cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Phillip Dunnam /UCF

Phillip Dunnam

DB · UCF · Sr · #2

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

60 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to UCF for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to UCF for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · UCF

Returning around him

  • 31% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 1 UCF player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -4 net (31 in / 35 out)

2026 Award watch

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

UCF · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #43 · 2026 recruiting class #79

DB · UCF · BIG 12

Phillip Dunnam

  • 4
  • #2
  • 6-1 | 190 lb
  • Miami Beach, FL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

61

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 90th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13829

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#647 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey2
Measurements6-1 | 190 lb
HometownMiami Beach, FL
Primary teamUCF

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 647 recruit
Composite rating 0.8756 HighSchool
Signed with Indiana 2022
Origin North Miami Beach Senior Miami, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8756 No. 647 recruit | HighSchool | Indiana

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#13829Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13854Where 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 Indiana

Composite

0.8756

#647 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 Phillip Dunnam

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 Phillip Dunnam

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 12g
60Tackles
3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
65Tackles
3.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 60): needs 20/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 60): needs 40/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/game over remaining 1.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Phillip Dunnam is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on UCF's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, and 3 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 #13829 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 60 44 solo | #401/4942 (92nd pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th 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 | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
60 92nd
SOLO
44 97th
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
INT
3 94th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 17-10vs Jacksonville State851.00.00Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 2W 68-7vs North Carolina A&T100.00.00
Wk 4W 34-9vs North Carolina650.00.00
Wk 5L 20-34@ Kansas State650.00.00
Wk 6L 20-27vs Kansas750.00.00
Wk 7L 11-20@ Cincinnati761.00.00
Wk 8W 45-13vs West Virginia320.00.00
Wk 10L 3-30@ Baylor651.00.01
Wk 11L 27-30vs Houston430.00.030
Wk 12L 9-48@ Texas Tech430.00.00
Wk 13W 17-14vs Oklahoma State430.00.00
Wk 14L 21-41@ BYU420.00.01
Total60443.00.032
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

2022Indiana4-8HC: Tom Allen · Pass-leaning
2023Indiana3-9HC: Tom Allen · Run-leaning
2025UCF5-7HC: Scott Frost · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025UCF60443.00.023--
2023Indiana53391.00.063--
2022Indiana510.00.01----
Career3 loaded seasons118844.00.096--
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 3 1 pick-six TD | #56/869 (94th pct)
Pass breakups 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th 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 60 #401/4942 92nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 3 #56/869 94th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 81 #36/578 94th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 44 #137/4584 97th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 27.0 #124/578 79th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Defensive TD 1 #23/200 89th pct Scoringvs FBS DEF
Defense Pick-six TD 1 #13/119 90th pct Scoringvs 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g4.70.10.00.0
Road5g5.40.40.00.4

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g4.40.20.00.0
Losses7g5.40.30.00.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g5.80.30.00.0
Weeks 8+6g4.20.20.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

61Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (95th). Strength: interceptions (89th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Solo tackles#137 / 2975 · 95th pct
44defe
Interceptions#56 / 817 · 90th pct
3inte
Tackles#401 / 2975 · 86th pct
60defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd 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 · 7 metrics
Phillip DunnamUCFTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 88% simAhmaad MosesSMU· 82% simDevin LafayetteTroy· 81% sim
Solo tackles
95
Dunnam
100
Ra-El
98
Moses
98
Lafayette
Interceptions
90
Dunnam
98
Moses
75
Lafayette
Tackles
86
Dunnam
99
Ra-El
99
Moses
99
Lafayette
Passes defended
67
Dunnam
91
Ra-El
78
Moses
91
Lafayette
Tackles for loss
63
Dunnam
56
Ra-El
83
Moses
56
Lafayette
Sacks
24
Dunnam
24
Ra-El
63
Moses
63
Lafayette
QB hurries
22
Dunnam
22
Ra-El
22
Moses
22
Lafayette

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 Daylen Everette’s 2024 season.

Daylen Everette

89%match

Georgia · 2024

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 21
#2

Anthony Cook

Texas · 2022

87%
#3

Quentin Frazier

Hawai'i · 2021

86%
#4

Caleb Wooden

Arkansas · 2025

86%
#5

Alijah Clark

Syracuse · 2023

83%

Matches Daylen on

Height
Interceptions
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to M.J. Griffin's senior season at Louisville (2024).

M.J. Griffin

92%match

Louisville · 2024

#2

Isaac White

Wyoming · 2024

92%
#3

Caleb Wooden

Arkansas · 2025

90%
#4

Quindrelin Hammonds

Army · 2023

88%
#5

Wesley Walker

Tennessee · 2023

86%

Matches M.J. on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Scott Frost

Pass share

51.7%

403 pass / 377 run

Plays / game

65.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.5%

324 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Gus Malzahn
UCF
2023
Gus Malzahn
UCF
2025
Scott Frost
UCF
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Gus Malzahn → Scott Frost. 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.

HometownMiami Beach, FL
Height6'1"
Weight190 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey2

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 Florida Atlantic DB4 #13829 #13854 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | American Athletic
2023 Indiana DB4 #11043 #11530 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big Ten
2022 Indiana DB4 #13486 #13574 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 UCF Big 12 DB 4 No. 2 | 6-1 | 190 lb | Miami Beach, FL
2024 Florida Atlantic American Athletic DB 4 No. 2 | 6-1 | 190 lb | Miami Beach, FL
2023 Indiana Big Ten DB 4 No. 2 | 6-1 | 190 lb | Miami Beach, FL
2022 Indiana Big Ten DB 4 No. 2 | 6-1 | 190 lb | Miami Beach, FL