cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cam Dooley /Kentucky

Cam Dooley

DB · Kentucky · So · #18

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

29 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Kentucky for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Kentucky for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Kentucky

Returning around him

  • 27% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 4 Kentucky players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +2 net (29 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Kentucky · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #27 · 2026 recruiting class #29

DB · KENTUCKY · SEC

Cam Dooley

  • 2
  • #18
  • 6-2 | 208 lb
  • Valley, AL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

34

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by solo tackles at the 64th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#11266

<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 DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

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

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#322 national
CFB
College
Kentucky
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class2
Jersey18
Measurements6-2 | 208 lb
HometownValley, AL
Primary teamKentucky

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 322 recruit
Composite rating 0.9044 HighSchool
Signed with Kentucky 2024
Origin Valley Valley, AL, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 4-star | 0.9044 No. 322 recruit | HighSchool | Kentucky

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#11266Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#11189Where 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 Kentucky

Composite

0.9044

#322 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 Cam Dooley

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 Cam Dooley

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 12g
29Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
31Tackles
1.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 29): needs 51/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 29): needs 71/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/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.

Cam Dooley is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kentucky's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 tackles for loss, and 1 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 #11266 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 322 recruit

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 20 solo | #1415/4942 (71st 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
29 71st
SOLO
20 78th
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 24-16vs Toledo220.00.00
Wk 2L 23-30vs Ole Miss220.00.00
Wk 3W 48-23vs Eastern Michigan220.00.00
Wk 5L 13-35@ South Carolina110.00.00
Wk 6L 14-35@ Georgia310.50.00
Wk 8L 13-16vs Texas110.00.00
Wk 9L 34-56vs Tennessee220.00.00
Wk 10W 10-3@ Auburn100.00.00
Wk 11W 38-7vs Florida420.50.00
Wk 12W 42-10vs Tennessee Tech210.00.010
Wk 13L 17-45@ Vanderbilt320.00.00
Wk 14L 0-41@ Louisville640.00.00Season-high 6 tackles
Total29201.00.010
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

2024Kentucky4-8HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Kentucky5-7HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Kentucky29201.00.0--1--
2024Kentucky321.00.0------
Career2 loaded seasons32222.00.0--1--
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 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
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 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 20 #1029/4584 78th 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 Thorpe 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/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g2.10.10.00.0
Road5g2.80.10.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g2.20.10.00.0
Losses7g2.60.10.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g2.00.10.00.0
Weeks 8+7g2.70.10.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

34Below cohort
8 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Solo tackles#1029 / 2975 · 64th pct
20defe
Tackles#1415 / 2975 · 52nd pct
29defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
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 · DB · 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 · 8 metrics
Cam DooleyKentuckyTyler MartinMassachusetts· 72% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 64% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 63% sim
Solo tackles
64
Dooley
87
Martin
96
Vaughns
100
Ra-El
Tackles
52
Dooley
98
Martin
99
Vaughns
99
Ra-El
Forced fumbles
47
Dooley
47
Martin
47
Vaughns
47
Ra-El
Interceptions
31
Dooley
31
Martin
Tackles for loss
28
Dooley
63
Martin
85
Vaughns
56
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Dooley
24
Martin
63
Vaughns
24
Ra-El
QB hurries
22
Dooley
22
Martin
22
Vaughns
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
18
Dooley
67
Martin
48
Vaughns
91
Ra-El

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

Player DNA

The Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Michael Boganowski’s 2025 season.

Michael Boganowski

96%match

Oklahoma · 2025

#2

Nicholas Thompson

Toledo · 2025

90%
#3

Dwight Toombs II

Florida Atlantic · 2023

90%
#4

Coleman Bryson

Minnesota · 2023

87%
#5

Peyton Woodyard

Oregon · 2025

88%

Matches Michael on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Michael Boganowski's sophomore season at Oklahoma (2025).

Michael Boganowski

96%match

Oklahoma · 2025

#2

Elijah Wood

San José State · 2022

94%
#3

Keyshawn Flowers

Maryland · 2025

93%
#4

Nicholas Thompson

Toledo · 2025

91%
#5

Jojo Hayden

Illinois · 2025

90%

Matches Michael on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mark Stoops

Pass share

46.2%

366 pass / 427 run

Plays / game

66.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

10.0%

280 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2025
Mark Stoops
Kentucky

Played his entire career under Mark Stoops.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownValley, AL
Height6'2"
Weight208 lb
Class2
PositionDB
Jersey18

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 Kentucky DB2 #11266 #11189 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kentucky SEC DB 2 No. 18 | 6-2 | 208 lb | Valley, AL
2024 Kentucky SEC DB 2 No. 18 | 6-2 | 208 lb | Valley, AL