Usage / Role
42%
Rotational defensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2021-2023Iowa State
Ben Nikkel
DB • 6'1" • 210 lbs • Mcpherson, KS, USA
Ball-hunting defenderSplash play profile
Ben Nikkel shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.8 disruption score.
Impact Production
35
Developing production for a defensive back
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
32
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2023 Postseason · Iowa State
21222323
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Iowa State
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Ohio
Player Story
Ben Nikkel built his college career from 2021 through 2023 as a defensive back from Mcpherson, KS wearing No. 18, spending time with Iowa State. The clearest part of Ben Nikkel's career was his defensive production:...
Read the storyBen Nikkel, DB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2023 Postseason · Iowa State. Ben Nikkel shows a ball-hunting defender profile with 18.8 disruption score.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Tackles
- 43
- TFL
- 1
- Passes defended
- 3
Quick Answers
Ben Nikkel quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Iowa State · DB
- Career Tackles
- 43
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 4 entries · 14 games
- Best season
- 2023 Postseason · Iowa State
- Top game
- Ohio
- Latest roster
- No. 18 · Senior
- 2023 Tackles rank
- 40 tackles · DB 194th (top 21%) · Big 12 85th (top 14%) · National 868th (top 15%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Tackles | TFL | Sacks | QB Hur | PD | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Regular Season | Iowa State | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | - |
| 2022 Regular Season | Iowa State | 3 | 3 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 37 |
| 2023 Postseason | Iowa State | 11 | 5 | - | 0 | - | - | 0 | 38.3 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Iowa State | 11 | 35 | 1 | 0 | - | 3 | 0 | 38.3 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Ben Nikkel
Ben Nikkel played DB for Iowa State. Across 3 tracked seasons, Ben Nikkel recorded 43 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2023 with Iowa State.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2023 Postseason
Iowa State paired 4 primary output with 18.8 efficiency.
Supporting note
2023 Postseason role shape
impact-led usage with 18.8 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2023 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Ohio
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet. It landed in the 90.9th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
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Season Explorer
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2023 Postseason · Iowa State
Games
11
Havoc Plays / G
0.4
Efficiency
18.8
Usage
3
Consistency
9.1
Best Game by takeover score
Ohio
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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. Memphis: 0. Northern Iowa: 2. Ohio: 1. Oklahoma State: 0. Oklahoma: 1. TCU: 0. Cincinnati: 0. Baylor: 0. Kansas: 0. BYU: 0. Texas: 0
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. Memphis: 5 by 20.8. Northern Iowa: 2 by 28.3. Ohio: 8 by 43.3. Oklahoma State: 6 by 25. Oklahoma: 4 by 26.7. TCU: 2 by 8.3. Cincinnati: 1 by 4.2. Baylor: 1 by 4.2. Kansas: 3 by 12.5. BYU: 4 by 16.7. Texas: 4 by 16.7
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins0.3 · Games = 6 · -0.1 vs Losses
Losses0.4 · Games = 5 · +0.1 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
11 games
Featured metric
Havoc Plays
Top game by takeover score
Ohio
Best efficiency game
43.3 vs Ohio
| Result | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 12/29 | vs Memphis | L 26-36 | 5 | 5 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/19 | vs Texas | L 16-26 | 4 | 2 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 11/12 | @ BYU | W 45-13 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 11/4 | vs Kansas | L 21-28 | 3 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/28 | @ Baylor | W 30-18 | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 10/14 | @ Cincinnati | W 30-10 | 1 | 1 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sun 10/8 | vs TCU | W 27-14 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/30 | @ Oklahoma | L 20-50 | 4 | 3 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | — | — |
| Sat 9/23 | vs Oklahoma State | W 34-27 | 6 | 4 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/16 | @ Ohio | L 7-10 | 8 | 2 | — | 1 | 0 | — | 0 | — | — |
| Sat 9/2 | vs Northern IowaSplash game | W 30-9 | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | — | — |
Player Story
Ben Nikkel story
Ben Nikkel built his college career from 2021 through 2023 as a defensive back from Mcpherson, KS wearing No. 18, spending time with Iowa State. The clearest part of Ben Nikkel's career was his defensive production: 43 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 3 passes defended across 14 career games in the available record. His career also includes 5 return yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. That gives Ben Nikkel'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
Iowa State
2021-2023
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2021202220232023
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Regular Season | Iowa State | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2022 Regular Season | Iowa State | 0 | 4.2 | 0.8 | 0 |
| 2023 Postseason | Iowa State | 4 | 18.8 | 3 | 4 |
| 2023 Regular Season | Iowa State | 4 | 18.8 | 3 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Ohio
Week 3 · L 7-10
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1
Havoc Plays
52.2 takeover
1 disruption/tackle impact with 52.2 takeover score.
#2
vs Northern Iowa
Week 1 · W 30-9
2
Havoc Plays
46.9 takeover
Win with 2 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
2 disruption/tackle impact with 46.9 takeover score.
#3
@ Oklahoma
Week 5 · L 20-50 · Conference game
1
Havoc Plays
32.5 takeover
Loss with 1 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
1 disruption/tackle impact with 32.5 takeover score.
#4
vs Oklahoma State
Week 4 · W 34-27 · Conference game
0
Havoc Plays
24.4 takeover
Win with 0 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
0 disruption/tackle impact with 24.4 takeover score.
#5
vs Memphis
Week 1 · L 26-36 · Postseason
0
Havoc Plays
19.4 takeover
Loss with 0 impact plays across the defensive snap sheet.
0 disruption/tackle impact with 19.4 takeover score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2023 Postseason · Iowa State
4 primary output · 18.8 efficiency · 3 usage
38.3
#2
2023 Regular Season · Iowa State
38.3
4 primary · 18.8 efficiency · 3 usage
#3
2022 Regular Season · Iowa State
37
0 primary · 4.2 efficiency · 0.8 usage
Milestones
0
Impact games
1
Splash games
0
10+ tackle games
Next best actions
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