cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Derrick McFall /SMU

Derrick McFall

RB · SMU · Fr

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

189 RUSH YDS · 4 RUSH TD · 35 CARRIES

2026 RETURNINGReturning to SMU for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to SMU for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · SMU

Returning around him

  • 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 SMU player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -11 net (14 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

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

SMU · Last season: 9-4 (AP #25) · Talent rank #25 · 2026 recruiting class #31

RB · SMU · ACC

Derrick McFall

  • 1
  • 5-11 | 187 lb
  • Tyler, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

45

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 68th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#543

<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 RB AWARD

Doak Walker

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

Development Trajectory · rushing yards

2024–2025
1062024
1892025

+78%

Up 78% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#454 national
CFB
College
SMU
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB
Class1
Jersey--
Measurements5-11 | 187 lb
HometownTyler, TX
Primary teamSMU

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 454 recruit
Composite rating 0.8919 HighSchool
Signed with SMU 2024
Origin Tyler High Tyler, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 4-star | 0.8919 No. 454 recruit | HighSchool | SMU

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#543Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#480Where 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 SMU

Composite

0.8919

#454 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 Derrick McFall

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

50

Mixed Sentiment

Sample 3 mentions
Confidence BELOW-FLOOR

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmOwn fans: 3 mentions · belief +0 · "SMU football player, former Tyler Lions standout Derrick McFall holds first foot"Own fans
  • Own fans · n=3

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Derrick McFall

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 rushing totals stand

final
Through 13g
189Rush yards
35Carries
4Rush TDs
Per game
14.5Rush yards
3Carries
0Rush TDs
Final
189Rush yards
35Carries
4Rush TDs

What made this player interesting

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

Derrick McFall's story is about how role and output meet each other. For SMU, 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.

Current place #543 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 6.8% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 454 recruit

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

RB season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Scrimmage yards 349 189 rush | 160 rec | #350/735 (53rd pct)
Rush TD 4 35 carries | #154/739 (79th pct)
Yards/carry 5.4 Per-rush efficiency | #206/735 (72nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Passing-game back against FBS RB peers.

Passing-game back

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Rushing

CAR
35 51st
YDS
189 53rd
YPC
5.4 72nd
TD
4 79th

Receiving

REC
19 86th
YDS
160 84th
YPR
8.4 66th
TD
2 97th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCARYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 42-13vs East Texas A&M9222.409
Wk 2L 45-48vs Baylor111.001
Wk 3W 28-10@ Missouri State273.505
Wk 4L 24-35@ TCU
Wk 6W 31-18vs Syracuse
Wk 7W 34-10vs Stanford
Wk 8W 35-24@ Clemson44711.8135
Wk 9L 12-13@ Wake Forest122.002
Wk 10W 26-20vs Miami430.802
Wk 11W 45-13@ Boston College56412.8348Season-high 64 yds
Wk 13W 38-6vs Louisville155.005
Wk 14L 35-38@ California5326.4018
BowlW 24-19vs Arizona362.005
Total351894.8448
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

2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2025SMU9-4HC: Rhett Lashlee · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025SMU351895.44--
2024SMU261064.12--
Career2 loaded seasons612954.86--
SeasonTeam
2025SMU191608.42--
2024SMU33010.00--
Career2 loaded seasons221908.62--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Rushing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.

Role share

How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.

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.

Receiving work 19 160 rec yds | #78/552 (86th pct)
Usage 6.8% 8.6% rush share | #448/738 (39th pct)
Rushing WEPA -- Adjusted value feed still loading
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Rushing Rushing yards 189 #350/735 53rd pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rush TD 4 #154/739 79th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing Yards / carry 5.4 #206/735 72nd pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receptions 19 #78/552 86th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving yards 160 #86/548 84th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Role share 6.8% #448/738 39th pct Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing Rushing LONG 48 #183/733 75th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Rushing Carries 35 #362/739 51st pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving LONG 27 #142/540 74th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Yards / catch 8.4 #190/548 66th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving TD 2 #20/552 97th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Usage Rush share 8.6% #528/738 29th pct Ground-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage Standard-down usage 7.9% #431/738 42nd pct Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage 2nd-down usage 7.3% #458/738 38th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage 1st-down usage 7.0% #457/738 38th pct Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Pass share 5.6% #135/738 82nd pct Air-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage 3rd-down usage 4.7% #451/738 39th pct Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Passing-down usage 4.2% #509/738 31st pct Known-passing sharevs FBS RB

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

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Home7g5.32.20.0
Road6g25.37.30.7

Win vs Loss

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Wins9g17.15.50.4
Losses4g8.83.10.0

First half vs Second half

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Weeks 1-77g5.12.20.0
Weeks 8+6g25.56.50.7

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

45Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: carries (0th).

Rec yards#82 / 338 · 76th pct
160rece
Receptions#77 / 338 · 75th pct
19rece
Yards / carry#108 / 349 · 68th pct
5.4rush
Long run#162 / 349 · 54th pct
48rush
Rush TDs#153 / 349 · 50th pct
4rush
Rush yards#331 / 349 · 5th pct
189rush
Carries#350 / 349 · 0th pct
35rush

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

Advanced Savant · RB · 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 · 7 metrics
Derrick McFallSMUJevyon DuckerTemple· 55% simRashod DubinionApp State· 55% simJevon JacksonUAB· 55% sim
Rec yards
76
McFall
56
Ducker
77
Dubinion
61
Jackson
Receptions
75
McFall
82
Ducker
86
Dubinion
75
Jackson
Yards / carry
68
McFall
62
Ducker
53
Dubinion
68
Jackson
Long run
54
McFall
66
Ducker
39
Dubinion
70
Jackson
Rush TDs
50
McFall
80
Ducker
50
Dubinion
62
Jackson
Rush yards
5
McFall
81
Ducker
84
Dubinion
85
Jackson
Carries
0
McFall
83
Ducker
87
Dubinion
85
Jackson

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

Pass share

53.7%

460 pass / 396 run

Plays / game

65.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.4%

333 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2025
Rhett Lashlee
SMU

Played his entire career under Rhett Lashlee.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownTyler, TX
Height5'11"
Weight187 lb
Class1
PositionRB

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 SMU RB1 #543 #480 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 SMU ACC RB 1 5-11 | 187 lb | Tyler, TX
2024 SMU ACC RB 1 5-11 | 187 lb | Tyler, TX