cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jaden Williams /Kentucky

Jaden Williams

DL · Kentucky · Jr · #91

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

10 TACKLES · 0.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Kentucky for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Kentucky for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Kentucky

Returning around him

  • 27% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 4 Kentucky players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +2 net (29 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Kentucky · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #27 · 2026 recruiting class #29

DL · KENTUCKY · SEC

Jaden Williams

  • 3
  • #91
  • 6-4 | 295 lb
  • Inglewood, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

33

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 88th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13912

<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 1 · 2-deep

R03 · Backup

Backup. On the two-deep, pushing for snaps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★
#3098 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds

#21 in market ▼ from #18 · 6 books

+35002.8% implied▼ lengthened from +3000

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class3
Jersey91
Measurements6-4 | 295 lb
HometownInglewood, CA
Primary teamKentucky

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 2-star No. 3098 recruit
Composite rating 0.7911 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2020
Origin Cardinal Ritter College Prep St. Louis, MO, USA
Class Profile Context
2020 2-star | 0.7911 No. 3098 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 Kentucky 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Dec 20, 2024
Season Move Context
2025 Wyoming -> Kentucky 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#13912Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14236Where 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

0.7911

#3098 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 Jaden Williams

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 Williams

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 4g
10Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
32Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
1.6Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 10): needs 7.8/game over remaining 9.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 10): needs 10/game over remaining 9.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0.5): needs 0.6/game over remaining 9.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0.5): needs 1.1/game over remaining 9.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jaden Williams is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kentucky's defense, with 0.5 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 #13912 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

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 10 4 solo | #2859/4942 (42nd pct)
TFL 0.5 Backfield disruption | #2658/4972 (47th pct)
Sacks 0.5 Pass-rush finish | #1501/4972 (70th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
10 42nd
SOLO
4 34th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.5 70th
QBH
4 85th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 4 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 3W 48-23vs Eastern Michigan100.50.50
Wk 11W 38-7vs Florida630.00.00Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 12W 42-10vs Tennessee Tech210.00.00
Wk 14L 0-41@ Louisville100.00.00
Total1040.50.50
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

2022Wyoming7-6HC: Craig Bohl · Run-heavy, slow tempo
2023Wyoming9-4HC: Craig Bohl · Run-heavy, slow tempo
2024Wyoming3-9HC: Jay Sawvel · Run-leaning
2025Kentucky5-7HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Kentucky1040.50.5------
2024Wyoming2061.50.5------
2023Wyoming211.01.0------
2022Wyoming2--0.50.5------
Career4 loaded seasons34113.52.5------
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 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 4 Quarterback hurries | #291/1878 (85th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 10 #2859/4942 42nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.5 #2658/4972 47th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.5 #1501/4972 70th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 4 #291/1878 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 4 #3005/4584 34th pct Volumevs 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 · 4 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home3g3.00.20.20.0
Road1g1.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins3g3.00.20.20.0
Losses1g1.00.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-71g1.00.50.50.0
Weeks 8+3g3.00.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

33Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (87th). Concern: tackles (1st).

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct
4defe
Sacks#1367 / 2975 · 51st pct
0.5defe
Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct
0.5defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Solo tackles#2803 / 2975 · 4th pct
4defe
Tackles#2859 / 2975 · 2nd pct
10defe

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 · 6 metrics
Jaden WilliamsKentuckyBlake FletcherAir Force· 42% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 38% simMicah DaveyUTEP· 37% sim
QB hurries
88
Williams
92
Fletcher
88
Parker
82
Davey
Sacks
51
Williams
24
Fletcher
80
Parker
63
Davey
Tackles for loss
18
Williams
28
Fletcher
87
Parker
91
Davey
Passes defended
18
Williams
67
Fletcher
18
Parker
18
Davey
Solo tackles
4
Williams
91
Fletcher
96
Parker
99
Davey
Tackles
2
Williams
99
Fletcher
98
Parker
99
Davey

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 Trevion Williams’s 2025 season.

Trevion Williams

90%match

Mississippi State · 2025

#2

Alex Huntley

South Carolina · 2022

89%
#3

Oliver Billotte

Kent State · 2023

89%
#4

Devon Robinson

Akron · 2023

88%
#5

Judge Culpepper

Toledo · 2021

88%

Matches Trevion on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Trevion Williams's senior season at Mississippi State (2025).

Trevion Williams

90%match

Mississippi State · 2025

#2

Keith Randolph Jr.

Illinois · 2023

All-Big Ten
81%
#3

Trevon McAlpine

Tulane · 2025

79%
#4

Asani Redwood

West Virginia · 2025

76%
#5

James Smith

UL Monroe · 2025

74%

Matches Trevion on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mark Stoops

Pass share

46.2%

366 pass / 427 run

Plays / game

66.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

10.0%

280 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2023
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2024
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2025
Mark Stoops
Kentucky

Played his entire career under Mark Stoops.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownInglewood, CA
Height6'4"
Weight295 lb
Class3
PositionDL
Jersey91

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 Wyoming DL3 #13912 #14236 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 Wyoming DL3 #12526 #12384 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 Wyoming DL3 #13166 #12993 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kentucky SEC DL 3 No. 91 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Inglewood, CA
2024 Wyoming Mountain West DL 3 No. 91 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Inglewood, CA
2023 Wyoming Mountain West DL 3 No. 91 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Inglewood, CA
2022 Wyoming Mountain West DL 3 No. 91 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Inglewood, CA