cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jace J. Gilbert /Iowa State

Jace J. Gilbert

DL · Iowa State · Fr · #55

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

18 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Iowa State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Iowa State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Iowa State

Returning around him

  • 58% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 Iowa State player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -7 net (48 in / 55 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Iowa State · Last season: 8-4 (AP #22) · Talent rank #71 · 2026 recruiting class #54

DL · IOWA STATE · BIG 12

Jace J. Gilbert

  • 1
  • #55
  • 6-5 | 280 lb
  • Waukesha, WI

CFB Zeitgeist Score

44

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10486

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1045 national
CFB
College
Iowa State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class1
Jersey55
Measurements6-5 | 280 lb
HometownWaukesha, WI
Primary teamIowa State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1045 recruit
Composite rating 0.8658 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2024
Origin Arrowhead Hartland, WI, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 3-star | 0.8658 No. 1045 recruit | HighSchool

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#10486Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10168Where 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 —

Composite

0.8658

#1045 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 Jace J. Gilbert

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 Jace J. Gilbert

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 10g
18Tackles
3Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
23Tackles
3.9Tackles for loss
1.3Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 18): needs 20.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 18): needs 27.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 3/game over remaining 3.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jace J. Gilbert is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Iowa State's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 3.0 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 #10486 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 3.0 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 18 7 solo | #2161/4942 (56th pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
18 56th
SOLO
7 48th
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 24-21@ Kansas State100.50.00
Wk 1W 55-7vs South Dakota210.00.00
Wk 2W 16-13vs Iowa200.00.00
Wk 3W 24-16@ Arkansas State311.01.00Season-high 3 tackles
Wk 5W 39-14vs Arizona210.00.00
Wk 6L 30-38@ Cincinnati210.00.00
Wk 7L 17-24@ Colorado210.00.00
Wk 10L 19-24vs Arizona State200.50.00
Wk 11W 20-17@ TCU111.00.00
Wk 14W 20-13@ Oklahoma State110.00.00
Total1873.01.00
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

2025Iowa State8-4HC: Matt Campbell · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Iowa State1873.01.0------
Career1 loaded season1873.01.0------
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 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 18 #2161/4942 56th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 7 #2403/4584 48th 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.

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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g2.00.10.00.0
Road6g1.70.40.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins7g1.70.40.10.0
Losses3g2.00.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.00.20.10.0
Weeks 8+3g1.30.50.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

44Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (16th).

Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Tackles#2161 / 2975 · 26th pct
18defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Solo tackles#2397 / 2975 · 17th pct
7defe

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

Advanced Savant · DL · 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
Jace J. GilbertIowa StateMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 56% simMicah DaveyUTEP· 56% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 55% sim
Sacks
63
Gilbert
80
Parker
63
Davey
63
Vaughns
Tackles for loss
63
Gilbert
87
Parker
91
Davey
85
Vaughns
QB hurries
55
Gilbert
88
Parker
82
Davey
22
Vaughns
Forced fumbles
47
Gilbert
47
Parker
47
Davey
47
Vaughns
Tackles
26
Gilbert
98
Parker
99
Davey
99
Vaughns
Passes defended
18
Gilbert
18
Parker
18
Davey
48
Vaughns
Solo tackles
17
Gilbert
96
Parker
99
Davey
96
Vaughns

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 Ahmaad Foster’s 2025 season.

Ahmaad Foster

85%match

Old Dominion · 2025

#2

Stephiylan Green

Clemson · 2024

84%
#3

Anthony Smith

Minnesota · 2023

82%
#4

David Anderson

Duke · 2024

81%
#5

Shemar Stewart

Texas A&M · 2022

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 17
80%

Matches Ahmaad on

Class year
Weight
Sack rate

Differs from Ahmaad on

Height (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Kendall Wilkerson's sophomore season at Louisiana (2021).

Kendall Wilkerson

80%match

Louisiana · 2021

#2

Jerod Smith II

Kentucky · 2025

78%
#3

Saadiq Clements

North Texas · 2025

77%
#4

Brandon Davis-Swain

Colorado · 2025

76%
#5

David Anderson

Duke · 2024

76%

Matches Kendall on

Height
Sack rate
Weight

Differs from Kendall on

Class year (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Matt Campbell

Pass share

42.4%

345 pass / 469 run

Plays / game

67.8

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.8%

296 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Matt Campbell
Iowa State

Played his entire career under Matt Campbell.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownWaukesha, WI
Height6'5"
Weight280 lb
Class1
PositionDL
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 Iowa State DL1 #10486 #10168 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Iowa State Big 12 DL 1 No. 55 | 6-5 | 280 lb | Waukesha, WI
2024 Iowa State Big 12 DL 1 No. 55 | 6-5 | 280 lb | Waukesha, WI