cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / DeShawn Lynch /Washington

DeShawn Lynch

DL · Washington · Sr · #41

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

19 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Washington for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Washington for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Washington

Returning around him

  • 42% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 7 Washington players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -9 net (14 in / 23 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Washington · Last season: 9-4 (AP #24) · Talent rank #37 · 2026 recruiting class #23

DL · WASHINGTON · BIG TEN

DeShawn Lynch

  • 4
  • #41
  • 6-5 | 300 lb
  • Folsom, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

56

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 96th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9478

<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
★★★
#624 national
CFB
College
Washington
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey41
Measurements6-5 | 300 lb
HometownFolsom, CA
Primary teamWashington

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 624 recruit
Composite rating 0.8730 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2020
Origin Folsom Folsom, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2020 3-star | 0.8730 No. 624 recruit | HighSchool

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Washington 2024
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Apr 24, 2024
Season Move Context
2024 Sacramento State -> Washington 3-star | 0.8600 | 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 16
Current nowcast#9478Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9496Where 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

0.8730

#624 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 DeShawn Lynch

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 DeShawn Lynch

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 10g
19Tackles
3.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
25Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1.3Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 19): needs 20.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 19): needs 27/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 3/game over remaining 3.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

DeShawn Lynch is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Washington's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 3.5 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.

Current place #9478 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 3.5 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 19 13 solo | #2072/4942 (58th pct)
TFL 3.5 Backfield disruption | #869/4972 (83rd 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?

Coverage splash against FBS defenders.

Coverage splash

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
19 58th
SOLO
13 65th
TFL
3.5 83rd
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
7 96th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 5L 6-24vs Ohio State110.00.00
Wk 6W 24-20@ Maryland221.00.02
Wk 7W 38-19vs Rutgers310.00.01Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 8L 7-24@ Michigan100.00.00
Wk 9W 42-25vs Illinois200.00.00
Wk 11L 10-13@ Wisconsin221.00.01
Wk 12W 49-13vs Purdue221.01.02
Wk 13W 48-14@ UCLA330.00.01
Wk 14L 14-26vs Oregon110.00.00
BowlW 38-10vs Boise State210.50.010
Total19133.51.017
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

2024Washington6-7HC: Jedd Fisch · Balanced
2025Washington9-4HC: Jedd Fisch · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Washington19133.51.071--
2024Washington2283.01.01----
Career2 loaded seasons41216.52.081--
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 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 7 Coverage disruption | #85/2184 (96th pct)
QB pressures 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 19 #2072/4942 58th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.5 #869/4972 83rd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 7 #85/2184 96th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 57.0 #21/578 97th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 57 #87/578 85th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 13 #1622/4584 65th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Ball Security Fumbles lost 0 #1/773 100th pct Turnoversvs 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g1.80.20.20.5
Road4g2.00.50.01.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g2.30.40.21.0
Losses4g1.20.20.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g2.00.40.00.8
Weeks 8+6g1.80.30.20.7

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

56Solid starter
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (96th). Concern: tackles (28th).

Passes defended#85 / 2975 · 96th pct
7defe
Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct
3.5defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Solo tackles#1622 / 2975 · 44th pct
13defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Tackles#2072 / 2975 · 29th pct
19defe

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 · 8 metrics
DeShawn LynchWashingtonKeaton ThomasBaylor· 67% simBrevin HamblinUtah State· 66% simJordan PollardSan José State· 65% sim
Passes defended
96
Lynch
78
Thomas
98
Hamblin
86
Pollard
Tackles for loss
69
Lynch
90
Thomas
56
Hamblin
77
Pollard
Sacks
63
Lynch
63
Thomas
74
Hamblin
85
Pollard
QB hurries
55
Lynch
55
Thomas
22
Hamblin
88
Pollard
Forced fumbles
47
Lynch
47
Thomas
47
Hamblin
47
Pollard
Solo tackles
44
Lynch
99
Thomas
99
Hamblin
99
Pollard
Interceptions
31
Lynch
31
Thomas
31
Hamblin
31
Pollard
Tackles
29
Lynch
98
Thomas
99
Hamblin
99
Pollard

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 Trevon Mason’s 2021 season.

Trevon Mason

89%match

Arizona · 2021

#2

Rene Konga

Louisville · 2025

87%
#3

Myles Murphy

North Carolina · 2023

86%
#4

Mayan Ahanotu

Rutgers · 2023

86%
#5

Braden Fiske

Western Michigan · 2022

All-MACNFL Rd 2 · Pk 7
85%

Matches Trevon on

Height
Sack rate
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Sean Martin's junior season at West Virginia (2023).

Sean Martin

92%match

West Virginia · 2023

#2

Braden Fiske

Western Michigan · 2022

All-ACCNFL Rd 2 · Pk 7
88%
#3

Logan Lee

Iowa · 2022

NFL Rd 6
85%
#4

Rayshaun Benny

Michigan · 2023

All-Big TenNFL Rd 7
85%
#5

Cameron Horsley

Boston College · 2022

85%

Matches Sean on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jedd Fisch

Pass share

44.9%

370 pass / 454 run

Plays / game

63.4

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

268 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Jedd Fisch
Washington
2025
Jedd Fisch
Washington

Played his entire career under Jedd Fisch.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFolsom, CA
Height6'5"
Weight300 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey41

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 Washington DL4 #9478 #9496 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Washington Big Ten DL 4 No. 41 | 6-5 | 300 lb | Folsom, CA
2024 Washington Big Ten DL 4 No. 41 | 6-5 | 300 lb | Folsom, CA