cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Evan Branch-Haynes /Bowling Green

Evan Branch-Haynes

DT · Bowling Green · Sr · #55

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

35 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Bowling Green for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Bowling Green for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · Bowling Green

Returning around him

  • 8% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -12 net (15 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Bowling Green · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #107 · 2026 recruiting class #94

DT · BOWLING GREEN · MID-AMERICAN

Evan Branch-Haynes

  • 4
  • #55
  • 6-2 | 290 lb
  • Richmond, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

64

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 73rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#12792

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#2129 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.

PositionDT
Class4
Jersey55
Measurements6-2 | 290 lb
HometownRichmond, CA
Primary teamBowling Green

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2129 recruit
Composite rating 0.8148 HighSchool
Signed with Arizona 2021
Origin Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep San Francisco, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8148 No. 2129 recruit | HighSchool | Arizona

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#12792Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#12771Where 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 Arizona

Composite

0.8148

#2129 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 Evan Branch-Haynes

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 Evan Branch-Haynes

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
35Tackles
4Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.4Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
41Tackles
4.7Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 35): needs 22.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 35): needs 32.5/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.

Evan Branch-Haynes is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Bowling Green's defense, with 1.0 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 #12792 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 35 11 solo | #1098/4942 (78th pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th 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?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
35 78th
SOLO
11 60th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 26-7vs Lafayette310.00.00
Wk 2L 20-34@ Cincinnati310.00.00
Wk 3W 23-13vs Liberty420.00.00
Wk 4L 17-40@ Louisville200.00.00
Wk 5L 20-35@ Ohio400.00.00
Wk 7W 28-23vs Toledo321.00.00
Wk 8L 6-27vs Central Michigan310.00.00
Wk 9L 21-24@ Kent State532.51.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 11L 21-27@ Eastern Michigan410.00.00
Wk 13L 16-19vs Akron200.50.02
Wk 14W 45-14@ Massachusetts200.00.00
Total35114.01.02
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

2022Arizona5-7HC: Jedd Fisch · Pass-leaning
2023Bowling Green7-6HC: Scot Loeffler · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Bowling Green4-8HC: Eddie George · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Bowling Green35114.01.02----
2023Bowling Green29120.50.51----
2022Arizona540.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons69274.51.53----
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 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 35 #1098/4942 78th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th 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 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
Home5g3.00.30.00.4
Road6g3.30.40.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins4g3.00.20.00.0
Losses7g3.30.40.10.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.20.20.00.0
Weeks 8+5g3.20.60.20.4

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

64Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles#1098 / 2975 · 62nd pct
35defe
Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct
11defe

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

Advanced Savant · DT · 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
Evan Branch-HaynesBowling GreenTreylin PayneTexas State· 70% simRay ConeyTulsa· 70% simTJ DotteryOle Miss· 70% sim
Tackles for loss
73
Branch-Haynes
87
Payne
90
Coney
83
Dottery
QB hurries
72
Branch-Haynes
82
Payne
88
Coney
55
Dottery
Passes defended
67
Branch-Haynes
67
Payne
67
Coney
67
Dottery
Sacks
63
Branch-Haynes
80
Payne
80
Coney
74
Dottery
Tackles
62
Branch-Haynes
98
Payne
100
Coney
98
Dottery
Solo tackles
35
Branch-Haynes
95
Payne
93
Coney
97
Dottery

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

Player DNA

The Two-Gap Base

Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Quent Titre’s 2022 season.

Quent Titre

91%match

Rice · 2022

#2

Dasean Dixon

Northern Illinois · 2025

88%
#3

Eriq Kitchen

Southern Miss · 2020

88%
#4

Keenan Stewart

UTEP · 2022

87%
#5

Skyler Gill-Howard

Texas Tech · 2025

NFL Rd 6
87%

Matches Quent on

Sack rate
Weight
TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Daishon Folsom's senior season at Buffalo (2024).

Daishon Folsom

90%match

Buffalo · 2024

#2

Howard Cross III

Notre Dame · 2023

90%
#3

Damian Ilalio

Kansas State · 2025

89%
#4

Tyler Davis

Clemson · 2023

88%
#5

Eric Hicks

Tulane · 2023

87%

Matches Daishon on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Eddie George

Pass share

37.7%

281 pass / 465 run

Plays / game

62.2

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

10.9%

265 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Scot Loeffler
Bowling Green
2023
Scot Loeffler
Bowling Green
2025
Eddie George
Bowling Green
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Scot Loeffler → Eddie George. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownRichmond, CA
Height6'2"
Weight290 lb
Class4
PositionDT
Jersey55

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 Bowling Green DT4 #12792 #12771 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Bowling Green DT4 #11281 #11196 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American
2022 Arizona DT4 #13782 #13793 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Bowling Green Mid-American DT 4 No. 55 | 6-2 | 290 lb | Richmond, CA
2024 Bowling Green Mid-American DT 4 No. 55 | 6-2 | 290 lb | Richmond, CA
2023 Bowling Green Mid-American DT 4 No. 55 | 6-2 | 290 lb | Richmond, CA
2022 Arizona Pac-12 DT 4 No. 55 | 6-2 | 290 lb | Richmond, CA