cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Darin Conley /Ball State

Darin Conley

DT · Ball State · So · #33

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

24 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Ball State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Ball State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · Ball State

Returning around him

  • 8% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +6 net (24 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Ball State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #115 · 2026 recruiting class #119

DT · BALL STATE · MID-AMERICAN

Darin Conley

  • 2
  • #33
  • 6-3 | 277 lb
  • Kansas City, MO

CFB Zeitgeist Score

60

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 74th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#15639

<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 · Starter

R06 · Starter

Starter. A locked-in starting role.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Ball State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDT
Class2
Jersey33
Measurements6-3 | 277 lb
HometownKansas City, MO
Primary teamBall State

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#15639Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#15734Where 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.

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 Darin Conley

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 Darin Conley

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 10g
24Tackles
4Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.4Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
31Tackles
5.2Tackles for loss
1.9Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 24): needs 18.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 24): needs 25.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 1.5/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 2.8/game over remaining 3.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Darin Conley is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Ball State's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 4.0 tackles for loss, and -- 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 #15639 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.5 sacks | 4.0 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 24 10 solo | #1737/4942 (65th pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th pct)
Sacks 1.5 Pass-rush finish | #724/4972 (85th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
24 65th
SOLO
10 56th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
1.5 85th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 0-31@ Purdue110.00.00
Wk 2L 3-42@ Auburn110.00.00
Wk 3W 34-29vs New Hampshire321.50.50
Wk 4L 25-31@ UConn300.00.00
Wk 6W 20-14vs Ohio200.00.00
Wk 7L 0-42@ Western Michigan000.00.01
Wk 8W 42-28vs Akron521.01.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 9L 7-21@ Northern Illinois210.00.00
Wk 12L 9-24vs Eastern Michigan510.50.00
Wk 13L 9-38@ Toledo221.00.00
Total24104.01.51
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

2025Ball State4-8HC: Mike Uremovich · Run-heavy, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Ball State24104.01.51----
Career1 loaded season24104.01.51----
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
QB pressures 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 24 #1737/4942 65th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.5 #724/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 10 #1996/4584 56th pct Volumevs 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 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g3.80.80.40.0
Road6g1.50.20.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins3g3.30.80.50.0
Losses7g2.00.20.00.1

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g1.70.20.10.2
Weeks 8+4g3.50.60.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

60Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

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

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct
1.5defe
Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Tackles#1737 / 2975 · 40th pct
24defe
Solo tackles#1996 / 2975 · 31st pct
10defe

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

Advanced Savant · DT · 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 · 6 metrics
Darin ConleyBall StateTreylin PayneTexas State· 63% simDaniel WingateMaryland· 63% simRay ConeyTulsa· 63% sim
Sacks
74
Conley
80
Payne
74
Wingate
80
Coney
Tackles for loss
73
Conley
87
Payne
87
Wingate
90
Coney
QB hurries
72
Conley
82
Payne
72
Wingate
88
Coney
Passes defended
48
Conley
67
Payne
48
Wingate
67
Coney
Tackles
40
Conley
98
Payne
98
Wingate
100
Coney
Solo tackles
31
Conley
95
Payne
99
Wingate
93
Coney

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 Nolan Cockrill’s 2021 season.

Nolan Cockrill

89%match

Army · 2021

#2

Corey McIntyre Jr.

West Virginia · 2025

86%
#3

Sid Kaba

Marshall · 2025

86%
#4

Wilky Denaud

Florida Atlantic · 2025

84%
#5

Jerod Smith II

Kentucky · 2025

82%

Matches Nolan on

Sack rate
Weight
Height

Differs from Nolan on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Corey McIntyre Jr.'s sophomore season at West Virginia (2025).

Corey McIntyre Jr.

88%match

West Virginia · 2025

#2

Marquaze Parker

Cincinnati · 2025

84%
#3

Jerod Smith II

Kentucky · 2025

83%
#4

Nolan Cockrill

Army · 2021

83%
#5

Francis Brewu

Pittsburgh · 2025

82%

Matches Corey on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mike Uremovich

Pass share

38.2%

277 pass / 449 run

Plays / game

60.5

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

19.6%

265 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Mike Uremovich
Ball State

Played his entire career under Mike Uremovich.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownKansas City, MO
Height6'3"
Weight277 lb
Class2
PositionDT
Jersey33

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 Ball State DT2 #15639 #15734 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Ball State DT2 #13849 #13764 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Ball State Mid-American DT 2 No. 33 | 6-3 | 277 lb | Kansas City, MO
2024 Ball State Mid-American DT 2 No. 33 | 6-3 | 277 lb | Kansas City, MO
2023 Ball State Mid-American DT 2 No. 33 | 6-3 | 277 lb | Kansas City, MO