cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Caleb Curtain /Charlotte

Caleb Curtain

DB · Charlotte · Sr · #1

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

36 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Charlotte for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Charlotte for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Charlotte

Returning around him

  • 24% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -8 net (19 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Charlotte · Last season: 1-11 · Talent rank #108 · 2026 recruiting class #135

DB · CHARLOTTE · AMERICAN ATHLETIC

Caleb Curtain

  • 4
  • #1
  • 6-1 | 195 lb
  • Greensboro, NC

CFB Zeitgeist Score

36

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 47th percentile.

Heisman Heat

Awaiting

Not on the live Heisman board this week.

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

TOP DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

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
Charlotte
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey1
Measurements6-1 | 195 lb
HometownGreensboro, NC
Primary teamCharlotte

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 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

Where the model places this player relative to the rest of the Heisman field.

Current nowcast--Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast--Where the full season sim points
Win probability--Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability--Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability--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 Caleb Curtain

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 Caleb Curtain

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 11g
36Tackles
2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
43Tackles
2.4Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 36): needs 22/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 36): needs 32/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 3/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 5/game over remaining 2.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Caleb Curtain is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Charlotte's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 2.0 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 -- -- win | -- finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 2.0 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 36 12 solo | #1060/4942 (79th pct)
TFL 2.0 Backfield disruption | #1443/4972 (71st 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
36 79th
SOLO
12 62nd
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
0.0 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 11-34vs App State520.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2L 3-20vs North Carolina510.50.00
Wk 3W 42-35vs Monmouth310.00.00
Wk 4L 17-28vs Rice421.00.00
Wk 6L 26-54@ South Florida400.00.00
Wk 8L 14-49vs Temple200.00.00
Wk 9L 20-54vs North Texas430.00.00
Wk 11L 22-48@ East Carolina100.00.00
Wk 12L 7-28vs UTSA320.00.00
Wk 13L 3-35@ Georgia110.00.00
Wk 14L 0-27@ Tulane400.50.00
Total36122.00.00
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

2025Charlotte1-11HC: Tim Albin · Balanced, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Charlotte36122.00.0------
Career1 loaded season36122.00.0------
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 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 36 #1060/4942 79th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.0 #1443/4972 71st pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 12 #1735/4584 62nd 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 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g3.70.20.00.0
Road4g2.50.10.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins1g3.00.00.00.0
Losses10g3.30.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g4.20.30.00.0
Weeks 8+6g2.50.10.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

36Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Tackles#1060 / 2975 · 64th pct
36defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct
2.0defe
Solo tackles#1735 / 2975 · 40th pct
12defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DB · 2025

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
Caleb CurtainCharlotteTyler MartinMassachusetts· 71% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 66% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 62% sim
Tackles
64
Curtain
98
Martin
99
Vaughns
99
Ra-El
Forced fumbles
47
Curtain
47
Martin
47
Vaughns
47
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
47
Curtain
63
Martin
85
Vaughns
56
Ra-El
Solo tackles
40
Curtain
87
Martin
96
Vaughns
100
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Curtain
24
Martin
63
Vaughns
24
Ra-El
QB hurries
22
Curtain
22
Martin
22
Vaughns
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
18
Curtain
67
Martin
48
Vaughns
91
Ra-El

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

Player DNA

The Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Torren Union’s 2023 season.

Torren Union

90%match

New Mexico State · 2023

#2

Christian Charles

Tennessee · 2022

87%
#3

Domani Jackson

Alabama · 2025

NFL Rd 6
85%
#4

Cale Reeder

Washington State · 2025

85%
#5

Rabbit Evans

Utah · 2024

85%

Matches Torren on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Michael Mack II's senior season at Ohio (2025).

Michael Mack II

97%match

Ohio · 2025

#2

Jamier Johnson

Indiana · 2024

88%
#3

Cale Reeder

Washington State · 2025

88%
#4

Wayne Jones

Charlotte · 2023

87%
#5

Isaiah Hazel

Charlotte · 2023

87%

Matches Michael on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Tim Albin

Pass share

51.4%

379 pass / 358 run

Plays / game

61.4

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

8.9%

302 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Tim Albin
Charlotte

Played his entire career under Tim Albin.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownGreensboro, NC
Height6'1"
Weight195 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey1

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
This player hasn’t appeared on a Heisman ballot tracked by the model.

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Charlotte American Athletic DB 4 No. 1 | 6-1 | 195 lb | Greensboro, NC