cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Shaleak Knotts /Maryland

Shaleak Knotts

WR · Maryland · Sr · #4

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

717 REC YDS · 44 REC · 6 REC TD

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Maryland for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Maryland for 2026

Updated May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Wide receiver · Maryland

Returning around him

  • 13% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 Maryland player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -1 net (15 in / 16 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Maryland · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #52 · 2026 recruiting class #25

WR · MARYLAND · BIG TEN

Shaleak Knotts

  • 4
  • #4
  • 6-3 | 194 lb
  • Monroe, NC

CFB Zeitgeist Score

81

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by rec yards at the 82nd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#894

<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 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · receiving yards

2022–2025
30.02022
55.02023
1612024
7172025

+2290%

Up 2290% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#218 national
CFB
College
Maryland
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionWR
Class4
Jersey4
Measurements6-3 | 194 lb
HometownMonroe, NC
Primary teamMaryland

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 218 recruit
Composite rating 0.9157 HighSchool
Signed with Maryland 2022
Origin Monroe Monroe, NC, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 4-star | 0.9157 No. 218 recruit | HighSchool | Maryland

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#894Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#976Where 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.

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 (717).

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 Maryland

Composite

0.9157

#218 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 Shaleak Knotts

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 Shaleak Knotts

No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.

2025 Signature · 2025 season

Yards per reception

16.3

yds

All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions

National rank #57 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 89th

Why it matters

#57 of 531 All FBS WRs at 16.3 yards per reception (44 catches).

Vs cohort

This player 16.3 (89th)

HIGH · n=44 cohort 531

  • Also strong
  • Receiving yards (total)#95 / 531
  • Receiving TDs#55 / 531

Signature Moment

Week 14 at Michigan State — 139 ypr

Result L 28-38

The week the volume broke through — put up 139 yds at Michigan State.

A 3-act season arc returns once this player has six or more games on the ledger.

Season Pace · Projection

Where the receiving totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 11g
717Rec yards
44Receptions
6Rec TDs
Per game
65.2Rec yards
4Receptions
1Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
847.4Rec yards
52Receptions
7Rec TDs

✓ Hit 700-yard receiver · finished with 717.

To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 717): needs 141.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 60-catch season (currently 44): needs 8/game over remaining 2.

To hit 80-catch season (currently 44): needs 18/game over remaining 2.

To hit 8 receiving TDs (currently 6): needs 1/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 6): needs 2/game over remaining 2.

What made this player interesting

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

Shaleak Knotts's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Maryland, 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.

Current place #894 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 10.8% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 218 recruit

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
Receptions 44 6 rec TD | #153/1110 (86th pct)
Receiving yards 717 16.3 per catch | #101/1107 (91st pct)
Scrimmage yards 717 Total offensive yardage | #101/1107 (91st pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Target magnet | Big-play receiver against FBS receiving peers.

Target magnetBig-play receiver

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Receiving

REC
44 86th
YDS
717 91st
YPR
16.3 83rd
TD
6 95th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppRECYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 39-7vs Florida Atlantic55911.8129
Wk 2W 20-9vs Northern Illinois25829.0142
Wk 3W 44-17vs Towson47919.8133
Wk 4W 27-10@ Wisconsin38026.72622 TD catches
Wk 6L 20-24vs Washington4297.3014
Wk 7L 31-34vs Nebraska56212.4022
Wk 8L 17-20@ UCLA35418.0032
Wk 11L 20-35@ Rutgers2136.5011
Wk 12L 6-24@ Illinois46215.5019
Wk 13L 20-45vs Michigan48220.5031
Wk 14L 28-38@ Michigan State813917.4147Season-high 139 yds
Total4471716.8662
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

2022Maryland8-5HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced
2023Maryland8-5HC: Mike Locksley · Pass-leaning
2024Maryland4-8HC: Mike Locksley · Pass-leaning
2025Maryland4-8HC: Mike Locksley · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Maryland4471716.36--
2024Maryland1116114.61--
2023Maryland7557.90--
2022Maryland5306.00--
Career4 loaded seasons6796314.47--
SeasonTeam
2025Maryland----------
2024Maryland----------
2023Maryland----------
2022Maryland17------
Career4 loaded seasons17------
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Pass share

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.

Role share

A blended workload view that accounts for catches, designed touches, and any return-game involvement that shapes the overall profile.

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.

