Illinois Football: Expectations for Jake Hansen in 2020

Illinois football linebacker Jake Hansen enters the 2020 season with no shortage of national recognition.

The former Big Ten honorable mention linebacker has been named to the Butkus Award watch list, Bednarik Award watch list and Nagurski Award watch list for the upcoming season.

Hansen has been a shining star on a defensive unit that has struggled over the last two seasons. The 6-foot-1, 230-pound defender registered 167 total tackles, 4.5 sacks and an astounding 8 forced fumbles during his sophomore and junior seasons.

The former consensus three-star recruit out of East Lake High School in Florida has destroyed expectations since returning from a season-ending injury following his freshman season. In his last stint in Champaign, Hansen will be the head of the snake for what Illini Nation hopes to be a resurgent defensive unit.

What can we expect from Hansen in 2020?

Indifferent to the previous expectation pieces where I projected varying levels of development from Milo Eifler and Josh Imatorbhebe, I expect a lot of the same and even more from Jake Hansen in 2020.

In the last two seasons, Hansen has tallied eight tackles per game. He has been and will continue to be a sideline to sideline backer who tends to end up finding the ball carrier one way or another. Durability will be a key, but with a shortened season, Hansen has the opportunity to play a full year for just the second time in his Illini tenure.

Eifler, Khalan Tolson and Shammond Cooper are all expected to make big jumps and produce in the intermediate level and in the box, but Hansen should provide a standard of consistency within the group.

As he continues to put on muscle, Hansen could quickly enter the NFL Draft discussion as an instinctual, physically sound and a prototypical tackling machine. If he can once again throw up ridiculously high forced fumble numbers (led the nation with seven in 2019), his ability to read an offense and manufacture turnovers will not go unnoticed.

Expect Hansen to break the first-team All-Big Ten barrier in 2020. The Illini allowed 195.5 rushing yards per game in 2019 and with a secondary that has the potential to be special, I expect most opponents to focus on attacking Illinois on the ground.

Dele Harding leaves a gaping hole in terms of tackling numbers (11.8 per game, led the Big Ten by 39 tackles) and I fully expect Hansen to fill the void and to eclipse double-digit tackles per game in 2020.

With experience comes a heightened edge on the competition, and with 33 games under his belt, Hansen should be the first name on the opponent’s scouting report game in and game out.

Once again, Hansen will be a bright spot on the defensive side, a team leader and one of the Big Ten’s top linebackers. Expect Hansen to earn an NFL Draft selection after finalizing a profound collegiate resume in 2020.

Statistical Projection

8 games, 82 tackles, 5 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 1 interception