cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Blake Boenisch /Rice

Blake Boenisch

DL · Rice · Sr · #75

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

39 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Rice for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Rice for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Rice

Returning around him

  • 75% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • Transfer portal: -2 net (20 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Rice · Last season: 5-8 · Talent rank #106 · 2026 recruiting class #100

DL · RICE · AMERICAN ATHLETIC

Blake Boenisch

  • 4
  • #75
  • 6-3 | 341 lb
  • Needville, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

61

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 74th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#11612

<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
★★★
#2189 national
CFB
College
Rice
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey75
Measurements6-3 | 341 lb
HometownNeedville, TX
Primary teamRice

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2189 recruit
Composite rating 0.8119 HighSchool
Signed with Rice 2021
Origin Needville Needville, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8119 No. 2189 recruit | HighSchool | Rice

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 -- 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Withdrawn May 2, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Rice -> -- 3-star | Withdrawn

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#11612Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#12064Where 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 Rice

Composite

0.8119

#2189 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 Blake Boenisch

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 Blake Boenisch

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
39Tackles
5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.4Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
42Tackles
5.4Tackles for loss
1.6Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 39): needs 41/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 39): needs 61/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 4.5/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 8.5/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.

Blake Boenisch is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Rice's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 5.0 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 #11612 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.5 sacks | 5.0 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 39 16 solo | #937/4942 (81st pct)
TFL 5.0 Backfield disruption | #553/4972 (89th pct)
Sacks 1.5 Pass-rush finish | #724/4972 (85th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
39 81st
SOLO
16 71st
TFL
5.0 89th
SACK
1.5 85th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 14-12@ Louisiana
Wk 2L 9-35vs Houston200.50.50
Wk 3W 38-17vs Prairie View A&M200.00.00
Wk 4W 28-17@ Charlotte110.00.00
Wk 5L 13-21@ Navy320.00.00
Wk 6L 21-27vs Florida Atlantic520.00.00
Wk 9W 37-34vs UConn420.00.00
Wk 10L 14-38vs Memphis721.01.00Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 11W 24-17vs UAB441.00.00
Wk 13L 24-56vs North Texas311.00.01
Wk 14L 3-52@ South Florida610.50.01
BowlL 10-41@ Texas State211.00.00
Total39165.01.52
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

2022Rice5-8HC: Mike Bloomgren · Run-leaning
2023Rice6-7HC: Mike Bloomgren · Balanced, slow tempo
2024Rice4-8HC: Mike Bloomgren · Pass-leaning
2025Rice5-8HC: Scott Abell · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Rice39165.01.52----
2024Rice28173.50.01----
2023Rice2291.50.0------
2022Rice28101.50.5------
Career4 loaded seasons1175211.52.03----
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 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th 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 39 #937/4942 81st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 5.0 #553/4972 89th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.5 #724/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 16 #1348/4584 71st 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

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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g3.90.50.20.1
Road5g2.40.30.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g2.20.20.00.0
Losses7g4.00.60.20.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.10.20.10.0
Weeks 8+5g4.80.70.20.4

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

61Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Tackles for loss#553 / 2975 · 80th pct
5.0defe
Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct
1.5defe
Tackles#937 / 2975 · 68th pct
39defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Solo tackles#1348 / 2975 · 53rd pct
16defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd 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 · 7 metrics
Blake BoenischRiceMichael MontgomerySouthern Miss· 82% simAhmaad MosesSMU· 78% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 78% sim
Tackles for loss
80
Boenisch
85
Montgomery
83
Moses
85
Vaughns
Sacks
74
Boenisch
89
Montgomery
63
Moses
63
Vaughns
Tackles
68
Boenisch
99
Montgomery
99
Moses
99
Vaughns
Passes defended
67
Boenisch
67
Montgomery
78
Moses
48
Vaughns
Solo tackles
53
Boenisch
82
Montgomery
98
Moses
96
Vaughns
Forced fumbles
47
Boenisch
47
Moses
47
Vaughns
QB hurries
22
Boenisch
22
Montgomery
22
Moses
22
Vaughns

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

Player DNA

The Nose Anchor

Two-gap space-eater who occupies blockers and frees the linebackers.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Uso Seumalo’s 2025 season.

Uso Seumalo

95%match

Kansas State · 2025

#2

Brandon Pili

USC · 2022

87%
#3

Gary Smith III

UCLA · 2022

86%
#4

Demeco Roland

Southern Miss · 2023

84%
#5

Justin Kirkland

Oklahoma State · 2023

84%

Matches Uso on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Uso Seumalo's senior season at Kansas State (2025).

Uso Seumalo

95%match

Kansas State · 2025

#2

Elijah Simmons

Tennessee · 2023

84%
#3

Anthony Booker Jr.

Arkansas · 2023

82%
#4

Keeshawn Silver

USC · 2025

81%
#5

Omari Thomas

Tennessee · 2023

81%

Matches Uso on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Scott Abell

Pass share

26.0%

224 pass / 636 run

Plays / game

66.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.6%

147 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Mike Bloomgren
Rice
2023
Mike Bloomgren
Rice
2024
Mike Bloomgren
Rice
2025
Scott Abell
Rice
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Bloomgren → Scott Abell. 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.

HometownNeedville, TX
Height6'3"
Weight341 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey75

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 Rice DL4 #11612 #12064 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | American Athletic
2023 Rice DL4 #12600 #12566 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | American Athletic
2022 Rice DL4 #14154 #14398 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA
2021 Rice DL4 #14306 #14390 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Rice American Athletic DL 4 No. 75 | 6-3 | 341 lb | Needville, TX
2024 Rice American Athletic DL 4 No. 75 | 6-3 | 341 lb | Needville, TX
2023 Rice American Athletic DL 4 No. 75 | 6-3 | 341 lb | Needville, TX
2022 Rice Conference USA DL 4 No. 75 | 6-3 | 341 lb | Needville, TX
2021 Rice Conference USA DL 4 No. 75 | 6-3 | 341 lb | Needville, TX