Usage 10.8% 17.4% pass-game share | #153/1137 (87th pct)
Return yards 0 0 return TD
Touchdowns 6 Across offense and returns | #56/1111 (95th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Receiving Receptions 44 #153/1110 86th pct Volumevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving yards 717 #101/1107 91st pct Volumevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving TD 6 #56/1111 95th pct Scoringvs FBS WR
Receiving Yards / catch 16.3 #186/1106 83rd pct Efficiencyvs FBS WR
Usage Pass share 17.4% #153/1137 87th pct Air-game usagevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving LONG 62 #154/1105 86th pct Metricvs FBS WR
Usage 3rd-down usage 17.3% #18/1137 99th pct Money-down loadvs FBS WR
Usage Passing-down usage 15.9% #33/1137 97th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS WR
Usage Role share 10.8% #69/1137 94th pct Share of team offensevs FBS WR
Usage 1st-down usage 9.7% #100/1137 91st pct Early-down loadvs FBS WR
Usage 2nd-down usage 8.2% #220/1137 81st pct Middle-down loadvs FBS WR
Usage Standard-down usage 8.2% #136/1137 88th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS WR
Usage Rush share 0.0% #391/1137 66th 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

StatusAwaiting tracker

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Home6g4.061.516.80.5
Road5g4.069.616.80.6

Win vs Loss

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Wins4g3.569.021.81.2
Losses7g4.363.013.90.1

First half vs Second half

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.861.217.80.8
Weeks 8+5g4.270.015.60.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

81All-Conference
5 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec tds (86th). Strength: yards / catch (86th).

Rec TDs#56 / 558 · 87th pct
6rece
Yards / catch#77 / 558 · 86th pct
16.3rece
Rec yards#101 / 558 · 82nd pct
717rece
Long catch#138 / 558 · 74th pct
62rece
Receptions#153 / 558 · 72nd pct
44rece

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
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 · 5 metrics
Shaleak KnottsMarylandChris Brazzell IITennessee· 87% simAnthony SmithEast Carolina· 87% simHarrison Wallace IIIOle Miss· 86% sim
Rec TDs
87
Knotts
97
II
92
Smith
68
III
Yards / catch
86
Knotts
87
II
87
Smith
78
III
Rec yards
82
Knotts
97
II
98
Smith
94
III
Long catch
74
Knotts
86
II
86
Smith
65
III
Receptions
72
Knotts
91
II
93
Smith
90
III

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

Player DNA

The Deep Threat

Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.

WR

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jason Brownlee’s 2020 season.

Jason Brownlee

80%match

Southern Miss · 2020

#2

Lawrence Arnold

Kansas · 2022

80%
#3

Nick Nash

San José State · 2023

All-Mountain West
78%
#4

Michael Jefferson

Louisiana · 2022

All-Sun Belt
78%
#5

Anthony Smith

East Carolina · 2025

78%

Matches Jason on

Yards / reception
Reception volume
Weight

Differs from Jason on

Recruiting rating (higher)
Class year (higher)

Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jalen Coker’s path through Holy Cross.

Jalen Coker

99%match

Holy Cross · 2023

#2

Tre Nixon

UCF · 2020

NFL Rd 7
94%
#3

Beau Kelly

Portland State · 2022

93%
#4

Will Vereen

South Carolina State · 2021

93%
#5

Cary Angeline

NC State · 2020

92%

Matches Jalen on

Yards per reception

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Ramel Keyton's senior season at Tennessee (2023).

Ramel Keyton

85%match

Tennessee · 2023

#2

Chase Roberts

BYU · 2025

75%
#3

Christan Horn

App State · 2023

72%
#4

Marcus Rosemy

Georgia · 2023

70%
#5

Emmanuel Henderson Jr.

Kansas · 2025

NFL Rd 6
69%

Matches Ramel on

Total EPA (college ability)
EPA / play (adj)
Reception volume

Differs from Ramel on

Recruiting rating (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mike Locksley

Pass share

61.9%

491 pass / 302 run

Plays / game

66.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

2.3%

383 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Mike Locksley
Maryland
2023
Mike Locksley
Maryland
2024
Mike Locksley
Maryland
2025
Mike Locksley
Maryland

Played his entire career under Mike Locksley.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMonroe, NC
Height6'3"
Weight194 lb
Class4
PositionWR
Jersey4

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 Maryland WR4 #894 #976 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 Maryland WR4 #2283 #2254 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big Ten
2022 Maryland WR4 #2485 #2524 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Maryland Big Ten WR 4 No. 4 | 6-3 | 194 lb | Monroe, NC
2024 Maryland Big Ten WR 4 No. 4 | 6-3 | 194 lb | Monroe, NC
2023 Maryland Big Ten WR 4 No. 4 | 6-3 | 194 lb | Monroe, NC
2022 Maryland Big Ten WR 4 No. 4 | 6-3 | 194 lb | Monroe, NC