cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jackson Bennee /Utah

Jackson Bennee

S · Utah · So · #23

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

62 TACKLES · 0.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Utah for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Utah for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Utah

Returning around him

  • 14% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 3 Utah players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -3 net (17 in / 20 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Utah · Last season: 11-2 (AP #15) · Talent rank #44 · 2026 recruiting class #40

S · UTAH · BIG 12

Jackson Bennee

  • 2
  • #23
  • 6-2 | 189 lb
  • Holladay, UT

CFB Zeitgeist Score

78

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 95th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9615

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Utah
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class2
Jersey23
Measurements6-2 | 189 lb
HometownHolladay, UT
Primary teamUtah

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#9615Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9329Where 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 Jackson Bennee

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 Jackson Bennee

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

final
Through 13g
62Tackles
4Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Final
62Tackles
4Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jackson Bennee is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Utah's defense, with 0.5 sacks, 4.0 tackles for loss, and 4 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 #9615 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 11 return yds

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 62 41 solo | #373/4942 (92nd pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th pct)
Sacks 0.5 Pass-rush finish | #1501/4972 (70th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderCoverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
62 92nd
SOLO
41 96th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
0.5 70th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
5 90th
INT
4 97th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 43-10@ UCLA510.00.00
Wk 2W 63-9vs Cal Poly540.00.013
Wk 3W 31-6@ Wyoming1
Wk 4L 10-34vs Texas Tech751.00.010
Wk 5W 48-14@ West Virginia110.00.00
Wk 7W 42-10vs Arizona State850.00.00
Wk 8L 21-24@ BYU860.00.00
Wk 9W 53-7vs Colorado320.50.50
Wk 10W 45-14vs Cincinnati430.00.00
Wk 12W 55-28@ Baylor220.00.01
Wk 13W 51-47vs Kansas State630.00.01
Wk 14W 31-21@ Kansas1071.50.010Season-high 10 tackles
BowlW 44-22vs Nebraska321.00.00
Total62414.00.545
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

2024Utah5-7HC: Kyle Whittingham · Balanced
2025Utah11-2HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Utah62414.00.554--
2024Utah620.00.0----1
Career2 loaded seasons68434.00.5541
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 4 1 pick-six TD | #23/869 (97th pct)
Pass breakups 5 Coverage disruption | #218/2184 (90th 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 62 #373/4942 92nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.5 #1501/4972 70th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 4 #23/869 97th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 5 #218/2184 90th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 103 #13/578 98th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 41 #188/4584 96th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 25.8 #137/578 76th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Defensive TD 1 #23/200 89th pct Scoringvs FBS DEF
Defense Pick-six TD 1 #13/119 90th pct Scoringvs 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g5.10.40.10.6
Road6g4.30.20.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins11g4.30.30.00.5
Losses2g7.50.50.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g4.10.30.00.4
Weeks 8+6g5.50.30.10.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

78All-Conference
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: interceptions (95th). Strength: solo tackles (93rd).

Interceptions#23 / 817 · 95th pct
4inte
Solo tackles#188 / 2975 · 93rd pct
41defe
Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct
5defe
Tackles#373 / 2975 · 87th pct
62defe
Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Sacks#1367 / 2975 · 51st pct
0.5defe

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

Advanced Savant · S · 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
Jackson BenneeUtahAndon ThomasArmy· 93% simEli BlakeyMiami (OH)· 89% simJacob RodriguezTexas Tech· 87% sim
Interceptions
95
Bennee
75
Blakey
95
Rodriguez
Solo tackles
93
Bennee
100
Thomas
99
Blakey
99
Rodriguez
Passes defended
91
Bennee
91
Thomas
98
Blakey
94
Rodriguez
Tackles
87
Bennee
99
Thomas
99
Blakey
100
Rodriguez
Tackles for loss
73
Bennee
73
Thomas
77
Blakey
96
Rodriguez
QB hurries
72
Bennee
82
Thomas
82
Blakey
55
Rodriguez
Sacks
51
Bennee
51
Thomas
63
Blakey
63
Rodriguez

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

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Zechariah Poyser’s 2025 season.

Zechariah Poyser

88%match

Miami · 2025

#2

Jeremiah Dervil

New Mexico State · 2023

78%
#3

Jessiah Mcgrew

Florida International · 2025

79%
#4

Elery Alexander

Arkansas State · 2020

76%
#5

Jamal Potts

Florida International · 2022

74%

Matches Zechariah on

Class year
Height
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Christian Gonzalez's sophomore season at Colorado (2021).

Christian Gonzalez

81%match

Colorado · 2021

NFL Rd 1 · Pk 17
#2

Zach Williams

Tulsa · 2025

75%
#3

Cam Chadwick

UConn · 2025

75%
#4

Carter Davis

Boston College · 2025

70%
#5

Ike Rowell

UAB · 2023

69%

Matches Christian on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Kyle Whittingham

Pass share

39.8%

371 pass / 562 run

Plays / game

71.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

4.2%

289 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Kyle Whittingham
Utah
2025
Kyle Whittingham
Utah

Played his entire career under Kyle Whittingham.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownHolladay, UT
Height6'2"
Weight189 lb
Class2
PositionS
Jersey23

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 Utah S2 #9615 #9329 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Utah Big 12 S 2 No. 23 | 6-2 | 189 lb | Holladay, UT
2024 Utah Big 12 S 2 No. 23 | 6-2 | 189 lb | Holladay, UT