CFB Zeitgeist Score
74
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by rec tds at the 92nd percentile.
Raphael Williams
Filling the Shoesas of 2026-06-22
Raphael Williams is a cornerstone for Pittsburgh — measured against the line he joined.
741REC YDS52REC7REC TD
TEAM RECEIVING YARDS LEADER
741
Team leader in receiving yards (741).
Read the story so far
AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data
2026 Outlook
Returning to Pittsburgh for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Wide receiver · Pittsburgh
Returning around him
- 75% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
- 1 Pittsburgh player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -5 net (16 in / 21 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Pittsburgh · Last season: 8-5 (AP #24) · Talent rank #56 · 2026 recruiting class #51
WR · PITTSBURGH · ACC
Raphael Williams
- 4
- #5
- 5-10 | 165 lb
- Fort Lauderdale, FL
Heisman Heat
#270
<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 WR AWARD
Biletnikoff
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2024–2025+77%
Up 77% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Pittsburgh
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#21 in market ▼ from #18 · 6 books
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Western Carolina -> San Diego State | 3-star | 0.8900 | Immediate |
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.
Achievements
- Program Benchmark 5.5% Program Benchmark Season leader for the program at the player's position across the headline volume metric (passing yards / rushing yards / receiving yards). Held by 5.5% of the 2025 pool. Team leader in receiving yards (741).
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
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 Raphael Williams
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 Raphael Williams
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Yards per reception
14.3
yds
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #136 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 74th
Why it matters
#136 of 531 All FBS WRs at 14.3 yards per reception (52 catches).
Vs cohort
This player 14.3 (74th)
HIGH · n=52 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Receiving yards (total)#81 / 531
- Receiving TDs#36 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 3 at West Virginia — 119 ypr
Result L 24-31
The week the volume broke through — put up 119 yds at West Virginia.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 13g
741Rec yards
52Receptions
7Rec TDs
Per game
57Rec yards
4Receptions
1Rec TDs
Final
741Rec yards
52Receptions
7Rec TDs
✓ Hit 700-yard receiver · finished with 741.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Raphael Williams's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Pittsburgh, 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.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
WR 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?
Target magnet against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
52 90th
YDS
741 92nd
YPR
14.3 71st
TD
7 97th
Rushing
CAR
1 35th
YDS
4 30th
YPC
4.0 47th
TD
0 81st
Returns
PR YDS
9 22nd
PR AVG
9.0 61st
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 61-9vs Duquesne | 1 | 45 | 45.0 | 0 | 45 | |
| Wk 2 | W 45-17vs Central Michigan | 6 | 121 | 20.2 | 2 | 48 | Season-high 121 yds |
| Wk 3 | L 24-31@ West Virginia | 6 | 119 | 19.8 | 1 | 67 | |
| Wk 5 | L 27-34vs Louisville | 4 | 57 | 14.3 | 1 | 38 | |
| Wk 6 | W 48-7vs Boston College | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31@ Florida State | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 | 21 | |
| Wk 8 | W 30-13@ Syracuse | 3 | 28 | 9.3 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 9 | W 53-34vs NC State | 5 | 62 | 12.4 | 1 | 22 | |
| Wk 10 | W 35-20@ Stanford | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 12 | L 15-37vs Notre Dame | 3 | 14 | 4.7 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 13 | W 42-28@ Georgia Tech | 2 | 39 | 19.5 | 0 | 20 | |
| Wk 14 | L 7-38vs Miami | 5 | 66 | 13.2 | 0 | 38 | |
| Bowl | L 17-23@ East Carolina | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 1 | 22 | |
| Total | 52 | 741 | 15.5 | 7 | 67 |
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
2024Pittsburgh7-6HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | 52 | 741 | 14.2 | 7 | -- |
| 2024 | Pittsburgh | 36 | 419 | 11.6 | 6 | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 88 | 1,160 | 13.2 | 13 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | 1 | 4 | -- | 9 | -- |
| 2024 | Pittsburgh | 1 | -3 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 2 | 1 | -- | 9 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The player's share of a team's passing-game involvement. It is the fastest way to see whether the receiver is a true focal point or more of a complementary piece.
