The New England Patriots traded up into the second round on Friday night to select the Illini’s all-time second-leading sack artist Gabe Jacas.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Football Writer/Analyst

April 24, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

The second-leading sack artist in University of Illinois football history will now be hunting quarterbacks as a member of the New England Patriots in the National Football League.

Gabe Jacas, a 6-foot-3 and 270-pound edge rusher who finished with 27 career sacks and led the Big Ten Conference with 11 last season, was selected 55th overall in the second round of the 2026 NFL Draft on Friday evening.

The Patriots made a trade Friday night with the Los Angeles Chargers to move up in the second round to select Jacas. New England surrendered three picks (No. 63 overall, No. 131, and No. 202) for the right to guarantee themselves the opportunity to select the Illini pass rusher.

New England, who won the American Football Conference in Mike Vrabel’s first year as their head coach but lost to the Seattle Seahawks 29-13 in Super Bowl 60, certainly has a history with the current leader of the Illinois football program. Illinois head coach Bret Bielema was hired by New England in 2018 shortly after he was terminated as the Arkansas head coach and spent two years with the Patriots organization under then-head coach Bill Belichick.

Jacas, who was a All-Big Ten first-team selection by the league’s media contingent this past season became the first former Illini player off the board in this NFL draft and the second defensive lineman to be selected in the Bret Bielema era of Iliinois football. The first defensive linemen in the Bielema era to be selected into the NFL draft was Jer'Zhan Newton being picked 36th overall in the second round of the 2024 NFL Draft but Jacas is the first Illini drafted defensive lineman who Bielema signed out of high school or in the transfer portal.

“He was a stand-up edge rusher in their defense under coordinator Aaron Henry and this is a guy who just gets after the passer, which they need in that division obviously with Josh Allen in Buffalo,” NFL Network analyst Joel Klatt, who has done multiple Illinois as a color analyst for FOX’s college football coverage. “He’s got steady power and you constantly see him on the film or when you’re calling the games because he’s constantly in the backfield with those heavy hands. He’s a really good player and you constantly see his effort on tape as well.” .

After dealing with a nagging hamstring injury issue into the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala. and throughout the pre-draft process of February and March, Jacas held a private pro day workout on April 2 where he weighed in at 261 pounds and recorded a 1.59-second 10-yard split as part of a 4.69-second time in the 40-yard-dash and did 30 bench press reps of 225 pounds.

“When Gabe had his pro day, I showcased that (2024 home win over Michigan) game with NFL personnel. He punches a fumble out. He gets a sack strip. He was going against two tackles and I showed how he rushed differently against both of those tackles,” Bielema said on Tuesday. “He lined up in five different positions in that game and then I showed a goal-line play where he just absolutely knocks the piss out of that tackle and into the backfield. It was the definition of who Gabe is.”

The versatility of the jobs he took on at Illinois is something Jacas said showed up on his game film long before his arrival in Indianapolis in February for the NFL Scouting Combine.

“I think my work in college shows (NFL) teams that I can add value as a edge rusher or kick inside as an interior player, basically whatever they add from me is something I’ve done,” Jacas said. “The ability to play all across the line does nothing but add to my value. It doesn’t really matter where you line up but you have to be able to play with extension, have active hands and feet. The skills with being able to use my hands to disrupt the pass game in many ways is a big weapon of mine.”

The 21-year-old outside linebacker was named to the All-Big Ten team three times in his Illini career after also being tabbed to the third team in 2024 and earning honorable mention as a freshman in 2022. Jacas’ collegiate career finished saw him second in program history in career sacks behind only Simeon Rice’s Big Ten record-holding total of 44.5.

Pro Football Focus has Jacas, a 270-pound pass rusher, as the 51st best prospect in the upcoming 2026 draft. Jacas started each of his final 25 games at outside linebacker and, in the 2025 regular season, he accounted for 43 total tackles (23 solo) with 13.5 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, six quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and one pass breakup during the 2025 regular season. Jacas’ total of 11 sacks this past year helped him become just the fifth Illinois player to reach a double-digit total of sacks in a single season, joining Rice, Whitney Mercilus, Mike Poloskey and Scott Davis.

Jacas was the fifth Illinois player electing to opt out of a bowl game in the Bielema era that has included the 2023 ReliaQuest Bowl loss to Mississippi State (cornerback Devon Witherspoon - No. 5 overall pick in 2023, safety Sydney Brown - No. 66 pick in 2023 and Chase Brown - No. 163 pick in 2023) and the 2024 Citrus Bowl win over South Carolina (Pat Bryant - No. 74 pick in 2025).

Jacas was primarily recruited by former Illinois defensive coordinator Aaron Henry as a consensus three-star prospect out of Fort Pierce Central High School in Florida where he was a verbal commit to Tulane but was heavily recruited up under signing day by Illinois, Tennessee, Mississippi State, and South Florida. Jacas was a high school state champion heavyweight wrestler and TCPalm Male Athlete of the Year before being named to the Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-American team after a rookie campaign in Champaign-Urbana with 35 tackles, five TFLs, and four sacks.