cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Dominic Oliver /Western Kentucky

Dominic Oliver

LB · Western Kentucky · Sr · #9

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

20 TACKLES · 3 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Western Kentucky for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Western Kentucky for 2026

Updated May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Linebacker · Western Kentucky

Returning around him

  • 33% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -3 net (19 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Western Kentucky · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #100 · 2026 recruiting class #96

LB · WESTERN KENTUCKY · CONFERENCE USA

Dominic Oliver

  • 4
  • #9
  • 6-3 | 250 lb
  • San Jose, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

50

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 89th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14626

<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 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1491 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey9
Measurements6-3 | 250 lb
HometownSan Jose, CA
Primary teamWestern Kentucky

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1491 recruit
Composite rating 0.8389 HighSchool
Signed with San Diego State 2021
Origin Valley Christian San Jose, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8389 No. 1491 recruit | HighSchool | San Diego State

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#14626Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#14713Where 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 San Diego State

Composite

0.8389

#1491 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 Dominic Oliver

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 Dominic Oliver

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 9g
20Tackles
4Tackles for loss
3Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.4Tackles for loss
0.3Sacks
Projected (13g)
29Tackles
5.8Tackles for loss
4.3Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 20): needs 15/game over remaining 4.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 20): needs 20/game over remaining 4.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 3): needs 0.8/game over remaining 4.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 3): needs 1.8/game over remaining 4.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Dominic Oliver is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Western Kentucky's defense, with 3.0 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 #14626 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

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 20 11 solo | #1998/4942 (60th pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th pct)
Sacks 3.0 Pass-rush finish | #292/4972 (94th 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
20 60th
SOLO
11 60th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
3.0 94th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 55-6vs North Alabama542.01.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 2L 21-45@ Toledo500.00.00
Wk 5W 27-22@ Missouri State110.00.00
Wk 8L 6-25vs Florida International220.00.00
Wk 9W 28-27@ Louisiana Tech100.00.00
Wk 10W 35-16vs New Mexico State111.01.00
Wk 13L 10-13@ LSU331.01.00
Wk 14L 34-37@ Jacksonville State100.00.00
BowlW 27-16@ Southern Miss100.00.00
Total20114.03.00
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

2022San Diego State7-6HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2023San Diego State4-8HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning
2025Western Kentucky9-4HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Western Kentucky20114.03.0------
2023San Diego State211.01.0------
2022San Diego State110.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons23135.04.0------
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 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 20 #1998/4942 60th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 3.0 #292/4972 94th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 11 #1855/4584 60th 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 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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home3g2.71.00.70.0
Road6g2.00.20.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g1.80.60.40.0
Losses4g2.80.20.20.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g3.00.50.20.0
Weeks 8+5g1.60.40.40.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

50Mid-pack
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (88th). Concern: passes defended (17th).

Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct
3.0defe
Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct
11defe
Tackles#1998 / 2975 · 32nd pct
20defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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
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
Dominic OliverWestern KentuckyMichael MontgomerySouthern Miss· 61% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 59% simJackson KuwatchMiami (OH)· 58% sim
Sacks
89
Oliver
89
Montgomery
63
Vaughns
96
Kuwatch
Tackles for loss
73
Oliver
85
Montgomery
85
Vaughns
96
Kuwatch
Solo tackles
35
Oliver
82
Montgomery
96
Vaughns
95
Kuwatch
Tackles
32
Oliver
99
Montgomery
99
Vaughns
98
Kuwatch
QB hurries
22
Oliver
22
Montgomery
22
Vaughns
55
Kuwatch
Passes defended
18
Oliver
67
Montgomery
48
Vaughns
48
Kuwatch

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

Player DNA

The Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to David Bailey’s 2023 season.

David Bailey

82%match

Stanford · 2023

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 2
#2

Chris Victor

California · 2025

78%
#3

John Pius

Wisconsin · 2024

76%
#4

Nate Givhan

Toledo · 2022

76%
#5

Aakil Washington

Liberty · 2021

75%

Matches David on

TFL rate
Weight
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Kameron Butler's senior season at Virginia (2023).

Kameron Butler

90%match

Virginia · 2023

All-MAC
#2

Michael Fairbanks II

UAB · 2023

89%
#3

Boone Bonnema

Western Michigan · 2023

89%
#4

Marlon Bradley

Florida Atlantic · 2023

87%
#5

Quashon Fuller

Maryland · 2023

84%

Matches Kameron on

Class year
TFL rate
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

Pass share

54.9%

492 pass / 404 run

Plays / game

68.9

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.5%

366 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Tyson Helton
Western Kentucky
2023
Tyson Helton
Western Kentucky
2025
Tyson Helton
Western Kentucky

Played his entire career under Tyson Helton.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownSan Jose, CA
Height6'3"
Weight250 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey9

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 San Diego State LB4 #14626 #14713 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 San Diego State LB4 #14080 #14160 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 San Diego State LB4 #11576 #11379 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Western Kentucky Conference USA LB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 250 lb | San Jose, CA
2024 San Diego State Mountain West LB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 250 lb | San Jose, CA
2023 San Diego State Mountain West LB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 250 lb | San Jose, CA
2022 San Diego State Mountain West LB 4 No. 9 | 6-3 | 250 lb | San Jose, CA