cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Chris Johnson Jr. /SMU

Chris Johnson Jr.

RB · SMU · So · #6

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

479 RUSH YDS · 4 RUSH TD · 67 CARRIES

2026 RETURNINGReturning to SMU for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to SMU for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · SMU

Returning around him

  • 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 SMU player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -11 net (14 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

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

SMU · Last season: 9-4 (AP #25) · Talent rank #25 · 2026 recruiting class #31

RB · SMU · ACC

Chris Johnson Jr.

  • 2
  • #6
  • 6-0 | 184 lb
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

69

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 97th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#524

<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 RB AWARD

Doak Walker

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R06 · Starter

Starter. A locked-in starting role.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · rushing yards

2023–2025
73.02023
31.02024
4792025

+556%

Up 556% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#261 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB
Class2
Jersey6
Measurements6-0 | 184 lb
HometownFort Lauderdale, FL
Primary teamSMU

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 261 recruit
Composite rating 0.9121 HighSchool
Signed with Miami 2023
Origin Dillard Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 4-star | 0.9121 No. 261 recruit | HighSchool | Miami

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#524Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#417Where 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 Miami

Composite

0.9121

#261 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 Chris Johnson Jr.

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

100

Grounded Optimism

Sample 2 mentions
Confidence BELOW-FLOOR

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmOwn fans: 2 mentions · belief +100 · "SMU transfer running back Chris Johnson Jr. brings elite "touchdown fast" speed "Own fans
  • Own fans · n=2

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Chris Johnson Jr.

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 rushing totals stand

final
Through 13g
479Rush yards
67Carries
4Rush TDs
Per game
36.8Rush yards
5Carries
0Rush TDs
Final
479Rush yards
67Carries
4Rush TDs

What made this player interesting

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

Chris Johnson Jr.'s story is about how role and output meet each other. For SMU, 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 #524 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 10.8% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 261 recruit

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

RB season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Scrimmage yards 659 479 rush | 180 rec | #172/735 (77th pct)
Rush TD 4 67 carries | #154/739 (79th pct)
Yards/carry 7.1 Per-rush efficiency | #53/735 (93rd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Efficient runner | Passing-game back against FBS RB peers.

Efficient runnerPassing-game back

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Rushing

CAR
67 66th
YDS
479 77th
YPC
7.1 93rd
TD
4 79th

Receiving

REC
17 80th
YDS
180 86th
YPR
10.6 82nd
TD
1 89th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCARYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 42-13vs East Texas A&M6447.3122
Wk 2L 45-48vs Baylor6213.508
Wk 3W 28-10@ Missouri State6467.7029
Wk 4L 24-35@ TCU5193.8013
Wk 6W 31-18vs Syracuse
Wk 7W 34-10vs Stanford59619.2187
Wk 8W 35-24@ Clemson6599.8130
Wk 9L 12-13@ Wake Forest8293.6011
Wk 10W 26-20vs Miami420.502
Wk 11W 45-13@ Boston College
Wk 13W 38-6vs Louisville6193.205
Wk 14L 35-38@ California1012812.8154Season-high 128 yds
BowlW 24-19vs Arizona5163.208
Total674796.8487
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

2023Miami7-6HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
2024Miami10-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced, fast tempo
2025SMU9-4HC: Rhett Lashlee · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025SMU674797.14--
2024Miami6315.20--
2023Miami11736.61--
Career3 loaded seasons845836.95--
SeasonTeam
2025SMU1718010.61--
2024Miami8729.02--
2023Miami122.00--
Career3 loaded seasons262549.83--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Rushing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.

Role share

How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.

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.

