cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Elijah Reed /Akron

Elijah Reed

DB · Akron · Jr · #11

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

44 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Akron for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Akron for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Akron

Returning around him

  • 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -3 net (15 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Akron · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #104 · 2026 recruiting class #128

DB · AKRON · MID-AMERICAN

Elijah Reed

  • 3
  • #11
  • 6-3 | 190 lb
  • Louisville, KY

CFB Zeitgeist Score

63

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 75th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#12528

<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

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1190 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds

#12 in market ▼ from #11 · 6 books

+17005.6% implied▼ lengthened from +1600

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class3
Jersey11
Measurements6-3 | 190 lb
HometownLouisville, KY
Primary teamAkron

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1190 recruit
Composite rating 0.8526 HighSchool
Signed with Kentucky 2022
Origin Pleasure Ridge Park Louisville, KY, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8526 No. 1190 recruit | HighSchool | Kentucky

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#12528Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13262Where 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 Kentucky

Composite

0.8526

#1190 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 Elijah Reed

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 Elijah Reed

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
44Tackles
2Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
52Tackles
2.4Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 44): needs 18/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 44): needs 28/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/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.

Elijah Reed is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Akron's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 2.0 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.

Current place #12528 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 44 28 solo | #756/4942 (85th pct)
TFL 2.0 Backfield disruption | #1443/4972 (71st pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd 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
44 85th
SOLO
28 87th
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
1.0 82nd

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
4 84th
INT
2 87th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 0-10vs Wyoming420.00.00
Wk 2L 0-68@ Nebraska420.00.01
Wk 3L 28-31@ UAB551.00.01
Wk 4W 51-7vs Duquesne210.00.010
Wk 5L 3-45@ Toledo300.00.00
Wk 6W 28-22vs Central Michigan300.00.00
Wk 7L 7-20vs Miami (OH)650.00.011Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 8L 28-42@ Ball State440.00.00
Wk 9W 24-16@ Buffalo430.00.01
Wk 12L 35-42vs Kent State420.00.00
Wk 13W 19-16@ Bowling Green541.01.00
Total44282.01.024
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

2023Kentucky7-6HC: Mark Stoops · Balanced, slow tempo
2024Akron4-8HC: Joe Moorhead · Pass-leaning
2025Akron5-7HC: Joe Moorhead · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Akron44282.01.042--
2024Akron32131.50.041--
2023Kentucky1--0.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons77413.51.083--
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 2 0 pick-six TD | #114/869 (87th pct)
Pass breakups 4 Coverage disruption | #340/2184 (84th 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 44 #756/4942 85th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.0 #1443/4972 71st pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd 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 Solo tackles 28 #608/4584 87th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 5 #459/578 21st pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 2.5 #508/578 12th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g3.80.00.00.2
Road6g4.20.30.20.5

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins4g3.50.20.20.2
Losses7g4.30.10.00.4

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.90.10.00.4
Weeks 8+4g4.20.20.20.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

63Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (85th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Passes defended#340 / 2975 · 86th pct
4defe
Solo tackles#608 / 2975 · 79th pct
28defe
Interceptions#114 / 817 · 75th pct
2inte
Tackles#756 / 2975 · 74th pct
44defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct
2.0defe
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
Elijah ReedAkronDevin LafayetteTroy· 87% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 86% simAhmaad MosesSMU· 80% sim
Passes defended
86
Reed
91
Lafayette
96
Johnson
78
Moses
Solo tackles
79
Reed
98
Lafayette
97
Johnson
98
Moses
Interceptions
75
Reed
75
Lafayette
95
Johnson
98
Moses
Tackles
74
Reed
99
Lafayette
98
Johnson
99
Moses
Sacks
63
Reed
63
Lafayette
63
Johnson
63
Moses
Tackles for loss
47
Reed
56
Lafayette
47
Johnson
83
Moses
QB hurries
22
Reed
22
Lafayette
22
Johnson
22
Moses

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

Player DNA

The Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Justin Houston’s 2021 season.

Justin Houston

84%match

Fresno State · 2021

#2

J.Q. Hardaway

Kentucky · 2024

82%
#3

Derrick Langford

Washington State · 2021

81%
#4

Zach Ford

Toledo · 2021

79%
#5

Ja'Marcus Ingram

Buffalo · 2021

79%

Matches Justin on

Height
Weight
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Mychal Yharbrough's junior season at Miami (OH) (2025).

Mychal Yharbrough

87%match

Miami (OH) · 2025

#2

Mekhi Garner

LSU · 2022

All-Sun Belt
80%
#3

Jamison Patton

Iowa State · 2025

79%
#4

Tayon Holloway

Louisville · 2025

78%
#5

Calen Bullock

USC · 2023

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 14
78%

Matches Mychal on

Class year
PD rate
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Joe Moorhead

Pass share

48.7%

402 pass / 423 run

Plays / game

68.8

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.2%

370 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Joe Moorhead
Akron
2024
Joe Moorhead
Akron
2025
Joe Moorhead
Akron

Played his entire career under Joe Moorhead.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownLouisville, KY
Height6'3"
Weight190 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey11

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 Akron DB3 #12528 #13262 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Kentucky DB3 #11999 #11706 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC
2022 Kentucky DB3 #10312 #10096 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Akron Mid-American DB 3 No. 11 | 6-3 | 190 lb | Louisville, KY
2024 Akron Mid-American DB 3 No. 11 | 6-3 | 190 lb | Louisville, KY
2023 Kentucky SEC DB 3 No. 11 | 6-3 | 190 lb | Louisville, KY
2022 Kentucky SEC DB 3 No. 11 | 6-3 | 190 lb | Louisville, KY