cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Earl Little II /Florida State

Earl Little II

DB · Florida State · Jr

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

76 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Florida State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Florida State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Florida State

Returning around him

  • 13% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 Florida State player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -21 net (22 in / 43 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Florida State · Last season: 5-7 (AP #25) · Talent rank #19 · 2026 recruiting class #19

DB · FLORIDA STATE · ACC

Earl Little II

  • 3
  • 6-1 | 193 lb
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

59

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 95th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13793

<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 DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#106 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class3
Jersey--
Measurements6-1 | 193 lb
HometownFort Lauderdale, FL
Primary teamFlorida State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 106 recruit
Composite rating 0.9552 HighSchool
Signed with Alabama 2022
Origin American Heritage Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 4-star | 0.9552 No. 106 recruit | HighSchool | Alabama

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#13793Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13927Where 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 Alabama

Composite

0.9552

#106 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 Earl Little II

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 Earl Little II

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 12g
76Tackles
2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
6Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
82Tackles
2.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 76): needs 4/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 76): needs 24/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/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.

Earl Little II is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Florida State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 2.0 tackles for loss, and 4 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 #13793 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 106 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 76 33 solo | #192/4942 (96th pct)
TFL 2.0 Backfield disruption | #1443/4972 (71st pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
76 96th
SOLO
33 91st
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
INT
4 97th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 31-17vs Alabama941.00.00
Wk 2W 77-3vs East Texas A&M210.00.011
Wk 4W 66-10vs Kent State420.00.00
Wk 5L 38-46@ Virginia1340.00.00Season-high 13 tackles
Wk 6L 22-28vs Miami720.00.00
Wk 7L 31-34vs Pittsburgh540.00.010
Wk 8L 13-20@ Stanford521.00.010
Wk 10W 42-7vs Wake Forest730.00.010
Wk 11L 10-24@ Clemson520.00.00
Wk 12W 34-14vs Virginia Tech640.00.01
Wk 13L 11-21@ NC State620.00.00
Wk 14L 21-40@ Florida730.00.00
Total76332.00.042
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

2023Alabama12-2HC: Nick Saban · Run-heavy
2025Florida State5-7HC: Mike Norvell · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Florida State76332.00.024--
2023Alabama210.00.0------
Career2 loaded seasons78342.00.024--
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 4 0 pick-six TD | #23/869 (97th pct)
Pass breakups 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th pct)
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 76 #192/4942 96th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.0 #1443/4972 71st pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 4 #23/869 97th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 83 #31/578 95th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 33 #417/4584 91st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 20.8 #200/578 66th 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

StatusAwaiting tracker

The Thorpe 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/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g5.70.10.00.3
Road5g7.20.20.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g5.60.20.00.4
Losses7g6.90.10.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g6.70.20.00.2
Weeks 8+6g6.00.20.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

59Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (95th). Strength: tackles (93rd). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Interceptions#23 / 817 · 95th pct
4inte
Tackles#192 / 2975 · 93rd pct
76defe
Solo tackles#417 / 2975 · 85th pct
33defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct
2.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DB · 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
Earl Little IIFlorida StateTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 88% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 81% simDevin LafayetteTroy· 80% sim
Interceptions
95
II
95
Johnson
75
Lafayette
Tackles
93
II
99
Ra-El
98
Johnson
99
Lafayette
Solo tackles
85
II
100
Ra-El
97
Johnson
98
Lafayette
Passes defended
67
II
91
Ra-El
96
Johnson
91
Lafayette
Tackles for loss
47
II
56
Ra-El
47
Johnson
56
Lafayette
Sacks
24
II
24
Ra-El
63
Johnson
63
Lafayette
QB hurries
22
II
22
Ra-El
22
Johnson
22
Lafayette

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

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Quindell Johnson’s 2022 season.

Quindell Johnson

88%match

Memphis · 2022

All-AAC
#2

Terry Jones Jr.

Old Dominion · 2021

83%
#3

Alex Cook

Washington · 2022

83%
#4

John Pupel

Boston College · 2023

82%
#5

Jamel Johnson

TCU · 2024

82%

Matches Quindell on

Tackle volume
Weight
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Ty Bryant's junior season at Kentucky (2025).

Ty Bryant

87%match

Kentucky · 2025

#2

Wylan Free

Georgia Southern · 2022

86%
#3

Durante Jones

UConn · 2023

84%
#4

Jacquez Warren

Miami (OH) · 2023

78%
#5

Leon Hart Jr.

Florida Atlantic · 2025

77%

Matches Ty on

Class year
Interceptions
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mike Norvell

Pass share

40.3%

339 pass / 502 run

Plays / game

70.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

8.5%

282 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Mike Norvell
Florida State
2025
Mike Norvell
Florida State

Played his entire career under Mike Norvell.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFort Lauderdale, FL
Height6'1"
Weight193 lb
Class3
PositionDB

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 Florida State DB3 #13793 #13927 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 Alabama DB3 #5607 #5349 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC
2022 Alabama DB3 #4652 #4282 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Florida State ACC DB 3 6-1 | 193 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL
2024 Florida State ACC DB 3 6-1 | 193 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL
2023 Alabama SEC DB 3 6-1 | 193 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL
2022 Alabama SEC DB 3 6-1 | 193 lb | Fort Lauderdale, FL