CFB Zeitgeist Score
55
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by rec tds at the 78th percentile.
Dane Key
The Hope Economyas of 2026-06-22
Dane Key arrives at Nebraska with a new fit to prove and an old chapter behind him.
452REC YDS39REC5REC TD
4★ · NATIONAL RECRUIT
No.235
recruiting national rank
Nebraska fans sell the ceiling harder than the résumé; the upside is the whole argument.
high confidence3 sources
Read the story so far
AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data
2026 Outlook
Returning to Nebraska for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Wide receiver · Nebraska
Returning around him
- 59% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 1 Nebraska player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -3 net (16 in / 19 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Nebraska · Last season: 7-6 (AP #25) · Talent rank #20 · 2026 recruiting class #22
WR · NEBRASKA · BIG TEN
Dane Key
- 4
- #18
- 6-3 | 210 lb
- Lexington, KY
Heisman Heat
#421
<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 WR AWARD
Biletnikoff
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2022–2025-13%
Down 13% — context-dependent (injury / role change?).
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 | 4-star | 0.9129 | No. 235 recruit | HighSchool | Kentucky |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kentucky -> Nebraska | 4-star | 0.9300 | Immediate |
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—
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 Kentucky
Composite
0.9129
#235 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 Dane Key
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
68
Mixed Sentiment
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=22
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Dane Key
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Receiving TDs
5
count
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #98 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 82nd
Why it matters
#98 of 531 All FBS WRs in receiving TDs — 5 TDs on 39 receptions.
Vs cohort
This player 5 (82th)
HIGH · n=39 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Yards per reception#311 / 531
- Receiving yards (total)#254 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 1 at Cincinnati — 1 receiving_tds
Result W 20-17
The week the volume broke through — stacked 1 td at Cincinnati.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 11g
452Rec yards
39Receptions
5Rec TDs
Per game
41.1Rec yards
4Receptions
0Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
534.2Rec yards
46Receptions
6Rec TDs
To hit 700-yard receiver (currently 452): needs 124/game over remaining 2.
To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 452): needs 274/game over remaining 2.
To hit 60-catch season (currently 39): needs 10.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 80-catch season (currently 39): needs 20.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 8 receiving TDs (currently 5): needs 1.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 5): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Dane Key's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Nebraska, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
WR 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?
Receiving weapon against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
39 83rd
YDS
452 77th
YPR
11.6 48th
TD
5 91st
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 20-17@ Cincinnati | 6 | 51 | 8.5 | 1 | 15 | |
| Wk 2 | W 68-0vs Akron | 3 | 35 | 11.7 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 3 | W 59-7vs Houston Christian | 4 | 104 | 26.0 | 1 | 40 | Season-high 104 yds |
| Wk 4 | L 27-30vs Michigan | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 0 | 21 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31@ Maryland | 4 | 43 | 10.8 | 1 | 19 | |
| Wk 9 | W 28-21vs Northwestern | 3 | 22 | 7.3 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 10 | L 17-21vs USC | 2 | 23 | 11.5 | 1 | 14 | |
| Wk 11 | W 28-21@ UCLA | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 0 | 29 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-37@ Penn State | 4 | 48 | 12.0 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 14 | L 16-40vs Iowa | 3 | 16 | 5.3 | 0 | 6 | |
| Bowl | L 22-44@ Utah | 4 | 28 | 7.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Total | 39 | 452 | 11.6 | 5 | 40 |
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
2022Kentucky7-6HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2023Kentucky7-6HC: Mark Stoops · Balanced, slow tempo
2024Kentucky4-8HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Nebraska7-6HC: Matt Rhule · Run-leaning
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The player's share of a team's passing-game involvement. It is the fastest way to see whether the receiver is a true focal point or more of a complementary piece.
A blended workload view that accounts for catches, designed touches, and any return-game involvement that shapes the overall profile.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receptions | 39 | #192/1110 | 83rd pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 452 | #254/1107 | 77th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 5 | #96/1111 | 91st pct | Scoringvs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 11.6 | #578/1106 | 48th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Pass share | 17.6% | #144/1137 | 87th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 40 | #450/1105 | 59th pct | Metricvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 11.7% | #147/1137 | 87th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 9.4% | #266/1137 | 77th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 8.6% | #146/1137 | 87th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Role share | 8.5% | #178/1137 | 84th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS WR |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 7.5% | #180/1137 | 84th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 7.4% | #276/1137 | 76th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.0% | #391/1137 | 66th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS WR |
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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.0 | 39.3 | 12.3 | 0.5 |
| Road5g | 4.2 | 43.2 | 10.7 | 0.4 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins6g | 3.8 | 50.2 | 13.3 | 0.7 |
| Losses5g | 3.2 | 30.2 | 9.6 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.0 | 49.5 | 12.7 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.0 | 31.0 | 10.3 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort
55Mid-pack
Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · WR · 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
Dane KeyNebraskaAsaad WaseemFlorida Atlantic· 79% simDonovan FaupelNew Mexico State· 77% simDevin MccuinUTSA· 76% sim
Rec TDs
Receptions
Rec yards
Yards / catch
Long catch
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Possession Receiver
Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.
WR
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Will Sheppard’s 2024 season.
Will Sheppard
82%match
#2
Tyrone Howell
All-Sun Belt
81%
#3
Malik Heath
81%
#4
Nahzae Cox
81%
#5
Chase Roberts
80%
Matches Will on
Yards / reception
Reception volume
Weight
Differs from Will on
Recruiting rating (higher)
Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jalen Kelsey’s path through Campbell.
Jalen Kelsey
98%match
#2
Lujuan Winningham
97%
#3
Traeshon Holden
96%
#4
Tyrone Howell
All-Sun Belt
96%
#5
Jacob Harris
95%
Matches Jalen on
Yards per reception
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Mudia Reuben's senior season at South Florida (2025).
Mudia Reuben
82%match
#2
Hal Presley
81%
#3
Troy Omeire
77%
#4
Seydou Traore
All-Sun BeltNFL Rd 5
75%
#5
Joseph Manjack
75%
Matches Mudia on
TD rate
Total EPA (college ability)
Yards / reception
Differs from Mudia on
Recruiting rating (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Matt Rhule
Pass share
46.4%
378 pass / 437 run
Plays / game
62.7
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
9.5%
315 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
2 coaches2022
Mickey Joseph
Nebraska
2023era →
Matt Rhule
Nebraska
2024
Matt Rhule
Nebraska
2025
Matt Rhule
Nebraska
Coaching transition mid-career: Mickey Joseph → Matt Rhule. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownLexington, KY
Height6'3"
Weight210 lb
Class4
PositionWR
Jersey18
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamNebraska
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.