cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kasen Kinchen /Nevada

Kasen Kinchen

DB · Nevada · Sr · #8

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

28 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Nevada for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Nevada for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Nevada

Returning around him

  • 66% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: -7 net (14 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Nevada · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #119 · 2026 recruiting class #88

DB · NEVADA · MOUNTAIN WEST

Kasen Kinchen

  • 4
  • #8
  • 5-9 | 182 lb
  • Lake Stevens, WA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

30

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by solo tackles at the 53rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14072

<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
★★★
#1356 national
CFB
College
Nevada
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey8
Measurements5-9 | 182 lb
HometownLake Stevens, WA
Primary teamNevada

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1356 recruit
Composite rating 0.8456 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2020
Origin Lake Stevens Lake Stevens, WA, USA
Class Profile Context
2020 3-star | 0.8456 No. 1356 recruit | HighSchool

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#14072Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14183Where 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

0.8456

#1356 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 Kasen Kinchen

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 Kasen Kinchen

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
28Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
46Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 28): needs 10.4/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 28): needs 14.4/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.

Kasen Kinchen is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Nevada's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 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 #14072 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

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 28 16 solo | #1469/4942 (70th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
28 70th
SOLO
16 71st
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 11-46@ Penn State210.00.00
Wk 2W 20-17vs Sacramento State730.00.00
Wk 3L 13-14vs Middle Tennessee431.00.00
Wk 4L 16-31@ Western Kentucky950.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 6L 17-20@ Fresno State110.00.00
Wk 7L 10-44vs San Diego State100.00.00
Wk 12W 55-10vs San José State110.00.00
Wk 14L 17-42vs UNLV320.00.00
Total28161.00.00
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

2024Nevada3-10HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning
2025Nevada3-9HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Nevada28161.00.0------
2024Nevada110.00.0------
Career2 loaded seasons29171.00.0------
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 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 28 #1469/4942 70th 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 Solo tackles 16 #1348/4584 71st 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 · 8 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g3.20.20.00.0
Road3g4.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g4.00.00.00.0
Losses6g3.30.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g4.00.20.00.0
Weeks 8+2g2.00.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

30Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Solo tackles#1348 / 2975 · 53rd pct
16defe
Tackles#1469 / 2975 · 49th pct
28defe
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
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 · DB · 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
Kasen KinchenNevadaTyler MartinMassachusetts· 66% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 59% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 58% sim
Solo tackles
53
Kinchen
87
Martin
96
Vaughns
100
Ra-El
Tackles
49
Kinchen
98
Martin
99
Vaughns
99
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
28
Kinchen
63
Martin
85
Vaughns
56
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Kinchen
24
Martin
63
Vaughns
24
Ra-El
QB hurries
22
Kinchen
22
Martin
22
Vaughns
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
18
Kinchen
67
Martin
48
Vaughns
91
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 Jalen Jordan’s 2023 season.

Jalen Jordan

81%match

South Alabama · 2023

#2

Braden Smith

Wyoming · 2021

80%
#3

Bryce Anderson

Texas A&M · 2022

80%
#4

Dontae Pollard

Temple · 2025

78%
#5

Hayden McDonald

Nevada · 2025

78%

Matches Jalen on

PD rate
Height
Tackle volume

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Braden Smith's sophomore season at Wyoming (2021).

Braden Smith

88%match

Wyoming · 2021

#2

Justin Birchette

Ohio · 2021

86%
#3

Tyson Durant

Akron · 2021

84%
#4

Justin White

Michigan State · 2022

84%
#5

Lavonte Gater

Maryland · 2021

82%

Matches Braden on

Class year
PD rate
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jeff Choate

Pass share

42.6%

306 pass / 413 run

Plays / game

59.9

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.8%

251 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Jeff Choate
Nevada
2025
Jeff Choate
Nevada

Played his entire career under Jeff Choate.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownLake Stevens, WA
Height5'9"
Weight182 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey8

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 Nevada DB4 #14072 #14183 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 Washington State DB4 #12199 #12109 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12
2022 Washington State DB4 #11533 #11399 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12
2021 Washington DB4 #11485 #11543 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Nevada Mountain West DB 4 No. 8 | 5-9 | 182 lb | Lake Stevens, WA
2024 Nevada Mountain West DB 4 No. 8 | 5-9 | 182 lb | Lake Stevens, WA
2023 Washington State Pac-12 DB 4 No. 8 | 5-9 | 182 lb | Lake Stevens, WA
2022 Washington State Pac-12 DB 4 No. 8 | 5-9 | 182 lb | Lake Stevens, WA
2021 Washington Pac-12 DB 4 No. 8 | 5-9 | 182 lb | Lake Stevens, WA