Illinois • SMU
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: North Texas
Player Story
Patrick Nelson built his college career from 2014 through 2019 as a defensive back from Chicago, IL wearing No. 2, spending time with Illinois and SMU. The clearest part of Patrick Nelson's career was his defensive...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Auburn
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2023
Patrick Nelson, DB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2019 Postseason · SMU. Patrick Nelson shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 51.4 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 280
- TFL
- 29.5
- Sacks
- 14.5
- QB hurries
- 4
- Passes defended
- 5
Quick Answers
Patrick Nelson quick answers
- Latest team and position
- SMU · DB
- Career Tackles
- 280
- Tracked sample
- 6 unique seasons · 7 entries · 42 games
- Best season
- 2019 Postseason · SMU
- Top game
- North Texas
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Cedar Grove · Auburn
- High school pipeline
- Cedar Grove · 40 FBS recruits · 4 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 2 · Senior
- 2019 Tackles rank
- 81 tackles · DB 29th (top 4%) · American Athletic 12th (top 3%) · National 187th (top 4%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Illinois | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2015 Regular Season | Illinois | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2016 Regular Season | Illinois | 10 | 75 | 2.5 | 0.5 | - | - | 0 | 23.7 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Illinois | 10 | 65 | 2.5 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | 32 |
| 2018 Regular Season | SMU | 9 | 59 | 6 | 1.5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 49.4 |
| 2019 Postseason | SMU | 13 | 2 | 1 | 0 | - | 1 | 0 | 73 |
| 2019 Regular Season | SMU | 13 | 79 | 17.5 | 12.5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 73 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Patrick Nelson
Patrick Nelson played DB for Illinois and SMU. Across 6 tracked seasons, Patrick Nelson recorded 280 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2019 with SMU.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2019 Postseason
SMU paired 37 primary output with 51.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
2019 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 51.4 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2019 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Illinois, SMU.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Texas State
Win with backfield disruption leading the way. 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
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2019 Postseason · SMU
Games
13
Havoc Plays / G
2.8
Efficiency
51.4
Usage
13.6
Consistency
40.7
Best Game by takeover score
Texas State
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
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. Florida Atlantic: 2. Arkansas State: 0. North Texas: 5. Texas State: 7. TCU: 2. South Florida: 0. Tulsa: 1. Temple: 5.5. Houston: 6. Memphis: 1. East Carolina: 0. Navy: 2. Tulane: 5.5
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.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Florida Atlantic: 2 by 28.3. Arkansas State: 6 by 25. North Texas: 7 by 79.2. Texas State: 7 by 79.2. TCU: 7 by 49.2. South Florida: 2 by 8.3. Tulsa: 9 by 47.5. Temple: 7 by 79.2. Houston: 7 by 79.2. Memphis: 3 by 22.5. East Carolina: 7 by 29.2. Navy: 7 by 49.2. Tulane: 10 by 91.7
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins3.2 · Games = 10 · +1.5 vs Losses
Losses1.7 · Games = 3 · -1.5 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Texas State
Best efficiency game
91.7 vs Tulane
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/21 | @ Florida AtlanticSplash game | L 28-52 | 2 | 1 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 11/30 | vs Tulane10+ tackles · 2+ sacks | W 37-20 | 10 | 8 | — | 3.50 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/23 | @ NavySplash game | L 28-35 | 7 | 3 | — | 1.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/9 | vs East Carolina | W 59-51 | 7 | 6 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/2 | @ Memphis | L 48-54 | 3 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Thu 10/24 | @ Houston2+ sacks · Splash game | W 34-31 | 7 | 5 | — | 3.50 | 2.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/19 | vs Temple2+ sacks · Splash game | W 45-21 | 7 | 6 | — | 2.50 | 2 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/5 | vs Tulsa | W 43-37 | 9 | 6 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/28 | @ South Florida | W 48-21 | 2 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/21 | @ TCUSplash game | W 41-38 | 7 | 4 | — | 0.50 | 0.50 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/14 | vs Texas State2+ sacks · Splash game | W 47-17 | 7 | 6 | — | 3 | 3 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/7 | vs North Texas2+ sacks · Splash game | W 49-27 | 7 | 4 | — | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 8/31 | @ Arkansas State | W 37-30 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
Player Story
Patrick Nelson story
Patrick Nelson built his college career from 2014 through 2019 as a defensive back from Chicago, IL wearing No. 2, spending time with Illinois and SMU. The clearest part of Patrick Nelson's career was his defensive production: 280 tackles, 29.5 tackles for loss, 14.5 sacks, and 3 interceptions across 42 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2019 with SMU. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
Defensive careers can be hard to read from one number, but Patrick Nelson's production has multiple signals. With 42 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Illinois and SMU.
The arc is straightforward: Patrick Nelson moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Illinois
2014-2017
Opening stop
- 2
SMU
2018-2019
Final stop
Season Value Progression
2014201520162017201820192019
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Illinois | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 Regular Season | Illinois | 0 | — | — | 0 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Illinois | 3 | 31.8 | 5.4 | 3 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Illinois | 4.5 | 31.6 | 5.9 | 1.5 |
| 2018 Regular Season | SMU | 11.5 | 40.3 | 11.1 | 7 |
| 2019 Postseason | SMU | 37 | 51.4 | 13.6 | 25.5 |
| 2019 Regular Season | SMU | 37 | 51.4 | 13.6 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ North Texas
Week 1 · L 23-46
Loss with 4.5 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
4.5
Havoc Plays
95.6 takeover
4.5 disruption/tackle impact with 95.6 takeover score.
#2
vs Texas State
Week 3 · W 47-17
7
Havoc Plays
93.1 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
7 disruption/tackle impact with 93.1 takeover score.
#3
vs Tulane
Week 14 · W 37-20 · Conference game
5.5
Havoc Plays
90.1 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
5.5 disruption/tackle impact with 90.1 takeover score.
#4
@ Rutgers
Week 7 · W 24-7 · Conference game
2
Havoc Plays
90 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 90 takeover score.
#5
@ Houston
Week 9 · W 34-31 · Conference game
6
Havoc Plays
88.3 takeover
Win with backfield disruption leading the way.
6 disruption/tackle impact with 88.3 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2019 Postseason · SMU
37 primary output · 51.4 efficiency · 13.6 usage
73
#2
2019 Regular Season · SMU
73
37 primary · 51.4 efficiency · 13.6 usage
#3
2018 Regular Season · SMU
49.4
11.5 primary · 40.3 efficiency · 11.1 usage
Milestones
12
Impact games
11
Splash games
8
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Patrick Nelson
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