CFB Zeitgeist Score
60
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by completion % at the 84th percentile.
Caden Veltkamp
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
3,652 PASS YDS · 24 PASS TD · 45 RUSH YDS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Florida Atlantic for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Quarterback · Florida Atlantic
Returning around him
- 21% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- Transfer portal: -8 net (22 in / 30 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Florida Atlantic · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #82 · 2026 recruiting class #85
QB · FLORIDA ATLANTIC · AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Caden Veltkamp
- 3
- #10
- 6-6 | 236 lb
- Bowling Green, KY
Heisman Heat
#1236
<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 QB AWARD
Davey O'Brien
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · passing yards
2022–2025+14508%
Up 14508% from first season to most-recent.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3-star | 0.8670 | No. 838 recruit | HighSchool |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Western Kentucky -> Florida Atlantic | 3-star | 0.8300 | Immediate |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky -> -- | 3-star | Withdrawn |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 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
Achievements
- Volume King 1.3% Volume King 2,500+ passing yards, 1,200+ rushing yards, or 900+ receiving yards in a single season (position-appropriate threshold). Held by 1.3% of the 2025 pool. 3652 passing yards — clears the 2,500-QB volume bar.
- Program Benchmark 5.5% Program Benchmark Season leader for the program at the player's position across the headline volume metric (passing yards / rushing yards / receiving yards). Held by 5.5% of the 2025 pool. Team leader in passing yards (3652).
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
0.8670
#838 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 Caden Veltkamp
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
50
Mixed Sentiment
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=3
- National · n=2
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Caden Veltkamp
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 passing totals stand
Through 12g
3,652Pass yards
24Pass TDs
17INT
Per game
304.3Pass yards
2Pass TDs
1INT
Projected (13g)
3,956Pass yards
26Pass TDs
18INT
✓ Hit 3,000-yard season · finished with 3,652.
To hit 4,000-yard season (currently 3,652): needs 348/game over remaining 1.
To hit 25 passing TDs (currently 24): needs 1/game over remaining 1.
To hit 30 passing TDs (currently 24): needs 6/game over remaining 1.
To hit 35 passing TDs (currently 24): needs 11/game over remaining 1.
Why the honors trail matters
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
The useful clue on this card is not just the Heisman rank, but the broader honors spine. Caden Veltkamp already has 1 loaded recognition item, which helps distinguish a player who is merely productive from one who is already earning selector-level validation.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
QB 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?
High-volume passer | Efficient against FBS QB peers. The quickest read is whether the profile wins on volume, efficiency, explosiveness, or rushing value.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Passing Efficiency
CMP
345 100th
ATT
514 100th
CMP%
67.1% 76th
Y/A
7.1 57th
Passing Production
YDS
3,652 98th
TD
24 94th
INT
17 0th
Rushing
CAR
81 81st
YDS
45 54th
YPC
0.6 22nd
TD
4 82nd
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-39@ Maryland | 30/49 | 228 | 1 | 4 | 4.7 | 16.4 | 4 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 2 | W 56-14vs Florida A&M | 27/39 | 309 | 5 | 0 | 7.9 | 85.0 | 5 TD passes |
| Wk 3 | L 28-38@ Florida International | 33/50 | 343 | 2 | 3 | 6.9 | 44.8 | 3 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 5 | L 26-55vs Memphis | 31/50 | 318 | 0 | 0 | 6.4 | 44.2 | |
| Wk 6 | W 27-21@ Rice | 23/33 | 290 | 3 | 1 | 8.8 | 86.1 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 7 | W 53-33vs UAB | 20/30 | 297 | 3 | 1 | 9.9 | 58.1 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 8 | L 13-48@ South Florida | 35/50 | 244 | 1 | 1 | 4.9 | 58.1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 32-42@ Navy | 25/41 | 299 | 2 | 1 | 7.3 | 47.4 | |
| Wk 11 | W 40-21vs Tulsa | 21/29 | 272 | 3 | 0 | 9.4 | 75.0 | 3 TD passes |
| Wk 12 | L 24-35@ Tulane | 39/57 | 375 | 2 | 3 | 6.6 | 40.6 | 3 INTs — rough day |
| Wk 13 | L 45-48vs UConn | 42/55 | 494 | 2 | 1 | 9.0 | 90.0 | Season-high 494 yds |
| Wk 14 | L 3-42vs East Carolina | 19/31 | 183 | 0 | 2 | 5.9 | 8.2 | |
| Total | 345/514 | 3652 | 24 | 17 | 7.3 | 54.5 |
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
2022Western Kentucky9-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2025Florida Atlantic4-8HC: Zach Kittley · Pass-heavy, fast tempo
| Season | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Florida Atlantic | 345 | 514 | 67.1% | 3,652 | 7.1 | 24 | 17 | 135.6 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 41 | 54 | 75.9% | 387 | 7.2 | 5 | 1 | 163.0 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | 4 | 4 | 100.0% | 25 | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | 152.5 | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 390 | 572 | 68.2% | 4,064 | 7.1 | 29 | 18 | 138.3 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Florida Atlantic | 81 | 45 | 0.6 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 23 | 76 | 3.3 | 0 | -- |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 104 | 121 | 1.2 | 4 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted passing value. Positive numbers mean the quarterback is adding more value through the air than a neutral peer would in the same environment.
