Joel Iyiegbuniwe

BIOGRAPHY

Joel Iyiegbuniwe was born on October 12th, 1995, in Chicago, Illinois. He is a linebacker for the Chicago Bears in the NFL. 

Iyiegbuniwe attended South Warren High School where he started playing football. In 2012, he tallied 64 tackles, three interceptions, and four touchdowns and was a two-star prospect by Scout.com, Rivals.com, and 247Sports.com. In his 2013 season, he tallied 23 tackles, one interception and scored six touchdowns in four games.

After finishing high school, Iyiegbuniwe committed to the University of Kentucky to play college football. As a freshman in 2014, Iyiegbuniwe played in the first three games of the season while as a redshirted freshman in 2015, he was a major contributor on special teams and as a reserve linebacker as a redshirt freshman, tallying 19 total tackles with 14 solo tackles including a season-high five with three solo tackles against Miami. He appeared in all 14 games and got his first sack and tackle for loss at North Texas, a two-yard loss. Iyiegbuniwe record six total special teams tackles, five coming off kickoff coverage. In his sophomore season, his role increased in 2016, starting all 14 games at outside linebacker for the Hilltoppers. He finished the year with 64 total tackles where 39 of them were solo, which was the fourth-most on the team and most among underclassmen. He added 10 tackles for loss, one of four Hilltoppers to record double-digit TFL numbers and one of two linebackers, which included 3.5 sacks and led the team at No. 1 Alabama with 10 tackles while at Miami, he forced his first career fumble and added five quarterback hurries and three pass breakups. In his junior season,  Iyiegbuniwe capped what proved to be his final season on The Hill with a bang, leading WKU in tackles with 117 and tackles for loss with 11.5 before declaring for the NFL Draft with a year of eligibility remaining. His 200 career tackles are the sixth-most in a career in the FBS era and his 117 tackles on the season were the third-most in the FBS era. He tallied double-digit tackle performances five times on the year, including two 15-tackle games against Middle Tennessee and Marshall which were the second-most in a game in the FBS era and he closed the season with a bang as he racked up 49 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss in the final four games of the season. 

After his junior season, Iyiegbuniwe entered the 2018 NFL Draft where he was selected in the fourth round by the Chicago Bears.