CFB Zeitgeist Score
66
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 75th percentile.
Malik Muhammad
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
30 TACKLES · 1 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Chicago2026 NFL rookie season
#124Rd 4 · Pick 24
Chicago2026 NFL rookie season
DB · TEXAS · SEC
Malik Muhammad
- 3
- #5
- 6-0 | 188 lb
- Desoto, TX
Heisman Heat
#2046
<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 2 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
3 seasons on the ladder
2023
Texas · DB
—
2024
Texas · DB
—
★
2025
Texas · DB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
NFL Draft 2026 · Rd 4, Pick 24 · #124 overall · Chicago
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
Texas
NFL
NFL Draft
R4 · #124
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 4-star | 0.9770 | No. 43 recruit | HighSchool | Texas |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| 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 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★★☆
to Texas
Composite
0.9770
#43 national
NFL Draft
2026 · Rd 4, Pick 24
#124 overall · Chicago
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
PENDINGThe 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 Malik Muhammad
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 Malik Muhammad
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 11g
30Tackles
2.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
35Tackles
3.0Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 30): needs 25/game over remaining 2.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 30): needs 35/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/game over remaining 2.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Malik Muhammad is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Texas's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, and 2 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Coverage splash against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
30 72nd
SOLO
23 82nd
TFL
2.5 75th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
4 84th
INT
2 87th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 7-14@ Ohio State | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 6 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 38-7vs San José State | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 27-10vs UTEP | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 55-0vs Sam Houston | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 23-6vs Oklahoma | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 16-13@ Kentucky | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | W 45-38@ Mississippi State | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 34-31vs Vanderbilt | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 10-35@ Georgia | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 52-37vs Arkansas | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 27-17vs Texas A&M | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 23 | 2.5 | 1.0 | 2 | 4 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023Texas12-2HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
2024Texas13-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Texas10-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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.
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.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 30 | #1362/4942 | 72nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 2.5 | #1236/4972 | 75th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 1.0 | #872/4972 | 82nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 2 | #114/869 | 87th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 4 | #340/2184 | 84th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 23 | #839/4584 | 82nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting 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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road4g | 4.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.5 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins9g | 2.1 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Losses2g | 5.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort
66Solid starter
Elite: passes defended (85th).
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
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
Malik MuhammadTexasDevin LafayetteTroy· 76% simEli BlakeyMiami (OH)· 75% simMarsel McDuffieUNLV· 75% sim
Passes defended
Interceptions
Solo tackles
Sacks
Tackles for loss
QB hurries
Tackles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Centerfielder
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Josh Wallace’s 2023 season.
Josh Wallace
93%match
#2
George Nyakwol
88%
#3
Syeed Gibbs
86%
#4
Kent Robinson
84%
#5
Jaden Mickey
84%
Matches Josh on
PD rate
Height
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Chris Graves's junior season at Ole Miss (2025).
Chris Graves
91%match
#2
Antonio Kite
88%
#3
Kent Robinson
88%
#4
Andru Phillips
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 6
82%
#5
Jaelyn Davis-Robinson
82%
Matches Chris on
Class year
Height
Weight
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Steve Sarkisian
Pass share
50.2%
419 pass / 415 run
Plays / game
64.2
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.6%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
2024
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
2025
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
Played his entire career under Steve Sarkisian.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownDesoto, TX
Height6'0"
Weight188 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey5
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamTexas
ConferenceSEC
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-SEC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-SEC | all_conference | Texas | SEC | DB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.