Heisman / Players / Markese Stepp /Western Kentucky

Markese Stepp

RB · Western Kentucky · Sr · #30

Limited signal — not enough coverage for a story yet.

ALUMNUSWestern Kentucky 2023 alumnusAs of Jun 22, 2026

RB · WESTERN KENTUCKY · CONFERENCE USA

Markese Stepp

4
#30
6-1 | 225 lb
Indianapolis, IN

CFB Zeitgeist RB Score

Awaiting

Heisman Heat

#889

<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 RB AWARD

Doak Walker

—

CONSENSUS

All-American

—

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R02 · Deep reserve

Deep reserve. In the program, working up the two-deep.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · rushing yards

2021–2023

1772021

1022022

3102023

+75%

Up 75% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

Recruit

★★★★

#307 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2021–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB

Class4

Jersey30

Measurements6-1 | 225 lb

HometownIndianapolis, IN

Primary teamWestern Kentucky

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 307 recruit

Composite rating 0.8991 HighSchool

Signed with USC 2018

Origin Cathedral Indianapolis, IN, USA

Class	Profile	Context
2018	4-star \| 0.8991	No. 307 recruit \| HighSchool \| USC

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 · 2023 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 19

Current nowcast#889Latest modeled ballot order

Season forecast#964Where 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 USC

Composite

0.8991

#307 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.

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 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.

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.

Scenario Explorer

Available for players with a qualifying signature metric (passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, sacks, etc.). The slider projects how a season finishes if the current pace holds.

What made this player interesting

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

Markese Stepp's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Western Kentucky, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.

Current place #889 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist

Role load 6.6% Overall usage share

Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 307 recruit

2023 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

RB season snapshot

2023 season snapshot | final

2023 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level

Scrimmage yards 383 310 rush | 73 rec | #253/735 (66th pct)

Rush TD 3 69 carries | #204/739 (73rd pct)

Yards/carry 4.5 Per-rush efficiency | #383/735 (48th pct)

Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.

Balanced profile

Rushing

CAR

69 67th

YDS

310 66th

YPC

4.5 48th

3 73rd

Receiving

REC

7 51st

YDS

73 60th

YPR

10.4 80th

0 70th

Game Log

Week-by-week box

No per-game rows for this season yet — the table fills in as box scores arrive.

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

2021Nebraska3-9HC: Scott Frost · Run-leaning

2022Western Kentucky9-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning

2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning

Season	Team
2023	Western Kentucky	69	310	4.5	3	--
2022	Western Kentucky	20	102	5.1	0	--
2021	Nebraska	45	177	3.9	2	--
Career	3 loaded seasons	134	589	4.4	5	--

Season	Team
2023	Western Kentucky	7	73	10.4	0	--
2022	Western Kentucky	--	--	--	--	--
2021	Nebraska	1	30	30.0	0	--
Career	3 loaded seasons	8	103	12.9	0	--

Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context

Rushing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.

Role share

How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.

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.

Receiving work 7 73 rec yds | #270/552 (51st pct)

Usage 6.6% 10.4% rush share | #461/738 (38th pct)

Rushing WEPA -- Adjusted value feed still loading

Open full stat explorer

Group	Metric	Value	Rank	Pct	Why it matters
Rushing	Rushing yards	310	#253/735	66th pct	Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing	Rush TD	3	#204/739	73rd pct	Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing	Yards / carry	4.5	#383/735	48th pct	Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving	Receptions	7	#270/552	51st pct	Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving	Receiving yards	73	#222/548	60th pct	Volumevs FBS RB
Usage	Role share	6.6%	#461/738	38th pct	Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing	Carries	69	#245/739	67th pct	Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing	Rushing LONG	56	#127/733	83rd pct	Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving	Receiving LONG	26	#157/540	71st pct	Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving	Yards / catch	10.4	#111/548	80th pct	Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving	Receiving TD	0	#169/552	70th pct	Scoringvs FBS RB
Usage	Rush share	10.4%	#481/738	35th pct	Ground-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage	1st-down usage	8.8%	#387/738	48th pct	Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage	Standard-down usage	7.8%	#437/738	41st pct	Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage	3rd-down usage	5.9%	#402/738	46th pct	Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage	2nd-down usage	4.7%	#573/738	22nd pct	Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage	Passing-down usage	3.4%	#554/738	25th pct	Known-passing sharevs FBS RB
Usage	Pass share	1.1%	#495/738	33rd pct	Air-game usagevs FBS RB

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

Status—Awaiting tracker

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

Splits

Per-game splits

Splits fill in once box scores from at least three games land for this season.

Box-score Savant card waits for a season-stat snapshot above the cohort floor. Returns once enough box-score volume lands.

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 opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.

Peer Comparator returns once this player clears the Savant metric floor (4+ scored bars).

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

Pass share

54.9%

492 pass / 404 run

Plays / game

68.9

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.5%

366 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2023

1 coach

2021

Tyson Helton

Western Kentucky

2022

Tyson Helton

Western Kentucky

2023

Tyson Helton

Western Kentucky

Played his entire career under Tyson Helton.

HometownIndianapolis, IN

Height6'1"

Weight225 lb

Class4

PositionRB

Jersey30

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
2023	Western Kentucky	RB4	#889	#964	0.0%	0.0%	--	--	W19 snapshot \| Conference USA
2022	Western Kentucky	RB4	#2031	#2046	0.0%	0.0%	--	--	W20 snapshot \| Conference USA
2021	Nebraska	RB4	#1040	#1092	0.0%	0.0%	--	--	W20 snapshot \| Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season	Team	Conference	Pos	Class	Bio
2023	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	RB	4	No. 30 \| 6-1 \| 225 lb \| Indianapolis, IN
2022	Western Kentucky	Conference USA	RB	4	No. 30 \| 6-1 \| 225 lb \| Indianapolis, IN
2021	Nebraska	Big Ten	RB	4	No. 30 \| 6-1 \| 225 lb \| Indianapolis, IN

Markese Stepp

R02 · Deep reserve

+75%

Identity & Role

Recruiting Pedigree

Transfer Arc

Heisman Lens · 2023 Season · Final

The Room on Markese Stepp

How rival fanbases talk about Markese Stepp

Awaiting candidate metric

What made this player interesting

2023 Season · Final

RB season snapshot

What kind of player is this?

2023 Season · Final

Traditional Stats

Advanced Metrics

Player Standing

Percentile Card

Advanced Savant

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Trophy Case · Detail

No formal honors on the ledger yet

Honors Timeline

Heisman By Year

Roster Timeline