cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jalen Clark /Louisiana

Jalen Clark

S · Louisiana · Sr · #2

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

44 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Louisiana for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Louisiana for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Louisiana

Returning around him

  • 57% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 Louisiana player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -2 net (5 in / 7 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Louisiana · Last season: 6-7 · Talent rank #91 · 2026 recruiting class #81

S · LOUISIANA · SUN BELT

Jalen Clark

  • 4
  • #2
  • 6-2 | 205 lb
  • New Orleans, LA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

46

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 67th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#12472

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#2369 national
CFB
College
Louisiana
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class4
Jersey2
Measurements6-2 | 205 lb
HometownNew Orleans, LA
Primary teamLouisiana

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2369 recruit
Composite rating 0.8050 HighSchool
Signed with Louisiana 2021
Origin Alabama Christian Academy Montgomery, AL, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8050 No. 2369 recruit | HighSchool | Louisiana

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#12472Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#12402Where 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 Louisiana

Composite

0.8050

#2369 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 Jalen Clark

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 Jalen Clark

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 12g
44Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
48Tackles
1.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 44): needs 36/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 44): needs 56/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/game over remaining 1.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jalen Clark is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Louisiana's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 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 #12472 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 1.0 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 44 24 solo | #756/4942 (85th pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th 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?

High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
44 85th
SOLO
24 83rd
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 12-14vs Rice431.00.00
Wk 2W 34-10vs McNeese220.00.010
Wk 3L 10-52@ Missouri610.00.01Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 4L 31-34@ Eastern Michigan400.00.00
Wk 5W 54-51vs Marshall550.00.00
Wk 7L 14-24@ James Madison330.00.01
Wk 8L 10-22vs Southern Miss310.00.00
Wk 9L 23-35@ Troy610.00.00
Wk 10W 31-22@ South Alabama100.00.00
Wk 13W 34-30@ Arkansas State220.00.00
Wk 14W 30-27vs UL Monroe640.00.00
BowlL 13-20@ Delaware220.00.00
Total44241.00.012
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

2023Louisiana6-7HC: Michael Desormeaux · Run-leaning
2024Louisiana10-4HC: Michael Desormeaux · Run-leaning
2025Louisiana6-7HC: Michael Desormeaux · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Louisiana44241.00.021--
2024Louisiana1490.00.0------
2023Louisiana36261.50.033--
Career3 loaded seasons94592.50.054--
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 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th 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 44 #756/4942 85th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 24 #790/4584 83rd 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 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g4.00.20.00.0
Road7g3.40.00.00.3

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g3.20.00.00.0
Losses7g4.00.10.00.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.70.10.00.3
Weeks 8+5g3.60.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

46Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: sacks (23rd).

Tackles#756 / 2975 · 74th pct
44defe
Solo tackles#790 / 2975 · 73rd pct
24defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe

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
Jalen ClarkLouisianaBlake FletcherAir Force· 80% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 79% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 75% sim
Tackles
74
Clark
99
Fletcher
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
Solo tackles
73
Clark
91
Fletcher
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
Passes defended
67
Clark
67
Fletcher
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
QB hurries
55
Clark
92
Fletcher
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
Interceptions
31
Clark
31
Martin
Tackles for loss
28
Clark
28
Fletcher
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Clark
24
Fletcher
24
Martin
24
Ra-El

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 Tycen Anderson’s 2021 season.

Tycen Anderson

88%match

Toledo · 2021

All-MACNFL Rd 5
#2

Hershey McLaurin

West Virginia · 2023

86%
#3

L.J. Wallace

Tulsa · 2022

85%
#4

Xavier Nwankpa

Iowa · 2023

86%
#5

Cecil Singleton

Miami (OH) · 2021

83%

Matches Tycen on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Height

Differs from Tycen on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Cameron Smith's junior season at Eastern Michigan (2023).

Cameron Smith

95%match

Eastern Michigan · 2023

#2

Jimmy Ciarlo

Army · 2022

92%
#3

Mark Milton

Baylor · 2022

92%
#4

Javier Morton

Temple · 2025

91%
#5

Garnett Hollis Jr.

Northwestern · 2023

89%

Matches Cameron on

Class year
Height
Interceptions

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Michael Desormeaux

Pass share

40.1%

341 pass / 509 run

Plays / game

65.4

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.8%

257 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Michael Desormeaux
Louisiana
2024
Michael Desormeaux
Louisiana
2025
Michael Desormeaux
Louisiana

Played his entire career under Michael Desormeaux.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownNew Orleans, LA
Height6'2"
Weight205 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey2

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 Louisiana S4 #12472 #12402 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Sun Belt
2023 Louisiana S4 #10514 #10904 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Sun Belt
2022 Louisiana S4 #12050 #11872 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Sun Belt
2021 Louisiana S4 #10618 #10378 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Sun Belt

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Louisiana Sun Belt S 4 No. 2 | 6-2 | 205 lb | New Orleans, LA
2024 Louisiana Sun Belt S 4 No. 2 | 6-2 | 205 lb | New Orleans, LA
2023 Louisiana Sun Belt S 4 No. 2 | 6-2 | 205 lb | New Orleans, LA
2022 Louisiana Sun Belt S 4 No. 2 | 6-2 | 205 lb | New Orleans, LA
2021 Louisiana Sun Belt S 4 No. 2 | 6-2 | 205 lb | New Orleans, LA