cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Paul Tangelo /Colorado State

Paul Tangelo

LB · Colorado State · Sr · #52

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

19 TACKLES · 2 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Colorado State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Colorado State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Colorado State

Returning around him

  • 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: -7 net (31 in / 38 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Colorado State · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #92 · 2026 recruiting class #106

LB · COLORADO STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST

Paul Tangelo

  • 4
  • #52
  • 6-3 | 235 lb
  • Gaithersburg, MD

CFB Zeitgeist Score

56

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 80th percentile.

Heisman Heat

Awaiting

Not on the live Heisman board this week.

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

TOP LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R03 · Backup

Backup. On the two-deep, pushing for snaps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Colorado State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey52
Measurements6-3 | 235 lb
HometownGaithersburg, MD
Primary teamColorado State

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 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

Where the model places this player relative to the rest of the Heisman field.

Current nowcast--Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast--Where the full season sim points
Win probability--Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability--Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability--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 Paul Tangelo

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 Paul Tangelo

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
19Tackles
3Tackles for loss
2Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
25Tackles
3.9Tackles for loss
2.6Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 19): needs 20.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 19): needs 27/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 2): needs 1.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 2): needs 2.7/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.

Paul Tangelo is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Colorado State's defense, with 2.0 sacks, 3.0 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 -- -- win | -- finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 2.0 sacks | 3.0 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 19 6 solo | #2072/4942 (58th pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th pct)
Sacks 2.0 Pass-rush finish | #491/4972 (90th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
19 58th
SOLO
6 43rd
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
2.0 90th
QBH
4 85th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 4L 16-17vs UTSA100.00.01
Wk 5L 3-20vs Washington State200.00.00
Wk 6L 24-45@ San Diego State100.00.00
Wk 7W 49-21vs Fresno State321.01.00
Wk 8L 19-31vs Hawai'i100.00.00
Wk 9L 0-28@ Wyoming311.00.00
Wk 11L 10-42vs UNLV200.00.00
Wk 12L 17-20@ New Mexico100.00.00
Wk 13L 21-49@ Boise State111.01.00
Wk 14L 21-42vs Air Force420.00.00Season-high 4 tackles
Total1963.02.01
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

2025Colorado State2-10HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Colorado State1963.02.01----
Career1 loaded season1963.02.01----
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 4 Quarterback hurries | #291/1878 (85th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 19 #2072/4942 58th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 2.0 #491/4972 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 4 #291/1878 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 6 #2592/4584 43rd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Defensive TD 1 #23/200 89th pct Scoringvs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Ball Security Fumbles lost 0 #1/773 100th pct Turnoversvs 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 Butkus 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
Home6g2.20.20.20.2
Road4g1.50.50.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins1g3.01.01.00.0
Losses9g1.80.20.10.1

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g1.80.20.20.2
Weeks 8+6g2.00.30.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

56Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: qb hurries (87th). Concern: solo tackles (11th).

QB hurries#288 / 2975 · 88th pct
4defe
Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct
2.0defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Tackles#2072 / 2975 · 29th pct
19defe
Solo tackles#2560 / 2975 · 12th pct
6defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 2025

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 · 7 metrics
Paul TangeloColorado StateTrey FieldsNorth Texas· 56% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 56% simAmare CampbellPenn State· 56% sim
QB hurries
88
Tangelo
95
Fields
88
Parker
88
Campbell
Sacks
80
Tangelo
63
Fields
80
Parker
89
Campbell
Tackles for loss
63
Tangelo
87
Fields
87
Parker
96
Campbell
Passes defended
48
Tangelo
67
Fields
18
Parker
48
Campbell
Forced fumbles
47
Tangelo
47
Fields
47
Parker
47
Campbell
Tackles
29
Tangelo
98
Fields
98
Parker
99
Campbell
Solo tackles
12
Tangelo
96
Fields
96
Parker
100
Campbell

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

Player DNA

The Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Eric Ford’s 2024 season.

Eric Ford

86%match

Army · 2024

#2

Jett Bush

Texas · 2023

76%
#3

Eli'jah Winston

Nevada · 2023

73%
#4

Tony Rojas

Penn State · 2025

70%
#5

Ale Kaho

UCLA · 2021

68%

Matches Eric on

Tackle volume
Weight
TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Eric Ford's junior season at Army (2024).

Eric Ford

92%match

Army · 2024

#2

Ryan Smith

Duke · 2023

87%
#3

Grant Trueman

Eastern Michigan · 2022

85%
#4

Ashaad Hall

UTEP · 2025

85%
#5

Eli'jah Winston

Nevada · 2023

82%

Matches Eric on

Class year
PD rate
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jay Norvell

Pass share

52.1%

393 pass / 362 run

Plays / game

62.9

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.1%

315 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Jay Norvell
Colorado State

Played his entire career under Jay Norvell.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownGaithersburg, MD
Height6'3"
Weight235 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey52

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
This player hasn’t appeared on a Heisman ballot tracked by the model.

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Colorado State Mountain West LB 4 No. 52 | 6-3 | 235 lb | Gaithersburg, MD