Illinois outside linebacker/pass rusher Gabe Jacas has decided to pass on the 2025 National Football League Draft in order to return to Champaign for his final year of eligibility.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The most talented pass rusher on the Illinois roster and the 2024 leader in sacks for Bret Bielema’s program will be in an Illini jersey for the upcoming 2025 season.

Gabe Jacas, who was an All-Big Ten Conference third team selection by the conference's coaches and media following the regular season while also earning Phil Steele All-America third-team honors, announced on both Instagram and Twitter/X on Monday afternoon that he’ll be playing his fourth season of college football at Illinois next fall.

Jacas started all 13 games at outside linebacker for Illinois in 2024, helping the Fighting Illini tie the program record for wins in a season with a 21-17 victory last week in the Citrus Bowl over South Carolina in Orlando. In the Citrus Bowl win, which was Illinois’ first victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent, Jacas had one of his best games of the season with eight tackles and three tackles for loss as the Gamecocks were held to just 390 total yards.

In three seasons in Champaign, Jacas has played in 38 games with 31 starts and totaled 140 tackles, 22.0 tackles for loss, 16.0 sacks, and four forced fumbles. In 2024,
he totaled 74 tackles, 13.0 tackles for loss, 8.0 sacks, 10 quarterback hurries, three forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Against six ranked teams last season, Jacas had 41 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Jacas' 16 career sacks ranks ninth in Illinois history and is just seven sacks away from tying Scott Davis (1983-87) for second all-time with 23 in a career.

Jacas’ announcement was the last early enrollee NFL Draft decision left for the Illini program this offseason as they will return all but two defensive starters (TeRah Edwards and Dennis Briggs Jr.) from this past season and Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has reloaded the defensive line unit this month with four pass rushers with experience at the power conference level from the transfer portal.

Jacas was an Illini player who was invited to the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., after finished the regular season top-25 nationally in forced fumbles (t-21st, 3) and sacks (t-24th with eight). He was tied for the Big Ten lead in forced fumbles and ranked fifth in sacks during the regular season and tied for the second-most sacks in Big Ten games with seven.

During the Citrus Bowl media conference last month, Bielema confirmed Scott was one of five Illinois early entrant candidates that the Illini coaching staff filed for scouting paperwork with the National Football League. Jacas’ decision comes less than a full day after Xavier Scott elected to return to the Illinois for his final year of eligibility on Sunday and two days after left tackle J.C. Davis elected to return to the Illini program for the 2025 season as a fifth-year senior thanks to NCAA Division I Board of Directors officially agreeing to a waiver for former junior college players on Dec. 20.