A blended workload view that accounts for catches, designed touches, and any return-game involvement that shapes the overall profile.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receptions | 52 | #109/1110 | 90th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 741 | #88/1107 | 92nd pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 7 | #37/1111 | 97th pct | Scoringvs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 14.3 | #318/1106 | 71st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Returns | Punt return yards | 9 | #175/224 | 22nd pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Usage | Pass share | 15.6% | #217/1137 | 81st pct | Air-game usagevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 4 | #279/346 | 20th pct | Metricvs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 4 | #277/397 | 30th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 4.0 | #211/393 | 47th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Carries | 1 | #264/407 | 35th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #81/411 | 81st pct | Scoringvs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 67 | #122/1105 | 89th pct | Metricvs FBS WR |
| Returns | Punt return avg | 9.0 | #87/222 | 61st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Returns | Punt returns | 1 | #182/237 | 24th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 10.8% | #82/1137 | 93rd pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 10.6% | #202/1137 | 82nd pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 9.6% | #256/1137 | 78th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Role share | 8.7% | #163/1137 | 86th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS WR |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 7.7% | #171/1137 | 85th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 6.6% | #269/1137 | 76th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.3% | #332/1137 | 71st pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS WR |
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
Status—Awaiting tracker
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.7 | 54.7 | 17.0 | 0.6 |
| Road6g | 4.3 | 59.7 | 13.7 | 0.5 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 3.6 | 53.5 | 17.2 | 0.5 |
| Losses5g | 4.6 | 62.6 | 12.7 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 4.3 | 70.7 | 19.0 | 0.7 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.7 | 41.0 | 11.4 | 0.3 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort
74Solid starter
Elite: rec tds (91st). Strength: rec yards (84th). Concern: rush yards (27th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · WR · 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
Raphael WilliamsPittsburghCortez BrahamMemphis· 93% simChase HendricksOhio· 91% simDenzel BostonWashington· 91% sim
Rec TDs
Rec yards
Receptions
Long catch
Yards / catch
Rush TDs
Rush yards
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Slot Technician
Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.
WR
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tahj Washington’s 2020 season.
Tahj Washington
82%match
NFL Rd 7
#2
DT Sheffield
80%
#3
Kenny Odom
All-Conference USA
79%
#4
Taylor Morin
78%
#5
Ashtyn Hawkins
78%
Matches Tahj on
Yards / reception
Reception volume
TD rate
Differs from Tahj on
Class year (higher)
Weight (lower)
Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Dazz Newsome’s path through North Carolina.
Dazz Newsome
99%match
NFL Rd 6
#2
DeVontres Dukes
99%
#3
Yulkeith Brown
98%
#4
Josh Imatorbhebhe
98%
#5
Ben Skowronek
NFL Rd 7
96%
Matches Dazz on
Yards per reception
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Yulkeith Brown's senior season at Tulane (2024).
Yulkeith Brown
85%match
#2
Luke Floriea
All-MAC
78%
#3
Ashtyn Hawkins
74%
#4
Jaylin Lane
All-ACCNFL Rd 4
73%
#5
Lideatrick Griffin
All-SEC
71%
Matches Yulkeith on
Total EPA (college ability)
Yards / reception
EPA / play (adj)
Differs from Yulkeith on
Reception volume (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pat Narduzzi
Pass share
52.3%
464 pass / 424 run
Plays / game
68.3
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
9.3%
365 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025
1 coach2024
Pat Narduzzi
Pittsburgh
2025
Pat Narduzzi
Pittsburgh
Played his entire career under Pat Narduzzi.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownFort Lauderdale, FL
Height5'10"
Weight165 lb
Class4
PositionWR
Jersey5
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamPittsburgh
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | Pittsburgh | WR4 | #270 | #315 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
| 2023 | San Diego State | WR4 | #4996 | #5249 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Mountain West |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pittsburgh | ACC | WR | 4 | No. 5 | 5-10 | 165 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| 2024 | Pittsburgh | ACC | WR | 4 | No. 5 | 5-10 | 165 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL |
| 2023 | San Diego State | Mountain West | WR | 4 | No. 5 | 5-10 | 165 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL |