cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Aidan Hubbard /Northwestern

Aidan Hubbard

DL · Northwestern · Sr · #91

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

26 TACKLES · 7.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Northwestern for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Northwestern for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Northwestern

Returning around him

  • 68% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 2 Northwestern players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +9 net (17 in / 8 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Northwestern · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #57 · 2026 recruiting class #66

DL · NORTHWESTERN · BIG TEN

Aidan Hubbard

  • 4
  • #91
  • 6-4 | 255 lb
  • Cleveland, OH

CFB Zeitgeist Score

70

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 99th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#7514

<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 DEFENSE AWARD

Nagurski

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R06 · Starter

Starter. A locked-in starting role.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#725 national
CFB
College
Northwestern
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey91
Measurements6-4 | 255 lb
HometownCleveland, OH
Primary teamNorthwestern

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 725 recruit
Composite rating 0.8681 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2021
Origin St Ignatius Cleveland, OH, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8681 No. 725 recruit | HighSchool

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#7514Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8292Where 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 —

Composite

0.8681

#725 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 Aidan Hubbard

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 Aidan Hubbard

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 10g
26Tackles
10Tackles for loss
7.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0.8Sacks
Projected (13g)
34Tackles
13Tackles for loss
9.8Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 26): needs 18/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 26): needs 24.7/game over remaining 3.

✓ Hit 6-sack season · finished with 7.5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 7.5): needs 0.8/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.

Aidan Hubbard is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Northwestern's defense, with 7.5 sacks, 10.0 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.

Current place #7514 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 7.5 sacks | 10.0 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 26 13 solo | #1609/4942 (67th pct)
TFL 10.0 Backfield disruption | #103/4972 (98th pct)
Sacks 7.5 Pass-rush finish | #34/4972 (99th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
26 67th
SOLO
13 65th
TFL
10.0 98th
SACK
7.5 99th
QBH
5 90th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 3-23@ Tulane321.01.003 sacks
Wk 2W 42-7vs Western Illinois100.00.00
Wk 3L 14-34vs Oregon521.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 5W 17-14vs UCLA300.50.50
Wk 6W 42-7vs UL Monroe111.01.00
Wk 7W 22-21@ Penn State200.00.00
Wk 8W 19-0vs Purdue200.50.00
Wk 9L 21-28@ Nebraska542.01.00
Wk 12L 22-24vs Michigan111.01.00
BowlW 34-7vs Central Michigan333.03.00
Total261310.07.50
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

2022Northwestern1-11HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Balanced
2023Northwestern8-5HC: David Braun · Run-leaning
2024Northwestern4-8HC: David Braun · Balanced, slow tempo
2025Northwestern7-6HC: David Braun · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Northwestern261310.07.5------
2024Northwestern33127.06.01----
2023Northwestern26178.56.01----
2022Northwestern17121.01.0------
Career4 loaded seasons1025426.520.52----
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 5 Quarterback hurries | #188/1878 (90th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 26 #1609/4942 67th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 10.0 #103/4972 98th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 7.5 #34/4972 99th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 5 #188/1878 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 13 #1622/4584 65th pct Volumevs 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 Lombardi 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/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g2.31.00.80.0
Road3g3.31.00.70.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g2.00.80.80.0
Losses4g3.51.20.80.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.60.90.80.0
Weeks 8+3g2.71.20.70.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

70Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (98th). Strength: tackles for loss (96th). Concern: passes defended (17th).

Sacks#34 / 2975 · 99th pct
7.5defe
Tackles for loss#103 / 2975 · 96th pct
10.0defe
QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct
5defe
Tackles#1609 / 2975 · 45th pct
26defe
Solo tackles#1622 / 2975 · 44th pct
13defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DL · 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 · 6 metrics
Aidan HubbardNorthwesternMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 68% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 67% simMaverick BaranowskiMinnesota· 66% sim
Sacks
99
Hubbard
80
Parker
74
Wesloski
89
Baranowski
Tackles for loss
96
Hubbard
87
Parker
95
Wesloski
95
Baranowski
QB hurries
92
Hubbard
88
Parker
95
Wesloski
82
Baranowski
Tackles
45
Hubbard
98
Parker
99
Wesloski
98
Baranowski
Solo tackles
44
Hubbard
96
Parker
99
Wesloski
98
Baranowski
Passes defended
18
Hubbard
18
Parker
18
Wesloski
48
Baranowski

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

Player DNA

The 3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to RJ Oben’s 2023 season.

RJ Oben

83%match

Duke · 2023

#2

Max Llewellyn

Iowa · 2024

NFL Rd 7
79%
#3

Kenton Simmons

Florida International · 2025

All-Conference USA
78%
#4

Caleb Herring

Tennessee · 2025

74%
#5

Michael Heldman

Central Michigan · 2025

All-MAC
74%

Matches RJ on

TFL rate
Weight
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to David Bailey's senior season at Texas Tech (2025).

David Bailey

89%match

Texas Tech · 2025

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 2
#2

Nadame Tucker

Western Michigan · 2025

All-MAC
85%
#3

Malachi Lawrence

UCF · 2025

All-Big 12NFL Rd 1 · Pk 23
82%
#4

Taylor Upshaw

Arizona · 2023

80%
#5

Khalid Duke

Kansas State · 2023

78%

Matches David on

Class year
TFL rate
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

David Braun

Pass share

46.0%

378 pass / 444 run

Plays / game

63.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.1%

255 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Pat Fitzgerald
Northwestern
2023
David Braun
Northwestern
era →
2024
David Braun
Northwestern
2025
David Braun
Northwestern

Coaching transition mid-career: Pat Fitzgerald → David Braun. 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.

HometownCleveland, OH
Height6'4"
Weight255 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey91

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 Northwestern DL4 #7514 #8292 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 Northwestern DL4 #7358 #8118 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big Ten
2022 Northwestern DL4 #11927 #12254 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten
2021 Northwestern DL4 #12564 #12436 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Northwestern Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Cleveland, OH
2024 Northwestern Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Cleveland, OH
2023 Northwestern Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Cleveland, OH
2022 Northwestern Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Cleveland, OH
2021 Northwestern Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Cleveland, OH