Nelson Lokombo

Nelson Lokombo (born March 23, 1999) is a Canadian professional football defensive back for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Nelson Lokombo

No. 25     Saskatchewan Roughriders
Lokombo with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2025
Born:	(1999-03-23) March 23, 1999 (age 26) Abbotsford, British Columbia
Career information
Status	Active
CFL status	National
Position(s)	Defensive back
Height	5 ft 11 in (180 cm)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg)
University	Saskatchewan Huskies
High school	W. J. Mouat Secondary
CFL draft	2021, round: 1, pick: 2
Drafted by	Saskatchewan Roughriders
Career history
As player
2021–present	Saskatchewan Roughriders
Career highlights and awards
Honours	First Team All-Canadian (2019) Presidents' Trophy (2019)
Career stats
Playing stats at CFL.ca

University career

Lokombo played U Sports football for the Saskatchewan Huskies from 2017 to 2019.^[1] In 2019, he was named a First Team All-Canadian and was also awarded the Presidents' Trophy as the top defensive player in U Sports football.^[1] He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the 2020 U Sports football season.

Professional career

In the CFL Scouting Bureau's Final Rankings, Lokombo was named the 17th best player available in the 2021 CFL Draft.^[2] However, he exceeded those rankings and was drafted second overall by the Saskatchewan Roughriders and signed with the team on June 4, 2021.^[3] Unfortunately, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a pre-training camp workout and sat out the entire 2021 season.^[4][5]

Following 2022 training camp, Lokombo not only won a roster spot, but was also named an opening day starter at cornerback.^[5][6] He made his professional debut on June 11, 2022, against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats where he had one defensive tackle.^[7] He started the first three games of the season before being moved to the injured list for the fourth game of the season.^[6] Upon his return the active roster, Lokombo moved primarily to a backup role before returning to the injured list for the final five games of the season.^[6] He played in 12 regular season games, starting in four, where he had 13 defensive tackles, one special teams tackle, and one forced fumble.^[7][6]

In 2023, Lokombo played in the first 10 games of the regular season before sitting out seven of the last eight due to injury.^[7][8] He played in 11 games, starting in one, where he had five defensive tackles and four special teams tackles.^[7][8]

Personal life

Lokombo is the youngest of five brothers, with Boseko playing linebacker professionally in the CFL and Boloy having played defensive back for Minnesota–Duluth.^[9][10]