CFB Zeitgeist Score
88
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 96th percentile.
Jai'Den Thomas
Filling the Shoesas of 2026-06-22
Jai'Den Thomas is a cornerstone for UNLV — measured against the line he joined.
1,034RUSH YDS12RUSH TD148CARRIES
PRODUCES ABOVE PERCEPTION · PCTL GAP
+22
perception vs production percentile · 2025
Read the story so far
AI narrative · updated 2026-06-22 · compiled from CFB Zeitgeist data
2026 Outlook
Returning to UNLV for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · UNLV
Returning around him
- 15% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- Transfer portal: +0 net (15 in / 15 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
UNLV · Last season: 10-4 · Talent rank #51 · 2026 recruiting class #95
RB · UNLV · MOUNTAIN WEST
Jai'Den Thomas
- 3
- #9
- 5-9 | 190 lb
- Atlanta, GA
Heisman Heat
#48
<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 RB AWARD
Doak Walker
—
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
3 seasons on the ladder
2023
UNLV · RB
—
★
2024
UNLV · RB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2025
UNLV · RB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2023–2025+106%
Up 106% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
UNLV
NFL
NFL Draft
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
| 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.
Achievements
- Program Benchmark 5.5% Program Benchmark Season leader for the program at the player's position across the headline volume metric (passing yards / rushing yards / receiving yards). Held by 5.5% of the 2025 pool. Team leader in rushing yards (1034).
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
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 Jai'Den Thomas
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 Jai'Den Thomas
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 rushing totals stand
Through 13g
1,034Rush yards
148Carries
12Rush TDs
Per game
79.5Rush yards
11Carries
1Rush TDs
Final
1,034Rush yards
148Carries
12Rush TDs
✓ Hit 750-yard season · finished with 1,034.
✓ Hit 1,000-yard season · finished with 1,034.
✓ Hit 10 rushing TDs · finished with 12.
Why this is more than a rushing profile
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Jai'Den Thomas is not a one-lane back. The profile is interesting because the workload spills beyond pure rushing volume: 1,034 rushing yards, 38 catches, and 0 return yards for UNLV. That kind of all-purpose footprint gives the card a much richer story than a basic carry total.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
RB 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?
Workhorse | Efficient runner | Passing-game back against FBS RB peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Rushing
CAR
148 91st
YDS
1,034 96th
YPC
7.0 92nd
TD
12 98th
Receiving
REC
38 99th
YDS
233 94th
YPR
6.1 40th
TD
1 89th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 38-31vs Idaho State | 10 | 147 | 14.7 | 3 | 70 | Season-high 147 yds |
| Wk 1 | W 38-21@ Sam Houston | 9 | 65 | 7.2 | 1 | 27 | Season-high 147 yds |
| Wk 2 | W 30-23vs UCLA | 13 | 61 | 4.7 | 0 | 11 | |
| Wk 4 | W 41-38@ Miami (OH) | 13 | 118 | 9.1 | 1 | 32 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-17@ Wyoming | 16 | 96 | 6.0 | 0 | 26 | |
| Wk 7 | W 51-48vs Air Force | 11 | 88 | 8.0 | 1 | 51 | |
| Wk 8 | L 31-56@ Boise State | 11 | 38 | 3.5 | 1 | 10 | |
| Wk 10 | L 35-40vs New Mexico | 13 | 34 | 2.6 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 11 | W 42-10@ Colorado State | 7 | 131 | 18.7 | 1 | 59 | |
| Wk 13 | W 38-10vs Hawai'i | 13 | 61 | 4.7 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 14 | W 42-17@ Nevada | 11 | 103 | 9.4 | 4 | 33 | 4 rushing TDs |
| Wk 15 | L 21-38@ Boise State | 10 | 41 | 4.1 | 0 | 23 | |
| Bowl | L 10-17@ Ohio | 11 | 51 | 4.6 | 0 | 17 | |
| Total | 148 | 1034 | 7.5 | 12 | 70 |
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
2023UNLV9-5HC: Barry Odom · Run-leaning
2024UNLV11-3HC: Barry Odom · Run-heavy
2025UNLV10-4HC: Dan Mullen · Run-leaning
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.
How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 1,034 | #34/735 | 96th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 12 | #19/739 | 98th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 7.0 | #58/735 | 92nd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receptions | 38 | #8/552 | 99th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 233 | #35/548 | 94th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.13 | #156/362 | 57th pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 130 weighted playsvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Role share | 22.3% | #70/738 | 91st pct | Share of team offensevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Carries | 148 | #71/739 | 91st pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 70 | #62/733 | 92nd pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 27 | #142/540 | 74th pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 6.1 | #332/548 | 40th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 1 | #60/552 | 89th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Rush share | 31.7% | #108/738 | 86th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 27.5% | #59/738 | 92nd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 26.0% | #71/738 | 91st pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 21.9% | #76/738 | 90th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 13.8% | #93/738 | 88th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 12.6% | #125/738 | 83rd pct | Money-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Pass share | 12.5% | #7/738 | 99th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 1 | #78/256 | 70th pct | Turnoversvs FBS RB |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 78.2 | 6.9 | 0.8 |
| Road8g | 80.4 | 7.8 | 1.0 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins9g | 96.7 | 9.2 | 1.2 |
| Losses4g | 41.0 | 3.7 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 89.4 | 7.8 | 0.9 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 68.0 | 7.2 | 1.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
88All-Conference
Elite: receptions (97th). Strength: yards / carry (96th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · RB · 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.
wepa_rushing0.13Low (p25–p50) (n=178)
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Jai'Den ThomasUNLVEmmett JohnsonNebraska· 91% simNate SheppardDuke· 90% simDaylan SmothersNC State· 90% sim
Receptions
Yards / carry
Rush TDs
Rush yards
Rec yards
Long run
Carries
Fumbles lost
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Complete Back
Threatens defenses in every dimension — rushing, receiving, third-down.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Sutton Smith’s 2025 season.
Sutton Smith
77%match
All-AACNFL Rd 6
#2
Nate Noel
All-Sun Belt
74%
#3
Blake Watson
70%
#4
Isaac Brown
68%
#5
Devon Achane
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 21
66%
Matches Sutton on
Yards / carry
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Weight
Differs from Sutton on
Receiving share (higher)
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Najee Harris’s path through Alabama.
Najee Harris
97%match
Doak WalkerConsensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 24
#2
Otis Anderson
94%
#3
LaDarius Owens
93%
#4
Rhamondre Stevenson
NFL Rd 4
92%
#5
Dylan Riley
All-Mountain West
92%
Matches Najee on
Yards per carry
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Nate Noel's junior season at App State (2022).
Nate Noel
73%match
All-Sun Belt
#2
Blake Watson
71%
#3
Josh Williams
65%
#4
Ja'Quez Cross
All-Sun Belt
64%
#5
Devon Achane
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 21
61%
Matches Nate on
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Height
Rush TD rate
Differs from Nate on
Class year (lower)
EPA / carry (adj) (lower)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dan Mullen
Pass share
46.5%
423 pass / 487 run
Plays / game
65.0
14 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.8%
283 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
2 coaches2023
Barry Odom
UNLV
2024
Barry Odom
UNLV
2025era →
Dan Mullen
UNLV
Coaching transition mid-career: Barry Odom → Dan Mullen. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownAtlanta, GA
Height5'9"
Weight190 lb
Class3
PositionRB
Jersey9
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamUNLV
ConferenceMountain West
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-Mountain West
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
2 all-conference honors
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-Mountain West | all_conference | UNLV | Mountain West | RB |
| 2024 | All-Mountain West | all_conference | UNLV | Mountain West | RB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.