CFB Zeitgeist Score
40
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by solo tackles at the 74th percentile.
A.J. Harris
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
33 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Indiana
2025Penn State
2026Indiana
CB · PENN STATE · BIG TEN
A.J. Harris
- 3
- #4
- 6-1 | 191 lb
- Phenix City, AL
Heisman Heat
#5253
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP DB AWARD
Jim Thorpe
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4-star | 0.9808 | No. 39 recruit | HighSchool | Georgia |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Penn State -> Indiana | 4-star | 0.9100 | Immediate |
| 2024 | Georgia -> Penn State | 4-star | 0.9500 | Immediate |
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★★☆
to Georgia
Composite
0.9808
#39 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on A.J. Harris
Fan sentiment · Awaiting signal
The Room reads fan conversation around a player — who’s talking, what they believe, and how that shifts. It publishes once weekly volume rebuilds; for most players that’s in-season, when game-week chatter spikes.
Cohort divergence map
Cohort divergence reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about A.J. Harris
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
Signature Story
Awaiting candidate metric
He hasn't written his page yet — we'll start filling it in when there are enough snaps to rank against his peers.
Signature Moment
No signature moment on the ledger yet.
Returns once this player puts together a multi-game body of work — single-game flashes alone don't clear the bar.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 10g
33Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
43Tackles
1.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 33): needs 15.7/game over remaining 3.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 33): needs 22.3/game over remaining 3.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 3.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 3.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
A.J. Harris is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Penn State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 tackles for loss, and -- interceptions through the current loaded season. For a defender, the question is never just production; it is whether elite disruption and team context can become nationally undeniable.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
DEF season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
33 76th
SOLO
25 84th
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
1 43rd
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 46-11vs Nevada | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 34-0vs Florida International | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 52-6vs Villanova | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 24-30vs Oregon | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 37-42@ UCLA | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | L 21-22vs Northwestern | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 24-25@ Iowa | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 14-38@ Ohio State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 24-27vs Indiana | 8 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 14 | W 40-36@ Rutgers | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 25 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023Georgia13-1HC: Kirby Smart · Balanced
2025Penn State7-6HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Penn State | 33 | 25 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Georgia | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 41 | 28 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 33 | #1194/4942 | 76th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 1.0 | #2051/4972 | 59th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 0.0 | #1762/4972 | 65th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 1 | #1241/2184 | 43rd pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 25 | #744/4584 | 84th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16
Why he’s here
Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.
What moves him up
What moves him down
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Thorpe award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 3.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Losses6g | 4.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 4.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort
40Mid-pack
Concern: qb hurries (22nd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · CB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
A.J. HarrisPenn StateTyler MartinMassachusetts· 79% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 74% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 70% sim
Solo tackles
Tackles
Passes defended
Forced fumbles
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Cover Corner
Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.
CB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Darrell Luter Jr.’s 2020 season.
Darrell Luter Jr.
89%match
NFL Rd 5
#2
DJ Ivey
NFL Rd 7
85%
#3
Ra'Mello Dotson
84%
#4
Botros Alisandro
84%
#5
Derrick Bush
83%
Matches Darrell on
Tackle volume
PD rate
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Cornell Perry's junior season at Syracuse (2025).
Cornell Perry
96%match
#2
Brandon Joseph
Consensus All-American
96%
#3
Marcellus Wilkerson
88%
#4
Kahlil Ali
86%
#5
Marvin Burks Jr.
86%
Matches Cornell on
Class year
Height
Weight
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
James Franklin
Pass share
42.0%
339 pass / 469 run
Plays / game
62.2
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.4%
230 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023
James Franklin
Penn State
2025
James Franklin
Penn State
Played his entire career under James Franklin.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownPhenix City, AL
Height6'1"
Weight191 lb
Class3
PositionCB
Jersey4
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamPenn State
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Big Ten
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | All-Big Ten | all_conference | Penn State | Big Ten | DB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Penn State | CB3 | #5253 | #4812 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2023 | Georgia | CB3 | #4767 | #4370 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | SEC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Penn State | Big Ten | CB | 3 | No. 4 | 6-1 | 191 lb | Phenix City, AL |
| 2024 | Penn State | Big Ten | CB | 3 | No. 4 | 6-1 | 191 lb | Phenix City, AL |
| 2023 | Georgia | SEC | CB | 3 | No. 4 | 6-1 | 191 lb | Phenix City, AL |