CFB Zeitgeist Score
72
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 89th percentile.
Damonte Smith
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
33 TACKLES · 3 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Middle Tennessee for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Nose tackle · Middle Tennessee
Returning around him
- 99% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
- 1 Middle Tennessee player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +1 net (19 in / 18 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Middle Tennessee · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #110 · 2026 recruiting class #98
NT · MIDDLE TENNESSEE · CONFERENCE USA
Damonte Smith
- 4
- #92
- 6-1 | 301 lb
- Savannah, GA
Heisman Heat
#15389
<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 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
3 seasons on the ladder
2022
Middle Tennessee · NT
—
2023
Middle Tennessee · NT
—
★
2025
Middle Tennessee · NT
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
Middle Tennessee
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#8 in market ▼ from #6 · 4 books
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
| 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 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
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 Damonte Smith
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 Damonte Smith
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 11g
33Tackles
11Tackles for loss
3Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0.3Sacks
Projected (13g)
39Tackles
13Tackles for loss
3.5Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 33): needs 23.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 33): needs 33.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 3): needs 1.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 3): needs 3.5/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.
Damonte Smith is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Middle Tennessee's defense, with 3.0 sacks, 11.0 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.
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 against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
33 76th
SOLO
21 79th
TFL
11.0 99th
SACK
3.0 94th
QBH
4 85th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
2 64th
INT
1 65th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 14-34vs Austin Peay | 5 | 3 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 2 | L 10-42@ Wisconsin | 3 | 2 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 14-13@ Nevada | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 28-42vs Marshall | 5 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 16-24@ Kennesaw State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | L 20-22vs Missouri State | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 9 | L 28-31@ Delaware | 5 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | L 30-56vs Florida International | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 26-42@ Western Kentucky | 1 | 0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | W 31-17vs Sam Houston | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 31-24@ New Mexico State | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 21 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 1 | 2 |
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
2022Middle Tennessee8-5HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced
2023Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced
2025Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | 33 | 21 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 2 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | 7 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Middle Tennessee | 13 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 53 | 28 | 13.0 | 3.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
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 | 33 | #1194/4942 | 76th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 11.0 | #74/4972 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 3.0 | #292/4972 | 94th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 1 | #308/869 | 65th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 2 | #792/2184 | 64th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 4 | #291/1878 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 21 | #959/4584 | 79th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return avg | 7.0 | #406/578 | 30th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return yards | 7 | #437/578 | 25th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Road6g | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins3g | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Losses8g | 3.4 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the NT cohort
72Solid starter
Elite: tackles for loss (97th). Strength: sacks (88th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · NT · 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
Damonte SmithMiddle TennesseeJordan CrookArizona State· 80% simRay ConeyTulsa· 80% simTreylin PayneTexas State· 79% sim
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Passes defended
Solo tackles
Tackles
Interceptions
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 Jerron Cage’s 2021 season.
Jerron Cage
82%match
#2
Jaxon Player
All-AAC
81%
#3
Zane Durant
NFL Rd 5
78%
#4
Dom Peterson
All-Mountain West
76%
#5
O'Bryan Goodson
76%
Matches Jerron on
TFL rate
Weight
Sack rate
Differs from Jerron on
Height (lower)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Lawrence Johnson's senior season at Auburn (2023).
Lawrence Johnson
71%match
#2
D'Anta Johnson
All-AAC
69%
#3
Patrick Jenkins
All-AAC
68%
#4
Deandre Jules
67%
#5
Xavier Ross
67%
Matches Lawrence on
Class year
Sack rate
Weight
Differs from Lawrence on
TFL rate (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Derek Mason
Pass share
61.3%
495 pass / 313 run
Plays / game
67.3
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
8.6%
373 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
2 coaches2022
Rick Stockstill
Middle Tennessee
2023
Rick Stockstill
Middle Tennessee
2025era →
Derek Mason
Middle Tennessee
Coaching transition mid-career: Rick Stockstill → Derek Mason. 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.
HometownSavannah, GA
Height6'1"
Weight301 lb
Class4
PositionNT
Jersey92
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamMiddle Tennessee
ConferenceConference USA
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-Conference USA
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-Conference USA | all_conference | Conference USA | DT |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | NT4 | #15389 | #15555 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Conference USA |
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | NT4 | #12661 | #12683 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Conference USA |
| 2022 | Middle Tennessee | NT4 | #11535 | #11528 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Conference USA |
| 2021 | Middle Tennessee | NT4 | #12492 | #12390 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Conference USA |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | NT | 4 | No. 92 | 6-1 | 301 lb | Savannah, GA |
| 2024 | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | NT | 4 | No. 92 | 6-1 | 301 lb | Savannah, GA |
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | NT | 4 | No. 92 | 6-1 | 301 lb | Savannah, GA |
| 2022 | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | NT | 4 | No. 92 | 6-1 | 301 lb | Savannah, GA |
| 2021 | Middle Tennessee | Conference USA | NT | 4 | No. 92 | 6-1 | 301 lb | Savannah, GA |