cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Deshontez Gray /Army

Deshontez Gray

DL · Army · Sr · #98

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

15 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Army for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Army for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Army

Returning around him

  • 25% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -2 net (0 in / 2 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Army · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #134 · 2026 recruiting class #130

DL · ARMY · AMERICAN ATHLETIC

Deshontez Gray

  • 4
  • #98
  • 6-3 | 265 lb
  • Gaston, SC

CFB Zeitgeist Score

35

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 82nd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8570

<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
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Army
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey98
Measurements6-3 | 265 lb
HometownGaston, SC
Primary teamArmy

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
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.

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#8570Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8484Where 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.

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 Deshontez Gray

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 Deshontez Gray

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 9g
15Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
22Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 15): needs 16.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 15): needs 21.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.5/game over remaining 4.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 2.5/game over remaining 4.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Deshontez Gray is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Army's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.0 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 #8570 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 0.0 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 15 9 solo | #2386/4942 (52nd pct)
TFL 0.0 Backfield disruption | #3020/4972 (39th pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th 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
15 52nd
SOLO
9 54th
TFL
0.0 39th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
3 75th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 27-30vs Tarleton State110.00.00
Wk 2W 24-21@ Kansas State110.00.01
Wk 4L 38-45vs North Texas330.00.00
Wk 6W 31-13@ UAB100.00.00
Wk 7W 24-7vs Charlotte110.00.00
Wk 8L 17-24@ Tulane220.00.00
Wk 10W 20-17@ Air Force410.00.00Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 11W 14-13vs Temple100.00.00
Wk 13L 25-26vs Tulsa100.00.00
Total1590.00.01
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

2023Army6-6HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy, slow tempo
2024Army12-2HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy
2025Army7-6HC: Jeff Monken · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Army1590.00.01----
2024Army1371.01.0------
2023Army110.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons29171.01.01----
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 3 Quarterback hurries | #462/1878 (75th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 15 #2386/4942 52nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.0 #3020/4972 39th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 3 #462/1878 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 9 #2127/4584 54th 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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g1.40.00.00.0
Road4g2.00.00.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g1.60.00.00.2
Losses4g1.80.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g1.40.00.00.2
Weeks 8+4g2.00.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

35Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (81st). Concern: tackles for loss (7th).

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct
3defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Solo tackles#2127 / 2975 · 26th pct
9defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Tackles#2386 / 2975 · 18th pct
15defe
Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct
0.0defe

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 · 7 metrics
Deshontez GrayArmyBlake FletcherAir Force· 56% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 51% simBryce LlewellynEastern Michigan· 49% sim
QB hurries
82
Gray
92
Fletcher
22
Martin
72
Llewellyn
Passes defended
48
Gray
67
Fletcher
67
Martin
86
Llewellyn
Forced fumbles
47
Gray
47
Martin
47
Llewellyn
Solo tackles
26
Gray
91
Fletcher
87
Martin
95
Llewellyn
Sacks
24
Gray
24
Fletcher
24
Martin
24
Llewellyn
Tackles
18
Gray
99
Fletcher
98
Martin
99
Llewellyn
Tackles for loss
7
Gray
28
Fletcher
63
Martin
80
Llewellyn

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 Davin Anderson’s 2025 season.

Davin Anderson

92%match

UL Monroe · 2025

#2

Tramel Walthour

Georgia · 2021

91%
#3

Nathaniel Smith

Army · 2022

89%
#4

Quin Williams

Georgia Southern · 2021

89%
#5

Shane Cokes

Colorado · 2023

88%

Matches Davin on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Nathaniel Smith's junior season at Army (2022).

Nathaniel Smith

100%match

Army · 2022

#2

Viczaril Alobwede

Massachusetts · 2022

90%
#3

Kenneth Orji

Rice · 2022

88%
#4

Bam Booker

Bowling Green · 2025

84%
#5

Rashawn Yates

South Florida · 2022

82%

Matches Nathaniel on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jeff Monken

Pass share

14.5%

125 pass / 740 run

Plays / game

66.5

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

3.8%

104 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Jeff Monken
Army
2024
Jeff Monken
Army
2025
Jeff Monken
Army

Played his entire career under Jeff Monken.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownGaston, SC
Height6'3"
Weight265 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey98

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 Army DL4 #8570 #8484 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | American Athletic
2023 Army DL4 #13566 #13433 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | FBS Independents
2022 Army DL4 #12644 #12394 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | FBS Independents

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Army American Athletic DL 4 No. 98 | 6-3 | 265 lb | Gaston, SC
2024 Army American Athletic DL 4 No. 98 | 6-3 | 265 lb | Gaston, SC
2023 Army FBS Independents DL 4 No. 98 | 6-3 | 265 lb | Gaston, SC
2022 Army FBS Independents DL 4 No. 98 | 6-3 | 265 lb | Gaston, SC