cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Josh Horton /Georgia

Josh Horton

DT · Georgia · So · #81

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

11 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Georgia for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Georgia for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · Georgia

Returning around him

  • 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 8 Georgia players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -7 net (9 in / 16 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Georgia · Last season: 12-2 (AP #2) · Talent rank #1 · 2026 recruiting class #2

DT · GEORGIA · SEC

Josh Horton

  • 2
  • #81
  • 6-4 | 295 lb
  • Fairburn, GA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

25

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 55th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#7500

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#372 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDT
Class2
Jersey81
Measurements6-4 | 295 lb
HometownFairburn, GA
Primary teamGeorgia

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 433 recruit
Composite rating 0.8917 HighSchool
Signed with Miami 2023
Origin Langston Hughes Fairburn, GA, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 4-star | 0.8917 No. 433 recruit | HighSchool | Miami
2022 4-star | 0.8948 No. 372 recruit | HighSchool | Miami

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#7500Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#7333Where 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 Miami

Composite

0.8917

#433 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 Josh Horton

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 Josh Horton

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 8g
11Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
1Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
18Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 11): needs 13.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 11): needs 17.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.2/game over remaining 5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 5.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Josh Horton is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Georgia's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.0 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.

Current place #7500 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 433 recruit

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 11 4 solo | #2749/4942 (44th pct)
TFL 0.0 Backfield disruption | #3020/4972 (39th 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
11 44th
SOLO
4 34th
TFL
0.0 39th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 5L 21-24vs Alabama320.00.00Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 6W 35-14vs Kentucky200.00.00
Wk 8W 43-35vs Ole Miss000.00.01
Wk 10W 24-20@ Florida000.00.00
Wk 11W 41-21@ Mississippi State100.00.00
Wk 12W 35-10vs Texas110.00.00
Wk 13W 35-3vs Charlotte200.00.00
BowlL 34-39vs Ole Miss210.00.00
Total1140.00.01
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

2024Miami10-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Georgia12-2HC: Kirby Smart · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Georgia1140.00.01----
2024Miami420.50.0------
Career2 loaded seasons1560.50.01----
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd 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 11 #2749/4942 44th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.0 #3020/4972 39th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th 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 · 8 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g1.70.00.00.2
Road2g0.50.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g1.00.00.00.2
Losses2g2.50.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g2.30.00.00.0
Weeks 8+5g0.80.00.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

25Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (4th).

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct
0.0defe
Tackles#2749 / 2975 · 6th pct
11defe
Solo tackles#2803 / 2975 · 4th pct
4defe

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

Advanced Savant · DT · 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
Josh HortonGeorgiaBlake FletcherAir Force· 45% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 43% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 38% sim
QB hurries
55
Horton
92
Fletcher
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
48
Horton
67
Fletcher
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Horton
24
Fletcher
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
7
Horton
28
Fletcher
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
Tackles
6
Horton
99
Fletcher
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
Solo tackles
4
Horton
91
Fletcher
87
Martin
100
Ra-El

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 JaSire Peterson’s 2025 season.

JaSire Peterson

92%match

UAB · 2025

#2

Brendan Flakes

Northwestern · 2025

87%
#3

Will Smith Jr.

Ohio State · 2025

87%
#4

Daniel Lyons

Florida State · 2023

86%
#5

Ravontae Holt

Akron · 2022

85%

Matches JaSire on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Brendan Flakes's sophomore season at Northwestern (2024).

Brendan Flakes

96%match

Northwestern · 2024

#2

Daniel Lyons

Florida State · 2023

83%
#3

Will Smith Jr.

Ohio State · 2025

83%
#4

Jayden Williams

North Texas · 2025

81%
#5

Derrick Shepard

UAB · 2024

81%

Matches Brendan on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Kirby Smart

Pass share

42.5%

417 pass / 565 run

Plays / game

70.1

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.2%

290 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Kirby Smart
Georgia
2025
Kirby Smart
Georgia

Played his entire career under Kirby Smart.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFairburn, GA
Height6'4"
Weight295 lb
Class2
PositionDT
Jersey81

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 Miami DT2 #7500 #7333 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 Miami DT2 #10927 #10718 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | ACC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Georgia SEC DT 2 No. 81 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Fairburn, GA
2024 Miami ACC DT 2 No. 81 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Fairburn, GA
2023 Miami ACC DT 2 No. 81 | 6-4 | 295 lb | Fairburn, GA