Receiving work 17 180 rec yds | #111/552 (80th pct)
Usage 10.8% 18.4% rush share | #293/738 (60th pct)
Rushing WEPA +0.23 Opponent-adjusted rush value | #35/362 (91st pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Rushing Rushing yards 479 #172/735 77th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rush TD 4 #154/739 79th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing Yards / carry 7.1 #53/735 93rd pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receptions 17 #111/552 80th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving yards 180 #76/548 86th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Value Rushing WEPA +0.23 #35/362 91st pct Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 62 weighted playsvs FBS RB
Usage Role share 10.8% #293/738 60th pct Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing Rushing LONG 87 #11/733 99th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Rushing Carries 67 #252/739 66th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving LONG 42 #63/540 89th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Yards / catch 10.6 #101/548 82nd pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving TD 1 #60/552 89th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Returns Kick return yards 64 #86/200 57th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Returns Kick return avg 16.0 #132/199 34th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Returns Kick returns 4 #69/206 67th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Rush share 18.4% #282/738 62nd pct Ground-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage 1st-down usage 12.7% #283/738 62nd pct Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Standard-down usage 10.9% #324/738 56th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage 2nd-down usage 10.8% #311/738 58th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Passing-down usage 10.5% #182/738 75th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS RB
Usage 3rd-down usage 6.8% #351/738 53rd pct Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Pass share 4.8% #172/738 77th pct Air-game usagevs FBS RB
Ball Security Fumbles lost 0 #1/256 100th pct Turnoversvs FBS RB

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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Home7g28.36.10.3
Road6g46.87.50.3

Win vs Loss

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Wins9g31.37.30.3
Losses4g49.25.90.2

First half vs Second half

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Weeks 1-77g34.67.50.3
Weeks 8+6g39.56.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

69Solid starter
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / carry (97th). Strength: long run (96th). Concern: carries (27th).

Yards / carry#9 / 349 · 97th pct
7.1rush
Long run#11 / 349 · 97th pct
87rush
Fumbles lost#1 / 201 · 87th pct
0fumb
Rec yards#72 / 338 · 79th pct
180rece
Receptions#103 / 338 · 67th pct
17rece
Rush yards#172 / 349 · 51st pct
479rush
Rush TDs#153 / 349 · 50th pct
4rush
Carries#252 / 349 · 28th pct
67rush

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

Advanced Savant · RB · 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.

wepa_rushing0.23High (p75–p90) (n=178)

Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match

Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile

3 peers · 8 metrics
Chris Johnson Jr.SMUAlex TeczaNavy· 71% simDaylan SmothersNC State· 70% simDontae McMillanEastern Michigan· 69% sim
Yards / carry
97
Jr.
79
Tecza
84
Smothers
79
McMillan
Long run
97
Jr.
91
Tecza
78
Smothers
64
McMillan
Fumbles lost
87
Jr.
87
Tecza
87
McMillan
Rec yards
79
Jr.
66
Tecza
81
Smothers
98
McMillan
Receptions
67
Jr.
54
Tecza
97
Smothers
93
McMillan
Rush yards
51
Jr.
85
Tecza
86
Smothers
89
McMillan
Rush TDs
50
Jr.
89
Tecza
72
Smothers
50
McMillan
Carries
28
Jr.
83
Tecza
84
Smothers
88
McMillan

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

Player DNA

The Complete Back

Threatens defenses in every dimension — rushing, receiving, third-down.

RB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Lawrance Toafili’s 2023 season.

Lawrance Toafili

71%match

Florida State · 2023

#2

James Cook

Georgia · 2021

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 31
70%
#3

Stacy Sneed

Houston · 2022

66%
#4

Treshaun Ward

Florida State · 2021

62%
#5

Nate Noel

App State · 2022

All-Sun Belt
60%

Matches Lawrance on

Yards / carry

Differs from Lawrance on

Class year (lower)
Yards / reception (higher)
Receiving share (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jai'Den Thomas's junior season at UNLV (2025).

Jai'Den Thomas

58%match

UNLV · 2025

All-Mountain West
#2

Jahmyr Gibbs

Alabama · 2022

All-SECNFL Rd 1 · Pk 12
58%
#3

Brandon Chatman

Navy · 2025

54%
#4

Daylan Smothers

NC State · 2025

53%
#5

Keshawn King

Virginia Tech · 2022

52%

Matches Jai'Den on

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Differs from Jai'Den on

Class year (lower)
Yards / reception (higher)
Height (higher)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

Pass share

53.7%

460 pass / 396 run

Plays / game

65.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.4%

333 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2024
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2025
Rhett Lashlee
SMU

Played his entire career under Rhett Lashlee.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFort Lauderdale, FL
Height6'0"
Weight184 lb
Class2
PositionRB
Jersey6

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 Miami RB2 #524 #417 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 Miami RB2 #1175 #1084 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | ACC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 SMU ACC RB 2 No. 6 | 6-0 | 184 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL
2024 Miami ACC RB 2 No. 6 | 6-0 | 184 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL
2023 Miami ACC RB 2 No. 6 | 6-0 | 184 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL