CFB Zeitgeist Score
59
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 75th percentile.
Jalen McNair
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
50 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Buffalo for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Cornerback · Buffalo
Returning around him
- 66% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 1 Buffalo player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +0 net (16 in / 16 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Buffalo · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #112 · 2026 recruiting class #92
CB · BUFFALO · MID-AMERICAN
Jalen McNair
- 4
- #8
- 5-9 | 198 lb
- Durham, NC
Heisman Heat
#11050
<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 · StarterR06 · Starter
Starter. A locked-in starting role.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
Buffalo
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 3-star | 0.8189 | No. 2243 recruit | HighSchool | Buffalo |
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—
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 Buffalo
Composite
0.8189
#2243 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 Jalen McNair
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 Jalen McNair
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 12g
50Tackles
2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
54Tackles
2.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 50): needs 30/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 50): needs 50/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/game over remaining 1.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Jalen McNair is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Buffalo's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 2.0 tackles for loss, and 2 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?
Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
50 88th
SOLO
27 86th
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
4 84th
INT
2 87th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 10-23@ Minnesota | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 45-6vs St. Francis (PA) | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 31-28@ Kent State | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 17-21vs Troy | 9 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-20vs UConn | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-30vs Eastern Michigan | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 28-21@ Massachusetts | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-24vs Akron | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | W 28-3@ Bowling Green | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 19-38@ Central Michigan | 5 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-37vs Miami (OH) | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 26-31vs Ohio | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 27 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2 | 4 |
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
2021Buffalo4-8HC: Maurice Linguist · Run-leaning
2022Buffalo7-6HC: Maurice Linguist · Run-leaning
2023Buffalo3-9HC: Maurice Linguist · Balanced
2024Buffalo9-4HC: Maurice Linguist · Run-heavy
2025Buffalo5-7HC: Pete Lembo · 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 | 50 | #600/4942 | 88th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 2.0 | #1443/4972 | 71st pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 0.0 | #1762/4972 | 65th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Interceptions | 2 | #114/869 | 87th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 4 | #340/2184 | 84th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return yards | 37 | #167/578 | 71st pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 27 | #649/4584 | 86th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | INT return avg | 18.5 | #227/578 | 61st pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 2 | #13/736 | 98th 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Road5g | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins5g | 2.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Losses7g | 5.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 5.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort
59Solid starter
Elite: passes defended (85th). Concern: sacks (23rd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · CB · 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
Jalen McNairBuffaloBryce LlewellynEastern Michigan· 84% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 83% simTy BenefieldBoise State· 80% sim
Passes defended
Tackles
Solo tackles
Interceptions
QB hurries
Forced fumbles
Tackles for loss
Sacks
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Volume Tackler
Targeted often and asked to tackle in space on the perimeter.
CB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Deuce Fillmore’s 2025 season.
Deuce Fillmore
69%match
#2
Jarvarius Sims
68%
#3
Faybian Marks
59%
#4
Aapri Washington
58%
#5
Neil Campbell
58%
Matches Deuce on
PD rate
Differs from Deuce on
Class year (higher)
Weight (higher)
Tackle volume (higher)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pete Lembo
Pass share
49.8%
409 pass / 413 run
Plays / game
68.5
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.4%
338 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
2 coaches2021
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2022
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2023
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2024
Maurice Linguist
Buffalo
2025era →
Pete Lembo
Buffalo
Coaching transition mid-career: Maurice Linguist → Pete Lembo. 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.
HometownDurham, NC
Height5'9"
Weight198 lb
Class4
PositionCB
Jersey8
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamBuffalo
ConferenceMid-American
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | Buffalo | CB4 | #11050 | #11409 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Mid-American |
| 2023 | Buffalo | CB4 | #13745 | #13725 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Mid-American |
| 2022 | Buffalo | CB4 | #12922 | #12797 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Mid-American |
| 2021 | Buffalo | CB4 | #13576 | #13520 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Mid-American |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Buffalo | Mid-American | CB | 4 | No. 8 | 5-9 | 198 lb | Durham, NC |
| 2024 | Buffalo | Mid-American | CB | 4 | No. 8 | 5-9 | 198 lb | Durham, NC |
| 2023 | Buffalo | Mid-American | CB | 4 | No. 8 | 5-9 | 198 lb | Durham, NC |
| 2022 | Buffalo | Mid-American | CB | 4 | No. 8 | 5-9 | 198 lb | Durham, NC |
| 2021 | Buffalo | Mid-American | CB | 4 | No. 8 | 5-9 | 198 lb | Durham, NC |