cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Antwone Santiago /Virginia Tech

Antwone Santiago

LB · Virginia Tech · Jr · #26

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

9 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Virginia Tech for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Virginia Tech for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Virginia Tech

Returning around him

  • 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +0 net (27 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Virginia Tech · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #40 · 2026 recruiting class #39

LB · VIRGINIA TECH · ACC

Antwone Santiago

  • 3
  • #26
  • 6-3 | 227 lb
  • Meriden, CT

CFB Zeitgeist Score

23

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 55th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14687

<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 LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R03 · Backup

Backup. On the two-deep, pushing for snaps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey26
Measurements6-3 | 227 lb
HometownMeriden, CT
Primary teamVirginia Tech

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

Transfer Arc

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

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Virginia Tech 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Apr 23, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Temple -> Virginia Tech 3-star | 0.8400 | 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 16
Current nowcast#14687Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14870Where 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.

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 Antwone Santiago

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 Antwone Santiago

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 6g
9Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
20Tackles
2.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 9): needs 10.1/game over remaining 7.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 9): needs 13/game over remaining 7.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 0.9/game over remaining 7.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.4/game over remaining 7.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Antwone Santiago is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Virginia Tech'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.

Current place #14687 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

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 9 4 solo | #2976/4942 (40th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
9 40th
SOLO
4 34th
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 6 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 2L 20-44vs Vanderbilt100.00.00
Wk 4W 38-6vs Wofford200.00.00Season-high 2 tackles
Wk 7L 20-35@ Georgia Tech221.00.00
Wk 10L 16-28vs Louisville200.00.00
Wk 12L 14-34@ Florida State110.00.00
Wk 14L 7-27@ Virginia110.00.00
Total941.00.00
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

2022Temple3-9HC: Stan Drayton · Pass-leaning
2023Temple3-9HC: Stan Drayton · Pass-leaning
2024Temple3-9HC: Everett Withers · Balanced
2025Virginia Tech3-9HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Virginia Tech941.00.0------
2024Temple25130.00.0------
2023Temple961.00.0------
2022Temple110.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons44242.00.0------
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 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 9 #2976/4942 40th 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 QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 4 #3005/4584 34th 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 Butkus 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 · 6 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home3g1.70.00.00.0
Road3g1.30.30.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins1g2.00.00.00.0
Losses5g1.40.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g1.70.30.00.0
Weeks 8+3g1.30.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

23Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (0th).

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Solo tackles#2803 / 2975 · 4th pct
4defe
Tackles#2976 / 2975 · 0th pct
9defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 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
Antwone SantiagoVirginia TechTyler MartinMassachusetts· 41% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 41% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 35% sim
QB hurries
55
Santiago
22
Martin
92
Fletcher
22
Vaughns
Tackles for loss
28
Santiago
63
Martin
28
Fletcher
85
Vaughns
Sacks
24
Santiago
24
Martin
24
Fletcher
63
Vaughns
Passes defended
18
Santiago
67
Martin
67
Fletcher
48
Vaughns
Solo tackles
4
Santiago
87
Martin
91
Fletcher
96
Vaughns
Tackles
0
Santiago
98
Martin
99
Fletcher
99
Vaughns

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Brent Pry

Pass share

42.0%

319 pass / 441 run

Plays / game

63.3

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.5%

296 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
2023
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
2024
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
2025
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech

Played his entire career under Brent Pry.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMeriden, CT
Height6'3"
Weight227 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey26

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 Temple LB3 #14687 #14870 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | American Athletic
2023 Temple LB3 #15308 #15497 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | American Athletic
2022 Temple LB3 #13407 #13457 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | American Athletic

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Virginia Tech ACC LB 3 No. 26 | 6-3 | 227 lb | Meriden, CT
2024 Temple American Athletic LB 3 No. 26 | 6-3 | 227 lb | Meriden, CT
2023 Temple American Athletic LB 3 No. 26 | 6-3 | 227 lb | Meriden, CT
2022 Temple American Athletic LB 3 No. 26 | 6-3 | 227 lb | Meriden, CT