CFB Zeitgeist Score
58
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.
Jalen Smith
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
54 TACKLES · 1 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Hawai'i for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · Hawai'i
Returning around him
- 46% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- Transfer portal: +7 net (16 in / 9 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Hawai'i · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #120 · 2026 recruiting class #124
LB · HAWAI'I · MOUNTAIN WEST
Jalen Smith
- 4
- #3
- 6-0 | 220 lb
- Bakersfield, CA
Heisman Heat
#13607
<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 LB AWARD
Butkus
—
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
Hawai'i
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#8 in market ▼ from #6 · 4 books
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.
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
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 Smith
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 Smith
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
54Tackles
2.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
58Tackles
2.7Tackles for loss
1.1Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 54): needs 26/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 54): needs 46/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 5/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 9/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 Smith is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Hawai'i's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 2.5 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.
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?
High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
54 90th
SOLO
23 82nd
TFL
2.5 75th
SACK
1.0 82nd
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
2 64th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 23-20vs Stanford | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | L 6-40@ Arizona | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 37-20vs Sam Houston | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | W 23-3vs Portland State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 21-23vs Fresno State | 5 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 44-35@ Air Force | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 44-26vs Utah State | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 31-19@ Colorado State | 8 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 8 tackles |
| Wk 10 | L 38-45@ San José State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-38@ UNLV | 7 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 27-7vs Wyoming | 4 | 2 | 1.5 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 35-31vs California | 4 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Total | 54 | 23 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | 2 |
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
2023Hawai'i5-8HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-heavy
2025Hawai'i9-4HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-leaning
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 | 54 | #500/4942 | 90th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 2.5 | #1236/4972 | 75th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 1.0 | #872/4972 | 82nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 2 | #792/2184 | 64th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 23 | #839/4584 | 82nd 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.4 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Road5g | 4.6 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 4.6 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Losses4g | 4.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-78g | 4.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 5.0 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
58Solid starter
Elite: tackles (82nd). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · LB · 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 SmithHawai'iDalton JohnsonArizona· 84% simDevin LafayetteTroy· 84% simAhmaad MosesSMU· 84% sim
Tackles
Solo tackles
Passes defended
Sacks
Tackles for loss
Forced fumbles
QB hurries
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Balanced Linebacker
Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Cameron Hollobaugh’s 2025 season.
Cameron Hollobaugh
82%match
#2
Karene Reid
81%
#3
John Bullock
80%
#4
Shane Whitter
80%
#5
Jerome Jolly Jr.
80%
Matches Cameron on
Class year
Sack rate
TFL rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Exree Loe's junior season at West Virginia (2022).
Exree Loe
92%match
#2
John Bullock
90%
#3
Trent Simms
90%
#4
Kyle Pugh
All-MAC
89%
#5
DaRon Gilbert
88%
Matches Exree on
PD rate
Tackle volume
TFL rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Timmy Chang
Pass share
60.2%
540 pass / 357 run
Plays / game
69.0
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
6.8%
427 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Pass-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
1 coach2023
Timmy Chang
Hawai'i
2025
Timmy Chang
Hawai'i
Played his entire career under Timmy Chang.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownBakersfield, CA
Height6'0"
Weight220 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey3
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamHawai'i
ConferenceMountain West
Joined2025
Career arc4 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 | Hawai'i | LB4 | #13607 | #13566 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Mountain West |
| 2023 | Hawai'i | LB4 | #11696 | #12393 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Mountain West |
| 2022 | Hawai'i | LB4 | #14997 | #15065 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Mountain West |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Hawai'i | Mountain West | LB | 4 | No. 3 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Bakersfield, CA |
| 2024 | Hawai'i | Mountain West | LB | 4 | No. 3 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Bakersfield, CA |
| 2023 | Hawai'i | Mountain West | LB | 4 | No. 3 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Bakersfield, CA |
| 2022 | Hawai'i | Mountain West | LB | 4 | No. 3 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Bakersfield, CA |