CFB Zeitgeist Score
82
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 80th percentile.
Daveren Rayner
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
69 TACKLES · 2 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Kentucky for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Linebacker · Kentucky
Returning around him
- 27% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- 4 Kentucky players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +2 net (29 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Kentucky · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #27 · 2026 recruiting class #29
LB · KENTUCKY · SEC
Daveren Rayner
- 4
- #7
- 6-2 | 217 lb
- Indianapolis, IN
Heisman Heat
#9992
<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 LB AWARD
Butkus
—
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
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3-star | 0.8237 | No. 2058 recruit | HighSchool | Northern Illinois |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Northern Illinois -> Kentucky | 3-star | 0.8700 | Immediate |
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—
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 Northern Illinois
Composite
0.8237
#2058 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
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 Daveren Rayner
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 Daveren Rayner
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 12g
69Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
2Sacks
Per game
6Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
75Tackles
7Tackles for loss
2.2Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 69): needs 11/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 69): needs 31/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 2): needs 4/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 2): needs 8/game over remaining 1.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Daveren Rayner is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kentucky's defense, with 2.0 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, and 2 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 | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
69 94th
SOLO
32 90th
TFL
6.5 93rd
SACK
2.0 90th
QBH
2 66th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
4 84th
INT
2 87th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-16vs Toledo | 6 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 23-30vs Ole Miss | 8 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-23vs Eastern Michigan | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-35@ South Carolina | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | L 14-35@ Georgia | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 13-16vs Texas | 3 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 34-56vs Tennessee | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 10-3@ Auburn | 8 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-7vs Florida | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-10vs Tennessee Tech | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-45@ Vanderbilt | 15 | 8 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | Season-high 15 tackles |
| Wk 14 | L 0-41@ Louisville | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Total | 69 | 32 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 2 | 4 |
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
2021Northern Illinois9-4HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, fast tempo
2022Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning
2023Kentucky7-6HC: Mark Stoops · Balanced, slow tempo
2024Kentucky4-8HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Kentucky5-7HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kentucky | 69 | 32 | 6.5 | 2.0 | 4 | 2 | -- |
| 2024 | Kentucky | 13 | 7 | 3.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Kentucky | 30 | 18 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | 71 | 30 | 5.0 | 3.5 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | 30 | 24 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 5 loaded seasons | 213 | 111 | 18.5 | 6.5 | 5 | 2 | -- |
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 | 69 | #280/4942 | 94th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 6.5 | #340/4972 | 93rd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 2.0 | #491/4972 | 90th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 2 | #114/869 | 87th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 4 | #340/2184 | 84th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 2 | #647/1878 | 66th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 32 | #448/4584 | 90th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return yards | 25 | #260/578 | 55th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return avg | 12.5 | #319/578 | 45th pct | Takeawaysvs 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
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Butkus 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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.6 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Road5g | 7.4 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins5g | 5.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Losses7g | 6.0 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 5.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 5.9 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.6 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
82All-Conference
Elite: tackles (90th). Strength: tackles for loss (87th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · LB · 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
Daveren RaynerKentuckyMarsel McDuffieUNLV· 93% simGavin MoulDelaware· 93% simColton PharesApp State· 91% sim
Tackles
Tackles for loss
Passes defended
Solo tackles
Sacks
Interceptions
QB hurries
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Coverage 'Backer
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Trey Cobb’s 2021 season.
Trey Cobb
82%match
All-Sun Belt
#2
Ty'Ron Hopper
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 28
79%
#3
Jailin Walker
79%
#4
Martavius French
79%
#5
Ferrod Gardner
79%
Matches Trey on
Tackle volume
TFL rate
Weight
Differs from Trey on
Class year (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Stoops
Pass share
46.2%
366 pass / 427 run
Plays / game
66.1
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
10.0%
280 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
1 coach2021
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2022
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2023
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2024
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2025
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
Played his entire career under Mark Stoops.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownIndianapolis, IN
Height6'2"
Weight217 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey7
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamKentucky
ConferenceSEC
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | Kentucky | LB4 | #9992 | #10111 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | SEC |
| 2023 | Kentucky | LB4 | #10101 | #10154 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | SEC |
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | LB4 | #11412 | #12216 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Mid-American |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | LB4 | #13341 | #13377 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Mid-American |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kentucky | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 7 | 6-2 | 217 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2024 | Kentucky | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 7 | 6-2 | 217 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2023 | Kentucky | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 7 | 6-2 | 217 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2022 | Northern Illinois | Mid-American | LB | 4 | No. 7 | 6-2 | 217 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2021 | Northern Illinois | Mid-American | LB | 4 | No. 7 | 6-2 | 217 lb | Indianapolis, IN |