cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Aaron Wofford /Western Michigan

Aaron Wofford

S · Western Michigan · Sr · #5

Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.

33 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Western Michigan for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Western Michigan for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Western Michigan

Returning around him

  • 100% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • Transfer portal: +1 net (14 in / 13 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Western Michigan · Last season: 10-4 · Talent rank #105 · 2026 recruiting class #104

S · WESTERN MICHIGAN · MID-AMERICAN

Aaron Wofford

  • 4
  • #5
  • 5-11 | 175 lb
  • Chicago, IL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

45

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 98th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14505

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#2380 national
CFB
College
Western Michigan
2021–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.

PositionS
Class4
Jersey5
Measurements5-11 | 175 lb
HometownChicago, IL
Primary teamWestern Michigan

Recruiting Pedigree

How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2380 recruit
Composite rating 0.8041 HighSchool
Signed with Western Michigan 2021
Origin St. Laurence Evergreen Park, IL, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8041 No. 2380 recruit | HighSchool | Western Michigan

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
Season Move Context
No transfer portal moves on file for this player.

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 16
Current nowcast#14505Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14590Where the full season sim points
Win probability0.0%Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability0.0%Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability0.0%Chance to appear anywhere on a ballot
Best official finish--Best completed Heisman placement on file

Heisman 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 Western Michigan

Composite

0.8041

#2380 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

PENDING

The 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 Aaron Wofford

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 Aaron Wofford

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.

A 3-act season arc returns once this player has six or more games on the ledger.

Season Pace · Projection

Where the defensive totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 12g
33Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
36Tackles
1.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 33): needs 47/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 33): needs 67/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/game over remaining 1.

Why this is a rare defensive case

The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.

Aaron Wofford is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Western Michigan's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 tackles for loss, and 1 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.

Current place #14505 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 1.0 TFL

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
Total tackles 33 25 solo | #1194/4942 (76th pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Coverage splash against FBS defenders.

Coverage splash

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
8 98th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 6-23@ Michigan State330.00.00
Wk 2L 30-33vs North Texas430.00.00
Wk 3L 0-38@ Illinois220.00.01
Wk 4W 14-13vs Toledo540.00.01
Wk 5W 47-14vs Rhode Island110.00.01
Wk 6W 21-3@ Massachusetts210.00.00
Wk 9L 17-26@ Miami (OH)420.00.00
Wk 12W 17-13vs Ohio110.00.01
Wk 13W 35-19@ Northern Illinois210.00.00
Wk 14W 31-21@ Eastern Michigan751.00.011Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 15W 23-13vs Miami (OH)110.00.01
BowlW 41-6vs Kennesaw State110.00.02
Total33251.00.018
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score

Traditional history

Traditional Stats

Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.

Season rows Career row

Season context · Team result + system

2021Western Michigan7-5HC: Tim Lester · Run-heavy, fast tempo
2022Western Michigan5-7HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning
2023Western Michigan4-8HC: Lance Taylor · Run-leaning
2025Western Michigan10-4HC: Lance Taylor · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Western Michigan33251.00.081--
2023Western Michigan72461.00.052--
2022Western Michigan1690.00.04----
2021Western Michigan110.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons122812.00.0173--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Disruption stats

TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.

Coverage splash

Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.

Peer percentile

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.

Traditional first

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.

INT 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 8 Coverage disruption | #45/2184 (98th pct)
QB pressures 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
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 Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 8 #45/2184 98th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 25 #744/4584 84th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 3.0 #493/578 15th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 3 #511/578 12th pct Takeawaysvs 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

StatusAwaiting 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g2.20.00.01.0
Road6g3.30.20.00.3

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins8g2.50.10.00.9
Losses4g3.20.00.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.60.00.00.7
Weeks 8+5g3.00.20.00.6

Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

45Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (97th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Passes defended#45 / 2975 · 98th pct
8defe
Solo tackles#744 / 2975 · 74th pct
25defe
Tackles#1194 / 2975 · 59th pct
33defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Advanced Savant · S · 2024

Percentile Card

Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.

P4G5All FBS
EPA / dropback
awaiting
CPOE
awaiting
Success rate
awaiting
Explosive rate (20+)
awaiting
aDOT
awaiting
Deep-ball accuracy
awaiting
Pressure-to-sack
awaiting
3rd-down EPA
awaiting
Red-zone TD rate
awaiting
Play-action EPA
awaiting
Scramble EPA
awaiting
Turnover-worthy play rate
awaiting

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

3 peers · 7 metrics
Aaron WoffordWestern MichiganTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 77% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 77% simBrevin HamblinUtah State· 72% sim
Passes defended
98
Wofford
91
Ra-El
67
Martin
98
Hamblin
Solo tackles
74
Wofford
100
Ra-El
87
Martin
99
Hamblin
Tackles
59
Wofford
99
Ra-El
98
Martin
99
Hamblin
Interceptions
31
Wofford
31
Martin
31
Hamblin
Tackles for loss
28
Wofford
56
Ra-El
63
Martin
56
Hamblin
Sacks
24
Wofford
24
Ra-El
24
Martin
74
Hamblin
QB hurries
22
Wofford
22
Ra-El
22
Martin
22
Hamblin

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Player DNA

The Centerfielder

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Cedric Woods’s 2025 season.

Cedric Woods

79%match

Louisiana Tech · 2025

#2

A.J. Hampton

Northwestern · 2021

79%
#3

Cedric Woods

Louisiana Tech · 2021

78%
#4

Jashon Prophete

Northern Illinois · 2023

77%
#5

Isaiah Farris

Boston College · 2025

76%

Matches Cedric on

Class year
Height
Tackle volume

Differs from Cedric on

Weight (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Jabbar Muhammad's graduate season at Oregon (2024).

Jabbar Muhammad

80%match

Oregon · 2024

All-Big Ten
#2

Deuce Harmon

SMU · 2025

72%
#3

Jordan Young

Arkansas · 2025

75%
#4

Brandon Crossley

SMU · 2024

72%
#5

Brian Blades

Florida International · 2025

69%

Matches Jabbar on

Class year
Weight
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Lance Taylor

Pass share

33.3%

304 pass / 609 run

Plays / game

65.2

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

248 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025

2 coaches
2021
Tim Lester
Western Michigan
2022
Tim Lester
Western Michigan
2023
Lance Taylor
Western Michigan
era →
2025
Lance Taylor
Western Michigan

Coaching transition mid-career: Tim Lester → Lance Taylor. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownChicago, IL
Height5'11"
Weight175 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey5

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

Honors

No formal honors on the ledger yet

All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.

Honors Timeline

Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.

Season Honor Scope Team / Selector Context
No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned.

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Western Michigan S4 #14505 #14590 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Western Michigan S4 #11800 #12381 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American
2022 Western Michigan S4 #11986 #12184 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mid-American
2021 Western Michigan S4 #12136 #11954 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Western Michigan Mid-American S 4 No. 5 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Chicago, IL
2024 Western Michigan Mid-American S 4 No. 5 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Chicago, IL
2023 Western Michigan Mid-American S 4 No. 5 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Chicago, IL
2022 Western Michigan Mid-American S 4 No. 5 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Chicago, IL
2021 Western Michigan Mid-American S 4 No. 5 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Chicago, IL