cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cooper Lanz /Baylor

Cooper Lanz

DL · Baylor · Sr · #97

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

33 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Baylor for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Baylor for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Baylor

Returning around him

  • 82% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • 2 Baylor players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -1 net (31 in / 32 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Baylor · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #35 · 2026 recruiting class #36

DL · BAYLOR · BIG 12

Cooper Lanz

  • 4
  • #97
  • 6-4 | 286 lb
  • Denton, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

60

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10389

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1317 national
CFB
College
Baylor
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey97
Measurements6-4 | 286 lb
HometownDenton, TX
Primary teamBaylor

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1317 recruit
Composite rating 0.8459 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2021
Origin Guyer Denton, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8459 No. 1317 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#10389Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10738Where 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

0.8459

#1317 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 Cooper Lanz

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 Cooper Lanz

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
33Tackles
3Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
39Tackles
3.5Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 33): needs 23.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 33): needs 33.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/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.

Cooper Lanz is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Baylor's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 3.0 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 #10389 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 3.0 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 33 17 solo | #1194/4942 (76th pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd 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
33 76th
SOLO
17 73rd
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 24-38vs Auburn420.00.01
Wk 2W 48-45@ SMU420.00.00
Wk 3W 42-7vs Samford110.00.00
Wk 5W 45-27@ Oklahoma State110.00.00
Wk 6W 35-34vs Kansas State331.00.00
Wk 8L 36-42@ TCU531.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 9L 20-41@ Cincinnati300.00.00
Wk 10W 30-3vs UCF221.01.00
Wk 12L 28-55vs Utah420.00.00
Wk 13L 17-41@ Arizona310.00.00
Wk 14L 24-31vs Houston300.00.00
Total33173.01.01
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

2022Baylor6-7HC: Dave Aranda · Run-leaning
2023Baylor3-9HC: Dave Aranda · Balanced
2024Baylor8-5HC: Dave Aranda · Run-leaning
2025Baylor5-7HC: Dave Aranda · Pass-leaning, fast tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Baylor33173.01.01----
2024Baylor1691.01.01----
2023Baylor33173.01.0------
2022Baylor550.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons87487.03.02----
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
QB pressures 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 33 #1194/4942 76th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 17 #1252/4584 73rd 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
Home6g2.80.30.20.2
Road5g3.20.20.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g2.20.40.20.0
Losses6g3.70.20.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g2.60.20.00.2
Weeks 8+6g3.30.30.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

60Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
Tackles#1194 / 2975 · 59th pct
33defe
Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th pct
17defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe

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
Cooper LanzBaylorDaniel WingateMaryland· 74% simTJ DotteryOle Miss· 73% simTreylin PayneTexas State· 73% sim
QB hurries
72
Lanz
72
Wingate
55
Dottery
82
Payne
Sacks
63
Lanz
74
Wingate
74
Dottery
80
Payne
Tackles for loss
63
Lanz
87
Wingate
83
Dottery
87
Payne
Tackles
59
Lanz
98
Wingate
98
Dottery
98
Payne
Solo tackles
56
Lanz
99
Wingate
97
Dottery
95
Payne
Passes defended
48
Lanz
48
Wingate
67
Dottery
67
Payne

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

Player DNA

The Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kortlin Rausaw’s 2022 season.

Kortlin Rausaw

91%match

North Texas · 2022

#2

Kwabena Bonsu

Army · 2021

91%
#3

Cooper Lanz

Baylor · 2023

91%
#4

Nate Clifton

USC · 2024

91%
#5

Jerquavion Mahone

Temple · 2023

90%

Matches Kortlin on

Weight
Sack rate
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to John Nelson's senior season at BYU (2024).

John Nelson

93%match

BYU · 2024

#2

Jerquavion Mahone

Temple · 2023

92%
#3

Eric Hicks

Tulane · 2023

90%
#4

Trent Jones II

UConn · 2025

89%
#5

Jordan Bertagnole

Wyoming · 2023

All-Mountain West
89%

Matches John on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Dave Aranda

Pass share

55.5%

510 pass / 409 run

Plays / game

76.6

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.0%

417 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning, fast tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Dave Aranda
Baylor
2023
Dave Aranda
Baylor
2024
Dave Aranda
Baylor
2025
Dave Aranda
Baylor

Played his entire career under Dave Aranda.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownDenton, TX
Height6'4"
Weight286 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey97

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 Baylor DL4 #10389 #10738 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 Baylor DL4 #12564 #13078 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 Baylor DL4 #11587 #11428 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Baylor Big 12 DL 4 No. 97 | 6-4 | 286 lb | Denton, TX
2024 Baylor Big 12 DL 4 No. 97 | 6-4 | 286 lb | Denton, TX
2023 Baylor Big 12 DL 4 No. 97 | 6-4 | 286 lb | Denton, TX
2022 Baylor Big 12 DL 4 No. 97 | 6-4 | 286 lb | Denton, TX