Nov. 20, 2006

University of Illinois junior linebacker J Leman earned Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors for the second time this year, following a 22-tackle performance at Northwestern. Leman ended his season as the Big Ten's leading tackler after racking up a career-high 22 defensive stops while adding 2.5 tackles for loss at Northwestern. His 22 tackles are the most by a conference player this year and equal the highest total by any NCAA Division I-A football player this season. He totaled 11 solo tackles on the day while adding an eight-yard sack.

He concludes his year ranked first in the Big Ten and second nationally with 12.7 tackles per outing in all games, while also leading the way with 13.4 defensive stops per contest in conference games only.

The Champaign native finished the year with 152 tackles, the sixth-highest single-season total in Illinois history and the most since Darrick Brownlow collected 161 defensive stops in 1990. Leman earns weekly Big Ten accolades for the second time this season and in his career after being honored on Nov. 6.