cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Eric Butler /San Diego State

Eric Butler

S · San Diego State · Sr · #6

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

39 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to San Diego State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to San Diego State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · San Diego State

Returning around him

  • 80% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • 1 San Diego State player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +0 net (26 in / 26 out)

2026 Award watch

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

San Diego State · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #86 · 2026 recruiting class #78

S · SAN DIEGO STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST

Eric Butler

  • 4
  • #6
  • 6-2 | 190 lb
  • Corona, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

54

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 94th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14607

<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 DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

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
★★★
#1405 national
CFB
College
San Diego State
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class4
Jersey6
Measurements6-2 | 190 lb
HometownCorona, CA
Primary teamSan Diego State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1405 recruit
Composite rating 0.8448 HighSchool
Signed with San Diego State 2022
Origin Centennial Corona, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8448 No. 1405 recruit | HighSchool | San Diego State

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#14607Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14693Where 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 San Diego State

Composite

0.8448

#1405 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 Eric Butler

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 Eric Butler

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

final
Through 13g
39Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Final
39Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Eric Butler is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on San Diego State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.5 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 #14607 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 22 return yds

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 39 25 solo | #937/4942 (81st pct)
TFL 0.5 Backfield disruption | #2658/4972 (47th 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?

Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
39 81st
SOLO
25 84th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
3 75th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
6 93rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 42-0vs Stony Brook100.00.00
Wk 2L 13-36@ Washington State520.00.00
Wk 4W 34-0vs California110.00.01
Wk 5W 6-3@ Northern Illinois540.00.00
Wk 6W 45-24vs Colorado State430.00.00
Wk 7W 44-10@ Nevada000.00.01
Wk 9W 23-0@ Fresno State420.00.00
Wk 10W 24-7vs Wyoming430.00.00
Wk 11L 6-38@ Hawai'i000.00.01
Wk 12W 17-7vs Boise State310.50.02
Wk 13W 25-3vs San José State750.00.00Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 14L 17-23@ New Mexico330.00.00
BowlL 47-49vs North Texas210.00.01
Total39250.50.06
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

2022San Diego State7-6HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2023San Diego State4-8HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning
2025San Diego State9-4HC: Sean Lewis · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025San Diego State39250.50.06----
2023San Diego State21142.51.01----
2022San Diego State620.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons66413.01.07----
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 6 Coverage disruption | #144/2184 (93rd 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 39 #937/4942 81st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.5 #2658/4972 47th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 6 #144/2184 93rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 3 #462/1878 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 25 #744/4584 84th 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 Thorpe 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g3.10.10.00.6
Road6g2.80.00.00.3

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins9g3.20.10.00.4
Losses4g2.50.00.00.5

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.60.00.00.4
Weeks 8+6g3.50.10.00.5

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

54Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (93rd). Strength: qb hurries (81st). Concern: tackles for loss (18th).

Passes defended#144 / 2975 · 94th pct
6defe
QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct
3defe
Solo tackles#744 / 2975 · 74th pct
25defe
Tackles#937 / 2975 · 68th pct
39defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct
0.5defe

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

Advanced Savant · S · 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
Eric ButlerSan Diego StateBlake FletcherAir Force· 81% simBryce LlewellynEastern Michigan· 72% simAndon ThomasArmy· 70% sim
Passes defended
94
Butler
67
Fletcher
86
Llewellyn
91
Thomas
QB hurries
82
Butler
92
Fletcher
72
Llewellyn
82
Thomas
Solo tackles
74
Butler
91
Fletcher
95
Llewellyn
100
Thomas
Tackles
68
Butler
99
Fletcher
99
Llewellyn
99
Thomas
Forced fumbles
47
Butler
47
Llewellyn
Sacks
24
Butler
24
Fletcher
24
Llewellyn
51
Thomas
Tackles for loss
18
Butler
28
Fletcher
80
Llewellyn
73
Thomas

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

Player DNA

The Centerfielder

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Hudson Clark’s 2024 season.

Hudson Clark

86%match

Arkansas · 2024

#2

Tony Grimes

Purdue · 2025

86%
#3

Malcolm Bell

UConn · 2022

84%
#4

Tony Grimes

North Carolina · 2022

83%
#5

Glendon Miller

Maryland · 2023

83%

Matches Hudson on

Height
Tackle volume
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Nolan Johnson's senior season at Old Dominion (2023).

Nolan Johnson

94%match

Old Dominion · 2023

#2

Tamon Lynum

Pittsburgh · 2024

94%
#3

T.J. Tampa

Iowa State · 2023

NFL Rd 4
89%
#4

O'Donnell Fortune

South Carolina · 2023

88%
#5

Zamari Walton

Ole Miss · 2023

88%

Matches Nolan on

Class year
Height
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Sean Lewis

Pass share

35.3%

290 pass / 532 run

Plays / game

63.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.6%

224 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Brady Hoke
San Diego State
2023
Brady Hoke
San Diego State
2025
Sean Lewis
San Diego State
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Brady Hoke → Sean Lewis. 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.

HometownCorona, CA
Height6'2"
Weight190 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey6

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 San Diego State S4 #14607 #14693 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 San Diego State S4 #13689 #13807 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 San Diego State S4 #11690 #11460 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 San Diego State Mountain West S 4 No. 6 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Corona, CA
2024 San Diego State Mountain West S 4 No. 6 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Corona, CA
2023 San Diego State Mountain West S 4 No. 6 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Corona, CA
2022 San Diego State Mountain West S 4 No. 6 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Corona, CA