cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / DJ Wesolak /Missouri State

DJ Wesolak

DL · Missouri State · Jr · #7

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

30 TACKLES · 4 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Missouri State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Missouri State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Missouri State

Returning around him

  • Transfer portal: +8 net (19 in / 11 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Missouri State · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #129 · 2026 recruiting class #133

DL · MISSOURI STATE · CONFERENCE USA

DJ Wesolak

  • 3
  • #7
  • 6-4 | 255 lb
  • Boonville, MO

CFB Zeitgeist Score

79

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

Heisman Heat

#13065

<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

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#166 national
CFB
College
Missouri State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class3
Jersey7
Measurements6-4 | 255 lb
HometownBoonville, MO
Primary teamMissouri State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 166 recruit
Composite rating 0.9338 HighSchool
Signed with Missouri 2022
Origin Boonville Boonville, MO, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 4-star | 0.9338 No. 166 recruit | HighSchool | Missouri

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#13065Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#12933Where 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 Missouri

Composite

0.9338

#166 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 DJ Wesolak

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 DJ Wesolak

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 11g
30Tackles
5.5Tackles for loss
4Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.4Sacks
Projected (13g)
35Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
4.7Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 30): needs 25/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 30): needs 35/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 4): needs 1/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 4): needs 3/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.

DJ Wesolak is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Missouri State's defense, with 4.0 sacks, 5.5 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 #13065 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 166 recruit

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 30 16 solo | #1362/4942 (72nd pct)
TFL 5.5 Backfield disruption | #477/4972 (90th pct)
Sacks 4.0 Pass-rush finish | #169/4972 (97th 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
30 72nd
SOLO
16 71st
TFL
5.5 90th
SACK
4.0 97th
QBH
5 90th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
FF
1 84th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 13-73@ USC220.00.00
Wk 2W 21-20@ Marshall210.50.00
Wk 3L 10-28vs SMU111.00.00
Wk 4W 42-10vs UT Martin210.00.00
Wk 5L 22-27vs Western Kentucky000.00.01
Wk 7W 22-20@ Middle Tennessee100.00.00
Wk 9W 24-17@ New Mexico State300.00.00
Wk 11W 21-17@ Liberty330.00.00
Wk 12W 38-24vs UTEP752.52.51Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 13L 34-41@ Kennesaw State721.51.50
Wk 14L 30-42vs Louisiana Tech210.00.00
Total30165.54.02
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

2025Missouri State7-6HC: Ryan Beard · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Missouri State30165.54.02--1
Career1 loaded season30165.54.02--1
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 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th pct)
QB pressures 5 Quarterback hurries | #188/1878 (90th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 30 #1362/4942 72nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 5.5 #477/4972 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 4.0 #169/4972 97th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 5 #188/1878 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 16 #1348/4584 71st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 2 #13/736 98th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Forced fumbles 1 #8/45 84th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Ball Security Fumbles lost 1 #753/773 3rd pct Turnoversvs 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g2.40.70.50.4
Road6g3.00.30.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g3.00.50.40.2
Losses5g2.40.50.30.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g1.30.20.00.2
Weeks 8+5g4.40.80.80.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

79All-Conference
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (96th). Strength: sacks (93rd).

Forced fumbles#8 / 687 · 97th pct
1fumb
Sacks#169 / 2975 · 93rd pct
4.0defe
QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct
5defe
Tackles for loss#477 / 2975 · 83rd pct
5.5defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Tackles#1362 / 2975 · 53rd pct
30defe
Solo tackles#1348 / 2975 · 53rd pct
16defe

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

Advanced Savant · DL · 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 · 7 metrics
DJ WesolakMissouri StateRay ConeyTulsa· 74% simJohn MillerUtah State· 74% simTreylin PayneTexas State· 74% sim
Forced fumbles
97
Wesolak
Sacks
93
Wesolak
80
Coney
99
Miller
80
Payne
QB hurries
92
Wesolak
88
Coney
98
Miller
82
Payne
Tackles for loss
83
Wesolak
90
Coney
96
Miller
87
Payne
Passes defended
67
Wesolak
67
Coney
78
Miller
67
Payne
Tackles
53
Wesolak
100
Coney
99
Miller
98
Payne
Solo tackles
53
Wesolak
93
Coney
92
Miller
95
Payne

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

Player DNA

The 3-Tech Penetrator

Disruptive interior rusher who lives in the backfield.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Caiden Woullard’s 2022 season.

Caiden Woullard

93%match

Miami (OH) · 2022

#2

Caiden Woullard

Oklahoma · 2024

88%
#3

Victor Jones

Wyoming · 2021

88%
#4

Brian Ugwu

Miami (OH) · 2023

All-MAC
86%
#5

Jaxon Howard

Minnesota · 2025

85%

Matches Caiden on

Weight
TFL rate
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Avery Dunn's sophomore season at Michigan State (2022).

Avery Dunn

86%match

Michigan State · 2022

#2

Tyreke Smith

Ohio State · 2021

All-Big TenNFL Rd 5
85%
#3

Malachi Davis

Toledo · 2024

All-MAC
84%
#4

Ty Shelby

UL Monroe · 2021

83%
#5

Victor Jones

Wyoming · 2021

83%

Matches Avery on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Ryan Beard

Pass share

51.9%

433 pass / 401 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

13.0%

307 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Ryan Beard
Missouri State

Played his entire career under Ryan Beard.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownBoonville, MO
Height6'4"
Weight255 lb
Class3
PositionDL
Jersey7

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 Oregon State DL3 #13065 #12933 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Pac-12
2023 Missouri DL3 #7437 #7200 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC
2022 Missouri DL3 #10861 #10764 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Missouri State Conference USA DL 3 No. 7 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Boonville, MO
2024 Oregon State Pac-12 DL 3 No. 7 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Boonville, MO
2023 Missouri SEC DL 3 No. 7 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Boonville, MO
2022 Missouri SEC DL 3 No. 7 | 6-4 | 255 lb | Boonville, MO