CFB Zeitgeist Score
77
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 85th percentile.
CJ Young
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
89 TACKLES · 2.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Kent State for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Kent State
Returning around him
- 11% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- Transfer portal: -4 net (11 in / 15 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Kent State · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #128 · 2026 recruiting class #93
DB · KENT STATE · MID-AMERICAN
CJ Young
- 2
- #3
- 5-11 | 185 lb
- Strongsville, OH
Heisman Heat
#15801
<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 DB AWARD
Jim Thorpe
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Kent State
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
| 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 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
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 CJ Young
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 CJ Young
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 defensive totals stand
Through 11g
89Tackles
8Tackles for loss
2.5Sacks
Per game
8Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
105Tackles
9.5Tackles for loss
3.0Sacks
✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 89.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 89): needs 5.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 1.8/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 3.8/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.
CJ Young is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kent State's defense, with 2.5 sacks, 8.0 tackles for loss, and 1 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.
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
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.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
89 98th
SOLO
42 96th
TFL
8.0 96th
SACK
2.5 92nd
QBH
2 66th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
3 76th
INT
1 65th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 21-17vs Merrimack | 9 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-62@ Texas Tech | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 28-31vs Buffalo | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 10-66@ Florida State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 0-44@ Oklahoma | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 42-6vs Massachusetts | 8 | 6 | 3.5 | 1.0 | — | 2 | 3.5 TFL |
| Wk 8 | L 10-45@ Toledo | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 24-21vs Bowling Green | 12 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 11 | L 13-17@ Ball State | 11 | 7 | 1.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-35@ Akron | 13 | 5 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 13 tackles |
| Wk 13 | L 16-28vs Central Michigan | 7 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 89 | 42 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 1 | 3 |
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
2025Kent State5-7HC: Mark Carney · Run-leaning, slow tempo
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kent State | 89 | 42 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 1 loaded season | 89 | 42 | 8.0 | 2.5 | 3 | 1 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 89 | #91/4942 | 98th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 8.0 | #198/4972 | 96th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 2.5 | #393/4972 | 92nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 1 | #308/869 | 65th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 3 | #521/2184 | 76th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 2 | #647/1878 | 66th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 42 | #165/4584 | 96th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return avg | 29.0 | #105/578 | 82nd pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return yards | 29 | #226/578 | 61st pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting 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 vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 8.6 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Road6g | 7.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 10.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 |
| Losses7g | 6.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 6.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 10.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort
77All-Conference
Elite: tackles (96th). Strength: solo tackles (94th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DB · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
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
CJ YoungKent StateGavin MoulDelaware· 97% simMatt RoseStanford· 96% simJordan CrookArizona State· 95% sim
Tackles
Solo tackles
Tackles for loss
Sacks
Passes defended
QB hurries
Interceptions
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Box Safety
Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jalen Thomeson’s 2025 season.
Jalen Thomeson
81%match
#2
Tywan Francis
74%
#3
Richard Dames
All-Conference USA
75%
#4
Xavier Smith
71%
#5
Tanner Ingle
74%
Matches Jalen on
Height
Tackle volume
Weight
Differs from Jalen on
Class year (lower)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Omar Thornton's sophomore season at Boston College (2025).
Omar Thornton
82%match
#2
Xavier Atkins
78%
#3
Durante Jones
76%
#4
Kal-El Pascal
76%
#5
Koi Perich
All-Big Ten
74%
Matches Omar on
Class year
Height
PD rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Carney
Pass share
42.8%
292 pass / 390 run
Plays / game
56.8
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
9.5%
242 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Coaching Lineage · 2025
1 coach2025
Mark Carney
Kent State
Played his entire career under Mark Carney.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownStrongsville, OH
Height5'11"
Weight185 lb
Class2
PositionDB
Jersey3
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamKent State
ConferenceMid-American
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-MAC
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-MAC | all_conference | Kent State | MAC | LB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Kent State | DB2 | #15801 | #15900 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Mid-American |
| 2023 | Kent State | DB2 | #15794 | #15888 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Mid-American |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kent State | Mid-American | DB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Strongsville, OH |
| 2024 | Kent State | Mid-American | DB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Strongsville, OH |
| 2023 | Kent State | Mid-American | DB | 2 | No. 3 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Strongsville, OH |