Darrell Prater holds the NT · Starter spot in Illinois Fighting Illini’s defensive tackle room. Where he sits among the room’s front-line roles:

Darrell Prater is a 6'3", 305-pound nose tackle from Fort Payne, Alabama, where he played for the Fort Payne Panthers and earned 6A Second Team All-Region honors in 2020. He redshirted his freshman year at Jacksonville State in 2022, then appeared in all 12 games during his redshirt freshman season in 2023, recording 14 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 1.0 sack. As a sophomore in 2024, Prater started four times in 13 games with 26 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. In 2025, his junior year, he played all 14 games with three starts, posting 23 tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks. He transferred to Illinois with one year of eligibility remaining and is a redshirt senior in 2026, majoring in communication.

Jacksonville Statethrough 2025

Illinois2026 — present