James Ester
Career Summary
Northern Illinois defensive lineman and captain.
James Ester was a four-year team captain and three-time all-conference selection at Northern Illinois, finishing with 121 tackles in 49 games.
Section reviewed
Sources for this section
High School
Championship teams at Cass Tech.
Ester played defensive line and outside linebacker at Cass Tech. The team went 33-4 during his three varsity seasons, including a state championship in 2016.
Section reviewed
Sources for this section
College Career
Team MVP in his final two seasons.
Ester earned Northern Illinois team MVP recognition in 2022 and 2023. He started all 13 games in 2023 and recorded 49 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss and four sacks, earning second-team All-MAC honors from the league's coaches.
Section reviewed
Sources for this section
30167, 00-0039269, 2001-08-30, James Ester, James, Ester
MFT PLAYER RANKINGS
Current player ranking
MFT Score: 0.0
2026 preseason baseline. Position-relative and updated through the site’s weekly review process.