CFB Zeitgeist Score
65
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 85th percentile.
Ben Bell
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
40 TACKLES · 2.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Virginia Tech for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive line · Virginia Tech
Returning around him
- 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- Transfer portal: +0 net (27 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Virginia Tech · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #40 · 2026 recruiting class #39
DL · VIRGINIA TECH · ACC
Ben Bell
- 4
- #33
- 6-1 | 235 lb
- Cedar Park, TX
Heisman Heat
#12062
<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 2 · StarterR06 · Starter
Starter. A locked-in starting role.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2021
Louisiana Tech · DL
—
2022
Texas State · DL
—
★
2023
Texas State · DL
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2025
Virginia Tech · DL
—
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
3 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3-star | 0.8333 | No. 1747 recruit | HighSchool | Louisiana Tech |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Louisiana Tech -> -- | 3-star | 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.
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 Louisiana Tech
Composite
0.8333
#1747 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
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 Ben Bell
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 Ben Bell
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 12g
40Tackles
5.5Tackles for loss
2.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
43Tackles
6.0Tackles for loss
2.7Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 40): needs 40/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 40): needs 60/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 3.5/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 7.5/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.
Ben Bell is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Virginia Tech's defense, with 2.5 sacks, 5.5 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
40 82nd
SOLO
12 62nd
TFL
5.5 90th
SACK
2.5 92nd
QBH
6 94th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 11-24@ South Carolina | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 20-44vs Vanderbilt | 4 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 26-45vs Old Dominion | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 4 | W 38-6vs Wofford | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 23-21@ NC State | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 23-30vs Wake Forest | 9 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 20-35@ Georgia Tech | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-34vs California | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 16-28vs Louisville | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 14-34@ Florida State | 2 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-34vs Miami | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 7-27@ Virginia | 4 | 3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 12 | 5.5 | 2.5 | — | 0 |
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
2021Louisiana Tech3-9HC: Skip Holtz · Balanced
2022Texas State4-8HC: Jake Spavital · Balanced
2023Texas State8-5HC: G.J. Kinne · Run-leaning
2025Virginia Tech3-9HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Virginia Tech | 40 | 12 | 5.5 | 2.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Texas State | 57 | 32 | 16.0 | 10.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Texas State | 25 | 11 | 3.0 | 2.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Louisiana Tech | 27 | 10 | 6.0 | 3.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 4 loaded seasons | 149 | 65 | 30.5 | 18.0 | -- | -- | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 40 | #906/4942 | 82nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 5.5 | #477/4972 | 90th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 2.5 | #393/4972 | 92nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 6 | #117/1878 | 94th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 12 | #1735/4584 | 62nd 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Road5g | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins3g | 3.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Losses9g | 3.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort
65Solid starter
Elite: qb hurries (94th). Strength: sacks (85th). Concern: passes defended (17th).
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
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
Ben BellVirginia TechMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 76% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 74% simMicah DaveyUTEP· 73% sim
QB hurries
Sacks
Tackles for loss
Tackles
Forced fumbles
Solo tackles
Passes defended
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Two-Gap Base
Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.
IDL
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Pepe Tanuvasa’s 2021 season.
Pepe Tanuvasa
88%match
#2
Lanell Carr
86%
#3
Mazin Richards
All-Conference USA
85%
#4
Andrew Choi
84%
#5
Henry Ikahihifo
83%
Matches Pepe on
Sack rate
Weight
Height
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Brent Pry
Pass share
42.0%
319 pass / 441 run
Plays / game
63.3
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
9.5%
296 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
2 coaches2021
J.C. Price
Virginia Tech
2022era →
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
2023
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
2025
Brent Pry
Virginia Tech
Coaching transition mid-career: J.C. Price → Brent Pry. 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.
HometownCedar Park, TX
Height6'1"
Weight235 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey33
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamVirginia Tech
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Sun Belt
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
2 all-conference honors
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | All-Sun Belt | all_conference | Texas State | Sun Belt | LB |
| 2023 | All-Sun Belt | all_conference | Texas State | Sun Belt | DL |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Texas State | DL4 | #12062 | #12089 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Sun Belt |
| 2023 | Texas State | DL4 | #7831 | #8841 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Sun Belt |
| 2022 | Texas State | DL4 | #10045 | #10571 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Sun Belt |
| 2021 | Louisiana Tech | DL4 | #10434 | #11004 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Conference USA |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Virginia Tech | ACC | DL | 4 | No. 33 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Cedar Park, TX |
| 2024 | Texas State | Sun Belt | DL | 4 | No. 33 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Cedar Park, TX |
| 2023 | Texas State | Sun Belt | DL | 4 | No. 33 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Cedar Park, TX |
| 2022 | Texas State | Sun Belt | DL | 4 | No. 33 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Cedar Park, TX |
| 2021 | Louisiana Tech | Conference USA | DL | 4 | No. 33 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Cedar Park, TX |