CFB Zeitgeist Score
80
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 99th percentile.
Isaiah Smith
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
53 TACKLES · 9 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to SMU for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive end · SMU
Returning around him
- 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 1 SMU player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -11 net (14 in / 25 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
SMU · Last season: 9-4 (AP #25) · Talent rank #25 · 2026 recruiting class #31
DE · SMU · ACC
Isaiah Smith
- 4
- #1
- 6-4 | 248 lb
- Washington, DC
Heisman Heat
#2439
<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 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2022
SMU · DE
—
2023
SMU · DE
—
2024
SMU · DE
—
★
2025
SMU · DE
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
SMU
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#8 in market ▼ from #6 · 4 books
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3-star | 0.8700 | No. 774 recruit | HighSchool |
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—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to —
Composite
0.8700
#774 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 Isaiah Smith
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 Isaiah Smith
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 13g
53Tackles
18Tackles for loss
9Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
1.4Tackles for loss
0.7Sacks
Final
53Tackles
18Tackles for loss
9Sacks
✓ Hit 6-sack season · finished with 9.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Isaiah Smith is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on SMU's defense, with 9.0 sacks, 18.0 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
53 89th
SOLO
31 89th
TFL
18.0 100th
SACK
9.0 100th
QBH
4 85th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
1 43rd
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 42-13vs East Texas A&M | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 2 | L 45-48vs Baylor | 8 | 5 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 28-10@ Missouri State | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 4 | L 24-35@ TCU | 5 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-18vs Syracuse | 4 | 4 | 2.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-10vs Stanford | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 35-24@ Clemson | 5 | 2 | 2.5 | 1.5 | — | 0 | 2.5 TFL |
| Wk 9 | L 12-13@ Wake Forest | 4 | 2 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 26-20vs Miami | 5 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 45-13@ Boston College | 9 | 7 | 4.0 | 4.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 13 | W 38-6vs Louisville | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 35-38@ California | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 24-19vs Arizona | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 53 | 31 | 18.0 | 9.0 | — | 1 |
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
2022SMU7-6HC: Rhett Lashlee · Balanced, fast tempo
2023SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2025SMU9-4HC: Rhett Lashlee · Balanced
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 53 | #525/4942 | 89th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 18.0 | #4/4972 | 100th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 9.0 | #20/4972 | 100th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 1 | #1241/2184 | 43rd pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 4 | #291/1878 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 31 | #483/4584 | 89th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting 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 · 13 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.3 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Road6g | 5.0 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins9g | 3.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.1 |
| Losses4g | 5.2 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 4.8 | 1.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DE cohort
80All-Conference
Elite: tackles for loss (99th). Strength: sacks (99th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DE · 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
Isaiah SmithSMUAmare CampbellPenn State· 90% simMaverick BaranowskiMinnesota· 90% simOumar DiomandeUConn· 90% sim
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Solo tackles
Tackles
Passes defended
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Speed Rusher
Bends the edge and wins with first-step quickness. Lighter frame, relentless motor.
EDGE
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Deandre Johnson’s 2021 season.
Deandre Johnson
81%match
#2
David Perales
All-Mountain West
81%
#3
Praise Amaewhule
All-Conference USA
81%
#4
Jacub Panasiuk
All-Big Ten
81%
#5
Antonio Colclough
80%
Matches Deandre on
TFL rate
Sack rate
Height
Differs from Deandre on
Class year (higher)
Weight (lower)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jasheen Davis's senior season at Wake Forest (2023).
Jasheen Davis
81%match
#2
Richard Jibunor
80%
#3
Richard Kinley II
79%
#4
Zion Young
NFL Rd 2 · Pk 13
78%
#5
Trey Moore
All-AACNFL Rd 4
76%
Matches Jasheen on
Class year
TFL rate
Weight
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rhett Lashlee
Pass share
53.7%
460 pass / 396 run
Plays / game
65.8
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
5.4%
333 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2023
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2024
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2025
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
Played his entire career under Rhett Lashlee.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownWashington, DC
Height6'4"
Weight248 lb
Class4
PositionDE
Jersey1
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamSMU
ConferenceACC
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-ACC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-ACC | all_conference | SMU | ACC | DE |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.