CFB Zeitgeist Score
47
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by rec tds at the 66th percentile.
Elija Lofton
The Hope Economyas of 2026-06-22
Elija Lofton carries five-star expectation into Miami's season — promise, not yet proof.
218REC YDS23REC3REC TD
4★ · NATIONAL RECRUIT
No.274
recruiting national rank
Miami fans treat him as an investment — what he could become outruns what he's done.
medium confidence2 sources
Read the story so far
AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data
2026 Outlook
Returning to Miami for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Tight end · Miami
Returning around him
- 12% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- 9 Miami players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -6 net (13 in / 19 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Miami · Last season: 13-3 (AP #10) · Talent rank #15 · 2026 recruiting class #13
TE · MIAMI · ACC
Elija Lofton
- 2
- #9
- 6-3 | 230 lb
- Las Vegas, NV
Heisman Heat
#584
<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 TE AWARD
Mackey
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2024–2025+45%
Up 45% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
Miami
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4-star | 0.9094 | No. 274 recruit | HighSchool | Miami |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| 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 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 Miami
Composite
0.9094
#274 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 Elija Lofton
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
69
Mixed Sentiment
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=13
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Elija Lofton
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Receiving TDs
3
count
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #222 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 58th
Why it matters
#222 of 531 All FBS WRs in receiving TDs — 3 TDs on 23 receptions.
Vs cohort
This player 3 (58th)
MODERATE · n=23 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Yards per reception#443 / 531
- Receiving yards (total)#485 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 13 at Virginia Tech — 1 receiving_tds
Result W 34-17
The week the volume broke through — stacked 1 td at Virginia Tech.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 13g
218Rec yards
23Receptions
3Rec TDs
Per game
16.8Rec yards
2Receptions
0Rec TDs
Final
218Rec yards
23Receptions
3Rec TDs
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Elija Lofton's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Miami, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
TE 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?
Receiving weapon against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
23 83rd
YDS
218 79th
YPR
9.5 47th
TD
3 91st
Rushing
CAR
3 80th
YDS
11 68th
YPC
3.7 68th
TD
0 69th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 27-24vs Notre Dame | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 2 | W 45-3vs Bethune-Cookman | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 4 | W 26-7vs Florida | 4 | 43 | 10.8 | 0 | 17 | Season-high 43 yds |
| Wk 6 | W 28-22@ Florida State | 3 | 21 | 7.0 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 8 | L 21-24vs Louisville | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 0 | 4 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-7vs Stanford | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 10 | L 20-26@ SMU | 2 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-10vs Syracuse | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 12 | W 41-7vs NC State | 1 | 29 | 29.0 | 1 | 29 | |
| Wk 13 | W 34-17@ Virginia Tech | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 1 | 20 | |
| Wk 14 | W 38-7@ Pittsburgh | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 1 | 9 | |
| Bowl | W 10-3@ Texas A&M | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Bowl | W 31-27@ Ole Miss | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Total | 23 | 218 | 10.5 | 3 | 29 |
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
2024Miami10-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Miami13-3HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The tight end's share of the passing offense, which helps distinguish a featured receiving tight end from a secondary option.
A blended usage view that shows how often the offense flows through the tight end compared with other same-level peers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receptions | 23 | #84/475 | 83rd pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 218 | #99/475 | 79th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 3 | #45/475 | 91st pct | Scoringvs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 9.5 | #254/475 | 47th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Pass share | 6.8% | #187/468 | 60th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS TE |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 11 | #18/53 | 68th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 4 | #23/50 | 56th pct | Metricvs FBS TE |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 3.7 | #18/53 | 68th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS TE |
| Rushing | Carries | 3 | #13/59 | 80th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #20/62 | 69th pct | Scoringvs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 29 | #145/475 | 70th pct | Metricvs FBS TE |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 5.0% | #79/468 | 83rd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 4.0% | #120/468 | 75th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | Role share | 3.6% | #159/468 | 66th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 3.5% | #212/468 | 55th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 2.5% | #301/468 | 36th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 2.0% | #340/468 | 28th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.8% | #21/468 | 96th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS TE |
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 Mackey 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 · 13 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 1.9 | 18.4 | 11.3 | 0.1 |
| Road6g | 1.7 | 14.8 | 9.5 | 0.3 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins11g | 1.8 | 18.2 | 11.4 | 0.3 |
| Losses2g | 1.5 | 9.0 | 5.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.2 | 20.5 | 10.5 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 1.4 | 13.6 | 10.5 | 0.4 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort
47Mid-pack
Concern: yards / catch (29th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · TE · 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
Elija LoftonMiamiRichie AndersonFresno State· 86% simHayden HansenFlorida· 85% simTyler FortenberryArkansas State· 83% sim
Rush yards
Rec TDs
Receptions
Rec yards
Long catch
Rush TDs
Yards / catch
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Complete TE
Dual-threat: blocks when needed, catches when needed. Coveted on both sides.
TE
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Alec Holler’s 2023 season.
Alec Holler
75%match
#2
Dawson Johnson
71%
#3
Tyler Hunt
70%
#4
Jacob Jenkins
70%
#5
Nate Kurisky
70%
Matches Alec on
Weight
Reception volume
Total EPA (college ability)
Differs from Alec on
Class year (lower)
TD rate (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Trey Leckner's sophomore season at Washington State (2025).
Trey Leckner
78%match
#2
Devin Miller
76%
#3
Kylan Fox
75%
#4
Xavier Legette
All-SECNFL Rd 1 · Pk 32
73%
#5
Janiran Bonner
72%
Matches Trey on
Weight
Total EPA (college ability)
EPA / play (adj)
Differs from Trey on
Recruiting rating (higher)
Yards / reception (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mario Cristobal
Pass share
47.2%
496 pass / 554 run
Plays / game
65.6
16 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
4.1%
245 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025
1 coach2024
Mario Cristobal
Miami
2025
Mario Cristobal
Miami
Played his entire career under Mario Cristobal.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownLas Vegas, NV
Height6'3"
Weight230 lb
Class2
PositionTE
Jersey9
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamMiami
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc2 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 | Miami | TE2 | #584 | #487 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.