cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jamaal Johnson /UCF

Jamaal Johnson

EDGE · UCF · Jr · #99

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

24 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 TRANSFERTransferred UCF → Northwestern for 2026

Where He Ended Up · Transfer

Transferred to Northwestern

2025UCF
2026Northwestern

EDGE · UCF · BIG 12

Jamaal Johnson

  • 3
  • #99
  • 6-2 | 250 lb
  • Miami, FL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

39

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 82nd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10183

<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
★★★
#964 national
CFB
College
UCF
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds

#29 in market ▼ from #23 · 5 books

+35002.8% implied▲ tightened from +6600

Identity & Role

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

PositionEDGE
Class3
Jersey99
Measurements6-2 | 250 lb
HometownMiami, FL
Primary teamUCF

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 964 recruit
Composite rating 0.8611 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2022
Origin Chaminade-Madonna Hollywood, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8611 No. 964 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 Northwestern 2026
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 6, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 UCF -> Northwestern 3-star | 0.8400 | 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#10183Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10454Where 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

0.8611

#964 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 Jamaal Johnson

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 Jamaal Johnson

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 10g
24Tackles
1.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
31Tackles
1.9Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 24): needs 18.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 24): needs 25.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 3.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jamaal Johnson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on UCF's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.5 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 #10183 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 1.5 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 24 13 solo | #1737/4942 (65th pct)
TFL 1.5 Backfield disruption | #1771/4972 (64th 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
24 65th
SOLO
13 65th
TFL
1.5 64th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
3 75th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 17-10vs Jacksonville State110.00.00
Wk 2W 68-7vs North Carolina A&T200.00.00
Wk 4W 34-9vs North Carolina430.00.00
Wk 7L 11-20@ Cincinnati100.00.00
Wk 8W 45-13vs West Virginia220.00.00
Wk 10L 3-30@ Baylor310.50.00
Wk 11L 27-30vs Houston531.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 12L 9-48@ Texas Tech110.00.00
Wk 13W 17-14vs Oklahoma State210.00.00
Wk 14L 21-41@ BYU310.00.00
Total24131.50.00
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

2022UCF9-5HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning, fast tempo
2023UCF6-7HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-leaning
2024UCF4-8HC: Gus Malzahn · Run-heavy
2025UCF5-7HC: Scott Frost · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025UCF24131.50.0------
2024UCF962.01.0------
2023UCF1--0.00.0------
2022UCF210.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons36203.51.0------
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 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 24 #1737/4942 65th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.5 #1771/4972 64th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 3 #462/1878 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 13 #1622/4584 65th 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

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g2.70.20.00.0
Road4g2.00.10.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g2.20.00.00.0
Losses5g2.60.30.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g2.00.00.00.0
Weeks 8+6g2.70.20.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the EDGE cohort

39Mid-pack
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (81st). Concern: passes defended (17th).

QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct
3defe
Solo tackles#1622 / 2975 · 44th pct
13defe
Tackles#1737 / 2975 · 40th pct
24defe
Tackles for loss#1711 / 2975 · 39th pct
1.5defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · EDGE · 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
Jamaal JohnsonUCFBlake FletcherAir Force· 63% simMicah DaveyUTEP· 57% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 56% sim
QB hurries
82
Johnson
92
Fletcher
82
Davey
88
Parker
Solo tackles
44
Johnson
91
Fletcher
99
Davey
96
Parker
Tackles
40
Johnson
99
Fletcher
99
Davey
98
Parker
Tackles for loss
39
Johnson
28
Fletcher
91
Davey
87
Parker
Sacks
24
Johnson
24
Fletcher
63
Davey
80
Parker
Passes defended
18
Johnson
67
Fletcher
18
Davey
18
Parker

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

Player DNA

The Versatile End

Holds up against run and pass without a single dominant trait.

EDGE

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Donovan Ezeiruaku’s 2023 season.

Donovan Ezeiruaku

85%match

Boston College · 2023

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 12
#2

Anthony Nelson

Duke · 2022

NFL Rd 4
84%
#3

Zach Edwards

Troy · 2023

82%
#4

Donovan Dozier

Liberty · 2025

81%
#5

Gabe Peterson

New Mexico State · 2025

81%

Matches Donovan on

Sack rate
TFL rate
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jeff Pietrowski's senior season at Wisconsin (2023).

Jeff Pietrowski

95%match

Wisconsin · 2023

#2

Dion Hunter

Cincinnati · 2023

89%
#3

Sayyid Stevens

Old Dominion · 2023

87%
#4

Jackson LaDuke

Nevada · 2023

84%
#5

Shawn Murphy

South Carolina · 2025

83%

Matches Jeff on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Scott Frost

Pass share

51.7%

403 pass / 377 run

Plays / game

65.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.5%

324 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Gus Malzahn
UCF
2023
Gus Malzahn
UCF
2024
Gus Malzahn
UCF
2025
Scott Frost
UCF
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Gus Malzahn → Scott Frost. 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.

HometownMiami, FL
Height6'2"
Weight250 lb
Class3
PositionEDGE
Jersey99

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 UCF EDGE3 #10183 #10454 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 UCF EDGE3 #12570 #12342 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 UCF EDGE3 #12109 #11837 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | American Athletic

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 UCF Big 12 EDGE 3 No. 99 | 6-2 | 250 lb | Miami, FL
2024 UCF Big 12 EDGE 3 No. 99 | 6-2 | 250 lb | Miami, FL
2023 UCF Big 12 EDGE 3 No. 99 | 6-2 | 250 lb | Miami, FL
2022 UCF American Athletic EDGE 3 No. 99 | 6-2 | 250 lb | Miami, FL