cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Marquis Cooper /Buffalo

Marquis Cooper

CB · Buffalo · Sr · #1

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

30 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

IN PORTALIn transfer portal — destination TBD (from Buffalo)

In Portal · 2026

In transfer portal

2025Buffalo
DestinationTBD

CB · BUFFALO · MID-AMERICAN

Marquis Cooper

  • 4
  • #1
  • 5-11 | 190 lb
  • Jamaica, NY

CFB Zeitgeist Score

41

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 86th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9504

<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 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Buffalo
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionCB
Class4
Jersey1
Measurements5-11 | 190 lb
HometownJamaica, NY
Primary teamBuffalo

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination -- 2026
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Dec 27, 2025
Season Move Context
2026 Buffalo -> -- Immediate
2024 Buffalo -> -- Withdrawn

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#9504Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10261Where 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.

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 Marquis Cooper

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 Marquis Cooper

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
30Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
39Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 30): needs 16.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 30): needs 23.3/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.

Marquis Cooper is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Buffalo's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.5 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 #9504 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 0.5 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 30 20 solo | #1362/4942 (72nd pct)
TFL 0.5 Backfield disruption | #2658/4972 (47th 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?

Coverage splash against FBS defenders.

Coverage splash

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
30 72nd
SOLO
20 78th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
4 84th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 10-23@ Minnesota300.00.00
Wk 2W 45-6vs St. Francis (PA)320.00.00
Wk 3W 31-28@ Kent State220.00.01
Wk 4L 17-21vs Troy760.00.01Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 5L 17-20vs UConn110.00.01
Wk 6W 31-30vs Eastern Michigan750.50.00
Wk 8W 28-21@ Massachusetts200.00.01
Wk 9L 16-24vs Akron330.00.00
Wk 10W 28-3@ Bowling Green110.00.00
Wk 12L 19-38@ Central Michigan100.00.00
Total30200.50.04
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

2023Buffalo3-9HC: Maurice Linguist · Balanced
2024Buffalo9-4HC: Maurice Linguist · Run-heavy
2025Buffalo5-7HC: Pete Lembo · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Buffalo30200.50.04----
2024Buffalo55372.50.082--
2023Buffalo110.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons86583.00.0122--
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 4 Coverage disruption | #340/2184 (84th pct)
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 30 #1362/4942 72nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.5 #2658/4972 47th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 4 #340/2184 84th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 20 #1029/4584 78th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g4.20.10.00.4
Road5g1.80.00.00.4

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g3.00.10.00.4
Losses5g3.00.00.00.4

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.80.10.00.5
Weeks 8+4g1.80.00.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort

41Mid-pack
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (85th). Concern: tackles for loss (18th).

Passes defended#340 / 2975 · 86th pct
4defe
Solo tackles#1029 / 2975 · 64th pct
20defe
Tackles#1362 / 2975 · 53rd pct
30defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct
0.5defe

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

Advanced Savant · CB · 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
Marquis CooperBuffaloTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 72% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 72% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 70% sim
Passes defended
86
Cooper
91
Ra-El
67
Martin
96
Johnson
Solo tackles
64
Cooper
100
Ra-El
87
Martin
97
Johnson
Tackles
53
Cooper
99
Ra-El
98
Martin
98
Johnson
Sacks
24
Cooper
24
Ra-El
24
Martin
63
Johnson
QB hurries
22
Cooper
22
Ra-El
22
Martin
22
Johnson
Tackles for loss
18
Cooper
56
Ra-El
63
Martin
47
Johnson

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

Player DNA

The Cover Corner

Steady in coverage; doesn't get beat deep and rarely gives up the big play.

CB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jason Chambers’s 2025 season.

Jason Chambers

90%match

West Virginia · 2025

#2

Charles Woods

West Virginia · 2021

89%
#3

Keonte Glinton

Wyoming · 2022

88%
#4

Adrian Cole

Florida International · 2022

86%
#5

Seth Robertson

Georgia Southern · 2021

86%

Matches Jason on

Class year
Height
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Dashaun Jerkins's senior season at Massachusetts (2023).

Dashaun Jerkins

94%match

Massachusetts · 2023

#2

Al-Ma'Hi Ali

Western Kentucky · 2025

93%
#3

Chris Mills

Texas State · 2023

93%
#4

Marques Buford

Nebraska · 2024

93%
#5

Derrick Canteen

Virginia Tech · 2023

All-Sun Belt
90%

Matches Dashaun on

Class year
Height
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Pete Lembo

Pass share

49.8%

409 pass / 413 run

Plays / game

68.5

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.4%

338 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2024
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2025
Pete Lembo
Buffalo
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Maurice Linguist → Pete Lembo. 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.

HometownJamaica, NY
Height5'11"
Weight190 lb
Class4
PositionCB
Jersey1

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 Buffalo CB4 #9504 #10261 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Buffalo CB4 #13844 #13798 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Buffalo Mid-American CB 4 No. 1 | 5-11 | 190 lb | Jamaica, NY
2024 Buffalo Mid-American CB 4 No. 1 | 5-11 | 190 lb | Jamaica, NY
2023 Buffalo Mid-American CB 4 No. 1 | 5-11 | 190 lb | Jamaica, NY