cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cameron Ball /Arkansas

Cameron Ball

DL · Arkansas · Sr · #5

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

27 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Arkansas for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Arkansas for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Arkansas

Returning around him

  • 36% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 4 Arkansas players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -2 net (41 in / 43 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Arkansas · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #23 · 2026 recruiting class #32

DL · ARKANSAS · SEC

Cameron Ball

  • 4
  • #5
  • 6-5 | 326 lb
  • Atlanta, GA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

50

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 77th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8168

<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

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#493 national
CFB
College
Arkansas
2021–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey5
Measurements6-5 | 326 lb
HometownAtlanta, GA
Primary teamArkansas

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 493 recruit
Composite rating 0.8815 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2021
Origin Tri-Cities Atlanta, GA, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8815 No. 493 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#8168Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8551Where 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

0.8815

#493 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 Cameron Ball

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 Cameron Ball

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
27Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.4Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
32Tackles
5.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 27): needs 26.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 27): needs 36.5/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.

Cameron Ball is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Arkansas's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 4.5 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 #8168 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 4.5 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 27 14 solo | #1543/4942 (69th pct)
TFL 4.5 Backfield disruption | #648/4972 (87th 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?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
27 69th
SOLO
14 67th
TFL
4.5 87th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
6 94th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 52-7vs Alabama A&M111.00.00
Wk 2W 56-14vs Arkansas State100.00.00
Wk 3L 35-41@ Ole Miss330.00.00
Wk 4L 31-32@ Memphis110.00.00
Wk 5L 13-56vs Notre Dame400.50.00
Wk 7L 31-34@ Tennessee110.00.00
Wk 8L 42-45vs Texas A&M510.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 10L 35-38vs Mississippi State311.00.00
Wk 12L 22-23@ LSU320.00.00
Wk 13L 37-52@ Texas110.00.00
Wk 14L 17-31vs Missouri432.00.00
Total27144.50.00
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

2021Arkansas8-4HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy
2022Arkansas7-6HC: Sam Pittman · Run-heavy
2023Arkansas4-8HC: Sam Pittman · Run-leaning
2024Arkansas7-6HC: Sam Pittman · Run-leaning
2025Arkansas2-10HC: Sam Pittman · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Arkansas27144.50.0------
2024Arkansas46224.01.5------
2023Arkansas3271.50.5------
2022Arkansas2871.50.0------
2021Arkansas1--0.00.0------
Career5 loaded seasons1345011.52.0------
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 6 Quarterback hurries | #117/1878 (94th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 27 #1543/4942 69th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.5 #648/4972 87th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 6 #117/1878 94th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 14 #1520/4584 67th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g3.00.80.00.0
Road5g1.80.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g1.00.50.00.0
Losses9g2.80.40.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g1.80.20.00.0
Weeks 8+5g3.20.60.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

50Mid-pack
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (94th). Concern: passes defended (17th).

QB hurries#117 / 2975 · 95th pct
6defe
Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct
4.5defe
Solo tackles#1520 / 2975 · 47th pct
14defe
Tackles#1543 / 2975 · 47th pct
27defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · 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
Cameron BallArkansasMicah DaveyUTEP· 65% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 63% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 63% sim
QB hurries
95
Ball
82
Davey
95
Wesloski
88
Parker
Tackles for loss
77
Ball
91
Davey
95
Wesloski
87
Parker
Solo tackles
47
Ball
99
Davey
99
Wesloski
96
Parker
Tackles
47
Ball
99
Davey
99
Wesloski
98
Parker
Sacks
24
Ball
63
Davey
74
Wesloski
80
Parker
Passes defended
18
Ball
18
Davey
18
Wesloski
18
Parker

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 Gabriel Rubio’s 2022 season.

Gabriel Rubio

87%match

Notre Dame · 2022

NFL Rd 6
#2

Clifton Mosley Jr.

UL Monroe · 2025

80%
#3

Lee Hunter

UCF · 2023

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 17
80%
#4

Jordan Hall

Georgia · 2025

80%
#5

Enow Etta

Michigan · 2025

80%

Matches Gabriel on

Sack rate
Height
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Yahya Black's graduate season at Iowa (2024).

Yahya Black

77%match

Iowa · 2024

NFL Rd 5
#2

Christian Clayton

UTSA · 2024

73%
#3

Anthony Booker Jr.

SMU · 2024

72%
#4

Alfred Collins

Texas · 2024

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 11
70%
#5

DeMonte Capehart

Clemson · 2025

NFL Rd 5
70%

Matches Yahya on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Sam Pittman

Pass share

48.8%

381 pass / 400 run

Plays / game

65.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

8.3%

324 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025

1 coach
2021
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
2022
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
2023
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
2024
Sam Pittman
Arkansas
2025
Sam Pittman
Arkansas

Played his entire career under Sam Pittman.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownAtlanta, GA
Height6'5"
Weight326 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey5

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 Arkansas DL4 #8168 #8551 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC
2023 Arkansas DL4 #10858 #10988 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC
2022 Arkansas DL4 #11235 #11288 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC
2021 Arkansas DL4 #9196 #8708 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Arkansas SEC DL 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 326 lb | Atlanta, GA
2024 Arkansas SEC DL 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 326 lb | Atlanta, GA
2023 Arkansas SEC DL 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 326 lb | Atlanta, GA
2022 Arkansas SEC DL 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 326 lb | Atlanta, GA
2021 Arkansas SEC DL 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 326 lb | Atlanta, GA