cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jaden Kelly /Kennesaw State

Jaden Kelly

LB · Kennesaw State · Sr · #18

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

13 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

IN PORTALIn transfer portal — destination TBD (from Kennesaw State)

In Portal · 2026

In transfer portal

2025Kennesaw State
DestinationTBD

LB · KENNESAW STATE · CONFERENCE USA

Jaden Kelly

  • 4
  • #18
  • 6-1 | 225 lb
  • Dallas, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

22

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 48th percentile.

Heisman Heat

Awaiting

Not on the live Heisman board this week.

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

TOP LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R02 · Deep reserve

Deep reserve. In the program, working up the two-deep.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Kennesaw State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey18
Measurements6-1 | 225 lb
HometownDallas, TX
Primary teamKennesaw State

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 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination -- 2026
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 12, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 Kennesaw State -> -- Immediate
2025 Norfolk State -> Kennesaw State 3-star | 0.8200 | Immediate

Heisman Lens

Where the model places this player relative to the rest of the Heisman field.

Current nowcast--Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast--Where the full season sim points
Win probability--Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability--Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability--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 Jaden Kelly

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 Jaden Kelly

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 4g
13Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
42Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 13): needs 7.4/game over remaining 9.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 13): needs 9.7/game over remaining 9.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 0.7/game over remaining 9.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.1/game over remaining 9.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jaden Kelly is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kennesaw State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.5 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 -- -- win | -- finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 0.5 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 13 3 solo | #2550/4942 (48th pct)
TFL 0.5 Backfield disruption | #2658/4972 (47th 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
13 48th
SOLO
3 28th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 4 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 9-10@ Wake Forest400.50.00
Wk 3W 27-13vs Merrimack100.00.01
Wk 4W 28-21vs Arkansas State510.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
BowlL 6-41@ Western Michigan320.00.00
Total1330.50.01
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

2025Kennesaw State10-4HC: Jerry Mack · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Kennesaw State1330.50.01----
Career1 loaded season1330.50.01----
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
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 13 #2550/4942 48th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.5 #2658/4972 47th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 3 #3280/4584 28th 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 Butkus 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 · 4 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home2g3.00.00.00.5
Road2g3.50.20.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g3.00.00.00.5
Losses2g3.50.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g3.20.10.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

22Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: solo tackles (1st).

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct
0.5defe
Tackles#2550 / 2975 · 13th pct
13defe
Solo tackles#2892 / 2975 · 2nd pct
3defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 2025

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
Jaden KellyKennesaw StateTyler MartinMassachusetts· 47% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 42% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 41% sim
Passes defended
48
Kelly
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
67
Fletcher
Sacks
24
Kelly
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
24
Fletcher
QB hurries
22
Kelly
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
92
Fletcher
Tackles for loss
18
Kelly
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
28
Fletcher
Tackles
13
Kelly
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
99
Fletcher
Solo tackles
2
Kelly
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
91
Fletcher

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

Jerry Mack

Pass share

44.2%

422 pass / 533 run

Plays / game

68.2

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.4%

282 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Jerry Mack
Kennesaw State

Played his entire career under Jerry Mack.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownDallas, TX
Height6'1"
Weight225 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey18

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
This player hasn’t appeared on a Heisman ballot tracked by the model.

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kennesaw State Conference USA LB 4 No. 18 | 6-1 | 225 lb | Dallas, TX