CFB Zeitgeist Score
71
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 90th percentile.
Jaden Mickey
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
38 TACKLES · 1 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Boise State for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Boise State
Returning around him
- 58% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 1 Boise State player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -8 net (11 in / 19 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Boise State · Last season: 9-5 (AP #25) · Talent rank #81 · 2026 recruiting class #62
DB · BOISE STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST
Jaden Mickey
- 3
- #20
- 6-0 | 185 lb
- Eastvale, CA
Heisman Heat
#4430
<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 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
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 | 0.9160 | No. 217 recruit | HighSchool | Notre Dame |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| 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 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 Notre Dame
Composite
0.9160
#217 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 Jaden Mickey
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 Jaden Mickey
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 11g
38Tackles
7Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.6Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
45Tackles
8.3Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 38): needs 21/game over remaining 2.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 38): needs 31/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/game over remaining 2.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Jaden Mickey is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Boise State's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 7.0 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
38 80th
SOLO
32 90th
TFL
7.0 94th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
5 90th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 51-14vs Eastern Washington | 7 | 7 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 5 | W 47-14vs App State | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 41-25vs New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 56-31vs UNLV | 7 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 24-3@ Nevada | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 7-30vs Fresno State | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | L 7-17@ San Diego State | 3 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 49-21vs Colorado State | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 25-24@ Utah State | 3 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | W 38-21vs UNLV | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Bowl | L 10-38@ Washington | 5 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 38 | 32 | 7.0 | 1.0 | — | 5 |
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
2022Notre Dame9-4HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-heavy
2023Notre Dame10-3HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Boise State9-5HC: Spencer Danielson · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Boise State | 38 | 32 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 5 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | 11 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | 8 | 6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 57 | 46 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 7 | 1 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 38 | #976/4942 | 80th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 7.0 | #277/4972 | 94th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 1.0 | #872/4972 | 82nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 5 | #218/2184 | 90th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 32 | #448/4584 | 90th 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| Road4g | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 3.5 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Losses3g | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 3.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort
71Solid starter
Elite: passes defended (90th). Strength: tackles for loss (89th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DB · 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
Jaden MickeyBoise StateJacob RodriguezTexas Tech· 86% simKeaton ThomasBaylor· 86% simColton PharesApp State· 84% sim
Passes defended
Tackles for loss
Solo tackles
Tackles
Sacks
QB hurries
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kapena Gushiken’s 2023 season.
Kapena Gushiken
91%match
#2
Brandon Crossley
87%
#3
Millard Bradford
85%
#4
Ceyair Wright
84%
#5
Will James
All-Big 12
84%
Matches Kapena on
PD rate
Height
Tackle volume
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Caelen Carson's senior season at Wake Forest (2023).
Caelen Carson
89%match
NFL Rd 5
#2
Ennis Rakestraw Jr.
NFL Rd 2 · Pk 29
89%
#3
Evan Johnson
79%
#4
Andru Phillips
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 6
77%
#5
Jaelyn Davis-Robinson
74%
Matches Caelen on
Class year
Height
PD rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Spencer Danielson
Pass share
46.6%
472 pass / 540 run
Plays / game
72.3
14 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
6.4%
358 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
2 coaches2022
Andy Avalos
Boise State
2023era →
Spencer Danielson
Boise State
2025
Spencer Danielson
Boise State
Coaching transition mid-career: Andy Avalos → Spencer Danielson. 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.
HometownEastvale, CA
Height6'0"
Weight185 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey20
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamBoise State
ConferenceMountain West
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.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Notre Dame | DB3 | #4430 | #4067 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | FBS Independents |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | DB3 | #5125 | #5340 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | FBS Independents |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | DB3 | #9697 | #9235 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | FBS Independents |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Boise State | Mountain West | DB | 3 | No. 20 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Eastvale, CA |
| 2024 | Notre Dame | FBS Independents | DB | 3 | No. 20 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Eastvale, CA |
| 2023 | Notre Dame | FBS Independents | DB | 3 | No. 20 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Eastvale, CA |
| 2022 | Notre Dame | FBS Independents | DB | 3 | No. 20 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Eastvale, CA |