cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cortez Braham /Memphis

Cortez Braham

WR · Memphis · Sr · #4

Filling the Shoesas of 2026-06-22

Cortez Braham is a cornerstone for Memphis — measured against the line he joined.

889REC YDS63REC8REC TD

TEAM RECEIVING YARDS LEADER

889

Team leader in receiving yards (889).

Read the story so far

He lines up at WR for Memphis.

On the field, the headline is 889 rec yds, with 63 rec.

He inherited the WR job from Roc Taylor (3-star). How many games until Jadon Thompson (4★) takes the job from Cortez Braham?

The clock is the open loop — and it is already ticking.

WR successioncontinuity
  • Inherited fromRoc Taylor 3★
  • Pushed byJadon Thompson 4★
  • How many games until Jadon Thompson (4★) takes the job from Cortez Braham?
Why nowThe WR job is the open question heading into 2026.
  • season totals
  • Team leader in receiving yards (889).
  • throne-line + Filling-the-Shoes

AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Memphis for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Memphis for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Memphis

Returning around him

  • 12% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 Memphis player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +4 net (51 in / 47 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Memphis · Last season: 8-5 (AP #22) · Talent rank #59 · 2026 recruiting class #60

WR · MEMPHIS · AMERICAN ATHLETIC

Cortez Braham

  • 4
  • #4
  • 6-2 | 197 lb
  • Baltimore, MD

CFB Zeitgeist Score

87

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by rec yards at the 93rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#728

<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
1472022
17.02023
7242024
8892025

+505%

Up 505% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
3 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionWR
Class4
Jersey4
Measurements6-2 | 197 lb
HometownBaltimore, MD
Primary teamMemphis

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

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#728Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#1100Where 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 (889).

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.

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 Cortez Braham

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

Awaiting per-cohort signal

Sample 0 mentions
Confidence BELOW-FLOOR

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmRivals: 2 mentions · belief +0 · "The cumulative link to the preseason rankings can be found [here]( https://www.r"Rivals
  • Rivals · n=2

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Cortez Braham

Only 2 rival mention(s) — below the 4-mention floor for a defensible read.

2025 Signature · 2025 season

Yards per reception

14.1

yds

All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions

National rank #153 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 71st

Why it matters

#153 of 531 All FBS WRs at 14.1 yards per reception (63 catches).

Vs cohort

This player 14.1 (71th)

HIGH · n=63 cohort 531

  • Also strong
  • Receiving yards (total)#37 / 531
  • Receiving TDs#23 / 531

Signature Moment

Week 5 at Florida Atlantic — 127 ypr

Result W 55-26

The week the volume broke through — put up 127 yds at Florida Atlantic.

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 12g
889Rec yards
63Receptions
8Rec TDs
Per game
74.1Rec yards
5Receptions
1Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
963.1Rec yards
68Receptions
9Rec TDs

✓ Hit 700-yard receiver · finished with 889.

To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 889): needs 111/game over remaining 1.

✓ Hit 60-catch season · finished with 63.

To hit 80-catch season (currently 63): needs 17/game over remaining 1.

✓ Hit 8 receiving TDs · finished with 8.

To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 8): needs 2/game over remaining 1.

What made this player interesting

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

Cortez Braham's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Memphis, 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 #728 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 10.3% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

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 63 8 rec TD | #44/1110 (96th pct)
Receiving yards 889 14.1 per catch | #40/1107 (96th pct)
Scrimmage yards 889 Total offensive yardage | #40/1107 (96th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Target magnet against FBS receiving peers.

Target magnet

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Receiving

REC
63 96th
YDS
889 96th
YPR
14.1 69th
TD
8 98th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppRECYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 45-10vs Chattanooga35217.3125
Wk 2W 38-16@ Georgia State23216.0021
Wk 3W 28-7@ Troy46917.3030
Wk 4W 32-31vs Arkansas710214.6138
Wk 5W 55-26@ Florida Atlantic612721.2273Season-high 127 yds
Wk 6W 45-7vs Tulsa22613.0114
Wk 8L 24-31@ UAB58316.6030
Wk 9W 34-31vs South Florida77510.72182 TD catches
Wk 10W 38-14@ Rice36622.0030
Wk 11L 32-38vs Tulane1111310.3032
Wk 12L 27-31@ East Carolina9798.8019
Wk 14L 17-28vs Navy46516.3138
Total6388915.3873
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

