cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Graham Gillespie /Texas

Graham Gillespie

DB · Texas · Sr · #38

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

1 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Texas for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Texas for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Texas

Returning around him

  • 28% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 6 Texas players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -6 net (22 in / 28 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Texas · Last season: 10-3 (AP #14) · Talent rank #4 · 2026 recruiting class #1

DB · TEXAS · SEC

Graham Gillespie

  • 4
  • #38
  • 6-0 | 195 lb
  • Cypress, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

13

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 24th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#3320

<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
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Texas
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey38
Measurements6-0 | 195 lb
HometownCypress, TX
Primary teamTexas

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

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#3320Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#2981Where 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.

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 Graham Gillespie

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 Graham Gillespie

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.

Scenario Explorer

Available for players with a qualifying signature metric (passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, sacks, etc.). The slider projects how a season finishes if the current pace holds.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Graham Gillespie is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Texas's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.0 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 #3320 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 0.0 TFL

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 1 1 solo | #4447/4942 (10th pct)
TFL 0.0 Backfield disruption | #3020/4972 (39th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
1 10th
SOLO
1 13th
TFL
0.0 39th
SACK
0.0 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 1 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 4W 55-0vs Sam Houston110.00.00Season-high 1 tackles
Total110.00.00
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

2022Texas8-5HC: Steve Sarkisian · Run-leaning
2024Texas13-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Texas10-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Texas110.00.0------
2024Texas110.00.0------
2022Texas1--0.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons320.00.0------
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 1 #4447/4942 10th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.0 #3020/4972 39th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 1 #3987/4584 13th 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 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 · 1 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home1g1.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins1g1.00.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-71g1.00.00.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

13Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (0th).

Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct
0.0defe
Solo tackles#2969 / 2975 · 0th pct
1defe
Tackles#2976 / 2975 · 0th pct
1defe

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 · 6 metrics
Graham GillespieTexasTyler MartinMassachusetts· 39% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 34% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 32% sim
Sacks
24
Gillespie
24
Martin
24
Fletcher
24
Ra-El
QB hurries
22
Gillespie
22
Martin
92
Fletcher
22
Ra-El
Passes defended
18
Gillespie
67
Martin
67
Fletcher
91
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
7
Gillespie
63
Martin
28
Fletcher
56
Ra-El
Solo tackles
0
Gillespie
87
Martin
91
Fletcher
100
Ra-El
Tackles
0
Gillespie
98
Martin
99
Fletcher
99
Ra-El

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Steve Sarkisian

Pass share

50.2%

419 pass / 415 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.6%

288 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
2024
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
2025
Steve Sarkisian
Texas

Played his entire career under Steve Sarkisian.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownCypress, TX
Height6'0"
Weight195 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey38

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 Texas DB4 #3320 #2981 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC
2023 Texas DB4 #5473 #5143 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 Texas DB4 #9681 #9142 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Texas SEC DB 4 No. 38 | 6-0 | 195 lb | Cypress, TX
2024 Texas SEC DB 4 No. 38 | 6-0 | 195 lb | Cypress, TX
2023 Texas Big 12 DB 4 No. 38 | 6-0 | 195 lb | Cypress, TX
2022 Texas Big 12 DB 4 No. 38 | 6-0 | 195 lb | Cypress, TX