How much of the offense runs through the quarterback once passing and rushing responsibility are blended together.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Passing yards | 3,652 | #8/382 | 98th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Pass TD | 24 | #24/407 | 94th pct | Scoringvs FBS QB |
| Passing | Completions | 345 | #1/383 | 100th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Completion % | 67.1% | #93/383 | 76th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Passing | Yards / attempt | 7.1 | #165/382 | 57th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 45 | #189/408 | 54th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Value | Passing WEPA | +0.29 | #87/200 | 57th pct | Opponent-adjusted passing value | 477 weighted playsvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Role share | 61.4% | #13/428 | 97th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Attempts | 514 | #1/407 | 100th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Interceptions | 17 | #407/407 | 0th pct | Turnoversvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Carries | 81 | #79/408 | 81st pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 18 | #192/391 | 51st pct | Metricvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 4 | #74/408 | 82nd pct | Scoringvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 0.6 | #319/407 | 22nd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Pass share | 89.6% | #67/428 | 85th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 69.7% | #47/428 | 89th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 66.9% | #53/428 | 88th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 59.5% | #23/428 | 95th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 58.5% | #3/428 | 100th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 57.0% | #6/428 | 99th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Rush share | 15.5% | #98/428 | 77th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.29 | #43/140 | 70th pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 57 weighted playsvs FBS QB |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 2 | #163/258 | 37th pct | Turnoversvs FBS QB |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 12 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 312 | 2.2 | 8.1 | 0.7 |
| Road6g | 296 | 1.8 | 6.5 | 2.2 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 292 | 3.5 | 9.0 | 0.5 |
| Losses8g | 310 | 1.2 | 6.5 | 1.9 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 298 | 2.3 | 7.4 | 1.5 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 311 | 1.7 | 7.2 | 1.3 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
60Solid starter
Elite: pass yards (95th). Strength: pass tds (85th). Concern: interceptions (0th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Pass Profile · Completion depth (PBP)
Where the throws are landing
Short
0–9 yds61%of completions
106 comp5.2 yds avg2 TD
Middle
10–19 yds24%of completions
41 comp13.3 yds avg2 TD
Deep
20+ yds15%of completions
26 comp31.6 yds avg9 TD
Overall 63.8% completion on 271 attempts · 26 deep completions averaging 31.6 yds.
Advanced Savant · QB · 2024
Percentile Card
Reads as a mid-tier profile across the board..
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
wepa_passing0.29Low (p25–p50) (n=94)
wepa_rushing0.29Mid (p50–p75) (n=72)
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Caden VeltkampFlorida AtlanticKevin JenningsSMU· 87% simMicah AlejadoHawai'i· 85% simJosh HooverTCU· 84% sim
Pass yards
Pass TDs
Completion %
Rush TDs
Yards / att
Fumbles lost
Rush yards
Interceptions
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Game Manager
Consistent underneath passer who protects the lead. Rarely loses games; rarely wins them alone.
QB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Donovan Smith’s 2023 season.
Donovan Smith
66%match
#2
Tanner McKee
NFL Rd 6
63%
#3
Jalen Kitna
62%
#4
Jack Plummer
All-ACC
61%
#5
Fernando Mendoza
All-ACCNFL Rd 1 · Pk 1
59%
Matches Donovan on
TD rate
Height
Differs from Donovan on
Rush usage (lower)
Rush yards / carry (lower)
Total pass EPA (college ability) (higher)
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Emory Williams’s path through Miami.
Emory Williams
84%match
#2
Donovan Smith
80%
#3
Zac Thomas
All-Sun Belt
80%
#4
Tanner McKee
NFL Rd 6
76%
#5
Cutter Boley
74%
Matches Emory on
Completion %
Yards per attempt
Recruiting rating
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jack Plummer's senior season at Louisville (2023).
Jack Plummer
47%match
All-ACC
#2
Kurtis Rourke
All-Big TenNFL Rd 7
44%
#3
Tayven Jackson
43%
#4
TJ Finley
43%
#5
Sawyer Robertson
42%
Matches Jack on
Total pass EPA (college ability)
Height
Differs from Jack on
Class year (lower)
Weight (higher)
Yards / attempt (lower)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Zach Kittley
Pass share
62.3%
580 pass / 351 run
Plays / game
77.6
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
5.2%
423 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-heavy, fast tempo.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
3 coaches2022
Willie Taggart
Florida Atlantic
2023era →
Tom Herman
Florida Atlantic
2025era →
Zach Kittley
Florida Atlantic
Played under 3 different head coaches: Willie Taggart, Tom Herman, and Zach Kittley. Multi-era developmental context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownBowling Green, KY
Height6'6"
Weight236 lb
Class3
PositionQB
Jersey10
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamFlorida Atlantic
ConferenceAmerican Athletic
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Conference USA
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-Conference USA | all_conference | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | QB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | QB3 | #1236 | #1189 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Conference USA |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | QB3 | #579 | #624 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Conference USA |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | QB3 | #1066 | #938 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Conference USA |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Florida Atlantic | American Athletic | QB | 3 | No. 10 | 6-6 | 236 lb | Bowling Green, KY |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | QB | 3 | No. 10 | 6-6 | 236 lb | Bowling Green, KY |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | QB | 3 | No. 10 | 6-6 | 236 lb | Bowling Green, KY |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | Conference USA | QB | 3 | No. 10 | 6-6 | 236 lb | Bowling Green, KY |