2022West Virginia5-7HC: Neal Brown · Balanced
2023West Virginia9-4HC: Neal Brown · Run-heavy
2024Nevada3-10HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning
2025Memphis8-5HC: Ryan Silverfield · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Memphis6388914.18--
2024Nevada5672412.94--
2023West Virginia3175.70--
2022West Virginia1414710.50--
Career4 loaded seasons1361,77713.112--
SeasonTeam
2025Memphis----------
2024Nevada11------
2023West Virginia----------
2022West Virginia----------
Career4 loaded seasons11------
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 10.3% 21.6% pass-game share | #66/1137 (94th pct)
Return yards 0 0 return TD
Touchdowns 8 Across offense and returns | #23/1111 (98th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Receiving Receptions 63 #44/1110 96th pct Volumevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving yards 889 #40/1107 96th pct Volumevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving TD 8 #23/1111 98th pct Scoringvs FBS WR
Receiving Yards / catch 14.1 #340/1106 69th pct Efficiencyvs FBS WR
Usage Pass share 21.6% #66/1137 94th pct Air-game usagevs FBS WR
Receiving Receiving LONG 73 #75/1105 93rd pct Metricvs FBS WR
Usage Passing-down usage 15.5% #37/1137 97th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS WR
Usage 3rd-down usage 13.0% #96/1137 92nd pct Money-down loadvs FBS WR
Usage 2nd-down usage 11.9% #61/1137 95th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS WR
Usage Role share 10.3% #88/1137 92nd pct Share of team offensevs FBS WR
Usage Standard-down usage 8.0% #148/1137 87th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS WR
Usage 1st-down usage 7.3% #216/1137 81st pct Early-down loadvs 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Home6g5.772.213.71.0
Road6g4.876.017.00.3

Win vs Loss

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Wins8g4.268.616.50.9
Losses4g7.285.013.00.2

First half vs Second half

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Weeks 1-76g4.068.016.60.8
Weeks 8+6g6.580.214.10.5

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

87All-Conference
5 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec tds (94th). Strength: rec yards (92nd).

Rec TDs#23 / 558 · 95th pct
8rece
Rec yards#40 / 558 · 93rd pct
889rece
Receptions#44 / 558 · 92nd pct
63rece
Long catch#69 / 558 · 87th pct
73rece
Yards / catch#192 / 558 · 65th pct
14.1rece

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
Cortez BrahamMemphisDenzel BostonWashington· 96% simBeau SparksTexas State· 96% simTed HurstGeorgia State· 95% sim
Rec TDs
95
Braham
98
Boston
98
Sparks
87
Hurst
Rec yards
93
Braham
92
Boston
99
Sparks
96
Hurst
Receptions
92
Braham
91
Boston
99
Sparks
97
Hurst
Long catch
87
Braham
94
Boston
87
Sparks
84
Hurst
Yards / catch
65
Braham
66
Boston
68
Sparks
65
Hurst

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

Player DNA

The Slot Technician

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

WR

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tre Harris’s 2022 season.

Tre Harris

86%match

Louisiana Tech · 2022

All-Conference USANFL Rd 2 · Pk 23
#2

Rashee Rice

SMU · 2020

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 24
76%
#3

Griffin Wilde

Northwestern · 2025

All-Big Ten
78%
#4

Ja'Corey Brooks

Louisville · 2024

77%
#5

Josh Kelly

Washington State · 2023

76%

Matches Tre on

Total EPA (college ability)
Weight
TD rate

Differs from Tre on

Class year (higher)

Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Josh Imatorbhebhe’s path through Illinois.

Josh Imatorbhebhe

99%match

Illinois · 2020

#2

Tauskie Dove

Memphis · 2023

98%
#3

Jadon Thompson

Memphis · 2025

98%
#4

Rashod Bateman

Minnesota · 2020

All-Big TenNFL Rd 1 · Pk 27
98%
#5

Keshunn Abram

Kent State · 2021

98%

Matches Josh on

Yards per reception

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Elijah Spencer's senior season at Minnesota (2024).

Elijah Spencer

82%match

Minnesota · 2024

#2

O'Mega Blake

Arkansas · 2025

All-AAC
82%
#3

Theo Wease Jr.

Missouri · 2023

82%
#4

Germie Bernard

Alabama · 2025

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 15
82%
#5

Casey Washington

Illinois · 2023

NFL Rd 6
78%

Matches Elijah on

Weight
TD rate
Yards / reception

Differs from Elijah on

EPA / play (adj) (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Ryan Silverfield

Pass share

46.9%

412 pass / 466 run

Plays / game

67.5

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.2%

285 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2023
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2024
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis
2025
Ryan Silverfield
Memphis

Played his entire career under Ryan Silverfield.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownBaltimore, MD
Height6'2"
Weight197 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 Nevada WR4 #728 #1100 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 West Virginia WR4 #2702 #2593 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 West Virginia WR4 #2324 #2678 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Memphis American Athletic WR 4 No. 4 | 6-2 | 197 lb | Baltimore, MD
2024 Nevada Mountain West WR 4 No. 4 | 6-2 | 197 lb | Baltimore, MD
2023 West Virginia Big 12 WR 4 No. 4 | 6-2 | 197 lb | Baltimore, MD
2022 West Virginia Big 12 WR 4 No. 4 | 6-2 | 197 lb | Baltimore, MD