cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cameron Sidney /California

Cameron Sidney

DB · California · Jr · #20

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

47 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to California for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to California for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · California

Returning around him

  • 22% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 California player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -4 net (32 in / 36 out)

2026 Award watch

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

California · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #36 · 2026 recruiting class #69

DB · CALIFORNIA · ACC

Cameron Sidney

  • 3
  • #20
  • 5-11 | 185 lb
  • Riverside, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

63

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 80th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9186

<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 2 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#948 national
CFB
College
California
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class3
Jersey20
Measurements5-11 | 185 lb
HometownRiverside, CA
Primary teamCalifornia

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 948 recruit
Composite rating 0.8622 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2022
Origin Mater Dei Santa Ana, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8622 No. 948 recruit | HighSchool

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#9186Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9422Where 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 —

Composite

0.8622

#948 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 Cameron Sidney

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 Cameron Sidney

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
47Tackles
5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
56Tackles
5.9Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 47): needs 16.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 47): needs 26.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/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.

Cameron Sidney is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on California's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 5.0 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 #9186 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 5.0 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 47 28 solo | #680/4942 (86th pct)
TFL 5.0 Backfield disruption | #553/4972 (89th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
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.

High-disruption defenderHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
47 86th
SOLO
28 87th
TFL
5.0 89th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 34-15@ Oregon State431.00.00
Wk 2W 35-3vs Texas Southern500.00.01
Wk 3W 27-14vs Minnesota421.00.00
Wk 4L 0-34@ San Diego State321.01.01
Wk 5W 28-24@ Boston College330.00.01
Wk 6L 21-45vs Duke220.00.00
Wk 8W 21-18vs North Carolina651.00.00
Wk 9L 34-42@ Virginia Tech420.00.010
Wk 10L 21-31vs Virginia950.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 11W 29-26@ Louisville531.00.00
BowlL 31-35@ Hawai'i210.00.00
Total47285.01.013
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

2023California6-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning
2024California6-7HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced
2025California7-6HC: Justin Wilcox · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025California47285.01.031--
2024California29152.51.031--
2023California1050.50.0------
Career3 loaded seasons86488.02.062--
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 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th pct)
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 47 #680/4942 86th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 5.0 #553/4972 89th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 28 #608/4584 87th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g5.20.40.00.2
Road6g3.50.50.20.3

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g4.50.70.00.3
Losses5g4.00.20.20.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.30.40.10.4
Weeks 8+4g6.00.50.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

63Solid starter
8 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Tackles for loss#553 / 2975 · 80th pct
5.0defe
Solo tackles#608 / 2975 · 79th pct
28defe
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Tackles#680 / 2975 · 77th pct
47defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte

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
Cameron SidneyCaliforniaKeaton ThomasBaylor· 89% simTJ DotteryOle Miss· 87% simGavin MoulDelaware· 85% sim
Tackles for loss
80
Sidney
90
Thomas
83
Dottery
90
Moul
Solo tackles
79
Sidney
99
Thomas
97
Dottery
98
Moul
Passes defended
78
Sidney
78
Thomas
67
Dottery
78
Moul
Tackles
77
Sidney
98
Thomas
98
Dottery
99
Moul
Sacks
63
Sidney
63
Thomas
74
Dottery
80
Moul
QB hurries
55
Sidney
55
Thomas
55
Dottery
72
Moul
Forced fumbles
47
Sidney
47
Thomas
47
Moul
Interceptions
31
Sidney
31
Thomas

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 D.J. Miller’s 2023 season.

D.J. Miller

93%match

Kent State · 2023

#2

Khalil Ladler

Louisiana Tech · 2021

91%
#3

Bo Mascoe

Rutgers · 2025

90%
#4

Meki Pei

Hawai'i · 2022

86%
#5

Gregory Rubin

Memphis · 2023

86%

Matches D.J. on

Tackle volume
PD rate
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Audavion Collins's junior season at Penn State (2025).

Audavion Collins

97%match

Penn State · 2025

#2

Bo Mascoe

Rutgers · 2025

90%
#3

Andrew Marshall

Nebraska · 2025

89%
#4

Kentrell Webb

Houston · 2024

87%
#5

Devin Lemear

Baylor · 2023

86%

Matches Audavion on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Justin Wilcox

Pass share

57.0%

502 pass / 379 run

Plays / game

67.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

8.2%

353 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Justin Wilcox
California
2024
Justin Wilcox
California
2025
Justin Wilcox
California

Played his entire career under Justin Wilcox.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownRiverside, CA
Height5'11"
Weight185 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey20

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 California DB3 #9186 #9422 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 California DB3 #12927 #12896 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12
2022 California DB3 #13584 #13607 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 California ACC DB 3 No. 20 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Riverside, CA
2024 California ACC DB 3 No. 20 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Riverside, CA
2023 California Pac-12 DB 3 No. 20 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Riverside, CA
2022 California Pac-12 DB 3 No. 20 | 5-11 | 185 lb | Riverside, CA