cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Rex Van Wyhe /Kansas State

Rex Van Wyhe

LB · Kansas State · Jr · #28

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

29 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Kansas State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Kansas State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Kansas State

Returning around him

  • 69% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 2 Kansas State players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -7 net (26 in / 33 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Kansas State · Last season: 6-6 (AP #17) · Talent rank #47 · 2026 recruiting class #35

LB · KANSAS STATE · BIG 12

Rex Van Wyhe

  • 3
  • #28
  • 6-5 | 236 lb
  • Rock Rapids, IA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

34

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 39th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9859

<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 LB AWARD

Butkus

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
★★★
#36 national
CFB
College
Kansas State
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey28
Measurements6-5 | 236 lb
HometownRock Rapids, IA
Primary teamKansas State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 36 recruit
Composite rating 0.8694 JUCO
Signed with Kansas State 2023
Origin Iowa Central C.C. Fort Dodge, IA, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 3-star | 0.8694 No. 36 recruit | JUCO | Kansas State

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#9859Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9534Where 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 Kansas State

Composite

0.8694

#36 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 Rex Van Wyhe

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 Rex Van Wyhe

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 11g
29Tackles
1.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
34Tackles
1.8Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 29): needs 25.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 29): needs 35.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 3/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 5/game over remaining 2.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Rex Van Wyhe is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kansas State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.5 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 #9859 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 1.5 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 29 15 solo | #1415/4942 (71st pct)
TFL 1.5 Backfield disruption | #1771/4972 (64th 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
29 71st
SOLO
15 69th
TFL
1.5 64th
SACK
0.0 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 21-24vs Iowa State220.00.00
Wk 1W 38-35vs North Dakota210.00.00
Wk 2L 21-24vs Army210.00.00
Wk 3L 17-23@ Arizona410.00.00Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 6L 34-35@ Baylor100.00.00
Wk 7W 41-28vs TCU331.00.00
Wk 9W 42-17@ Kansas320.00.00
Wk 10L 20-43vs Texas Tech110.00.00
Wk 12W 14-6@ Oklahoma State310.00.00
Wk 13L 47-51@ Utah410.00.00
Wk 14W 24-14vs Colorado420.50.00
Total29151.50.00
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

2023Kansas State9-4HC: Chris Klieman · Run-leaning
2025Kansas State6-6HC: Chris Klieman · Run-leaning, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Kansas State29151.50.0------
2023Kansas State541.00.01----
Career2 loaded seasons34192.50.01----
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 0 Coverage disruption
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 29 #1415/4942 71st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.5 #1771/4972 64th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 15 #1434/4584 69th pct Volumevs 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g2.30.20.00.0
Road5g3.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g3.00.30.00.0
Losses6g2.30.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g2.30.20.00.0
Weeks 8+5g3.00.10.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

34Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Tackles#1415 / 2975 · 52nd pct
29defe
Solo tackles#1434 / 2975 · 50th pct
15defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Tackles for loss#1711 / 2975 · 39th pct
1.5defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 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
Rex Van WyheKansas StateTyler MartinMassachusetts· 70% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 64% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 62% sim
Tackles
52
Wyhe
98
Martin
99
Vaughns
99
Ra-El
Solo tackles
50
Wyhe
87
Martin
96
Vaughns
100
Ra-El
Forced fumbles
47
Wyhe
47
Martin
47
Vaughns
47
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
39
Wyhe
63
Martin
85
Vaughns
56
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Wyhe
24
Martin
63
Vaughns
24
Ra-El
QB hurries
22
Wyhe
22
Martin
22
Vaughns
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
18
Wyhe
67
Martin
48
Vaughns
91
Ra-El

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

Player DNA

The Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jaren Handy’s 2021 season.

Jaren Handy

87%match

Indiana · 2021

#2

Jacob Wahlberg

Purdue · 2022

80%
#3

Kenyon Agurs

Colorado State · 2025

78%
#4

Braxten Croteau

California · 2021

78%
#5

VanDarius Cowan

West Virginia · 2021

77%

Matches Jaren on

Height
PD rate
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Carson Willich's junior season at Iowa State (2025).

Carson Willich

81%match

Iowa State · 2025

#2

Muelu Iosefa

California · 2022

75%
#3

Gabe Powers

Kansas State · 2025

75%
#4

Matthew Fobbs-White

Baylor · 2025

75%
#5

Trip White

Oklahoma State · 2025

75%

Matches Carson on

Class year
PD rate
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Chris Klieman

Pass share

46.4%

342 pass / 395 run

Plays / game

61.4

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

4.5%

288 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Chris Klieman
Kansas State
2025
Chris Klieman
Kansas State

Played his entire career under Chris Klieman.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownRock Rapids, IA
Height6'5"
Weight236 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey28

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 Kansas State LB3 #9859 #9534 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 Kansas State LB3 #10267 #9991 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kansas State Big 12 LB 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 236 lb | Rock Rapids, IA
2024 Kansas State Big 12 LB 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 236 lb | Rock Rapids, IA
2023 Kansas State Big 12 LB 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 236 lb | Rock Rapids, IA