cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Rayyan Buell /Memphis

Rayyan Buell

DL · Memphis · Sr · #88

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

5 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Memphis for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Memphis for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Memphis

Returning around him

  • 12% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 Memphis player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +4 net (51 in / 47 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Memphis · Last season: 8-5 (AP #22) · Talent rank #59 · 2026 recruiting class #60

DL · MEMPHIS · AMERICAN ATHLETIC

Rayyan Buell

  • 4
  • #88
  • 6-2 | 275 lb
  • Hornell, NY

CFB Zeitgeist Score

23

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 55th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8487

<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 DEFENSE AWARD

Nagurski

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

4 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R09 All-Conference HM / 2nd team · 2023

2022

Ohio · DL

2023

Ohio · DL

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

2024

Colorado · DL

2025

Memphis · DL

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
3 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey88
Measurements6-2 | 275 lb
HometownHornell, NY
Primary teamMemphis

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 Memphis 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 1, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Colorado -> Memphis 3-star | 0.8500 | Immediate
2024 Ohio -> Colorado 4-star | 0.9000 | 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 16
Current nowcast#8487Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8351Where 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 Rayyan Buell

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 Rayyan Buell

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 5g
5Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
1Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
13Tackles
2.6Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 5): needs 9.4/game over remaining 8.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 5): needs 11.9/game over remaining 8.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 0.8/game over remaining 8.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.2/game over remaining 8.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Rayyan Buell is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Memphis's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 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 #8487 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 2 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 5 2 solo | #3512/4942 (29th pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
5 29th
SOLO
2 22nd
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 5 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 5W 55-26@ Florida Atlantic100.00.00
Wk 6W 45-7vs Tulsa100.00.00
Wk 8L 24-31@ UAB210.00.00Season-high 2 tackles
Wk 9W 34-31vs South Florida111.00.00
BowlL 7-31@ NC State000.00.00
Total521.00.00
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

2022Ohio10-4HC: Tim Albin · Balanced
2023Ohio10-3HC: Tim Albin · Run-leaning
2024Colorado9-4HC: Deion Sanders · Pass-leaning
2025Memphis8-5HC: Ryan Silverfield · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Memphis521.00.0------
2024Colorado220.00.0------
2023Ohio301212.54.5------
2022Ohio942.02.01----
Career4 loaded seasons462015.56.51----
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 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 5 #3512/4942 29th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 2 #3597/4584 22nd 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 Lombardi 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 · 5 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home2g1.00.50.00.0
Road3g1.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins3g1.00.30.00.0
Losses2g1.00.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g0.70.00.00.0
Weeks 8+2g1.50.50.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

23Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (0th).

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Solo tackles#2951 / 2975 · 1st pct
2defe
Tackles#2976 / 2975 · 0th pct
5defe

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

Advanced Savant · DL · 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
Rayyan BuellMemphisTyler MartinMassachusetts· 40% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 40% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 35% sim
QB hurries
55
Buell
22
Martin
92
Fletcher
22
Vaughns
Tackles for loss
28
Buell
63
Martin
28
Fletcher
85
Vaughns
Sacks
24
Buell
24
Martin
24
Fletcher
63
Vaughns
Passes defended
18
Buell
67
Martin
67
Fletcher
48
Vaughns
Solo tackles
1
Buell
87
Martin
91
Fletcher
96
Vaughns
Tackles
0
Buell
98
Martin
99
Fletcher
99
Vaughns

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

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

Ryan Silverfield

Pass share

46.9%

412 pass / 466 run

Plays / game

67.5

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.2%

285 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2023
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2024
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2025
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis

Played his entire career under Ryan Silverfield.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownHornell, NY
Height6'2"
Weight275 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey88

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2023)

All-MAC

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

All-Conference

1 all-conference honor

Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.

Honors Timeline

Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.

Season Honor Scope Team / Selector Context
2023 All-MAC all_conference Ohio | MAC DL

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Colorado DL4 #8487 #8351 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 Ohio DL4 #4901 #5677 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American
2022 Ohio DL4 #10498 #10789 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Memphis American Athletic DL 4 No. 88 | 6-2 | 275 lb | Hornell, NY
2024 Colorado Big 12 DL 4 No. 88 | 6-2 | 275 lb | Hornell, NY
2023 Ohio Mid-American DL 4 No. 88 | 6-2 | 275 lb | Hornell, NY
2022 Ohio Mid-American DL 4 No. 88 | 6-2 | 275 lb | Hornell, NY