cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jalen Stroman /Notre Dame

Jalen Stroman

S · Notre Dame · Sr · #7

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

37 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Notre Dame for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Notre Dame for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Notre Dame

Returning around him

  • 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 6 Notre Dame players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -8 net (7 in / 15 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Notre Dame · Last season: 10-2 (AP #9) · Talent rank #9 · 2026 recruiting class #12

S · NOTRE DAME · FBS INDEPENDENTS

Jalen Stroman

  • 4
  • #7
  • 6-1 | 199 lb
  • Bristow, VA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

55

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10214

<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

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#732 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2021–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class4
Jersey7
Measurements6-1 | 199 lb
HometownBristow, VA
Primary teamNotre Dame

Recruiting Pedigree

How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.

Top pedigree 3-star No. 732 recruit
Composite rating 0.8674 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2021
Origin Patriot Nokesville, VA, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8674 No. 732 recruit | HighSchool

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Notre Dame 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 12, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Virginia Tech -> Notre Dame 3-star | 0.8700 | Immediate

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#10214Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10127Where 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.

NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft

Market value, pedigree & pro outcome

Recruit stars

★★★☆☆

to —

Composite

0.8674

#732 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

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 Jalen Stroman

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 Stroman

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 9g
37Tackles
3Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
53Tackles
4.3Tackles for loss
1.4Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 37): needs 10.8/game over remaining 4.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 37): needs 15.8/game over remaining 4.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.2/game over remaining 4.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Jalen Stroman is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Notre Dame's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 3.0 tackles for loss, and 1 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 #10214 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

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 37 30 solo | #1007/4942 (80th pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
37 80th
SOLO
30 89th
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
1.0 82nd

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 24-27@ Miami960.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 4W 56-30vs Purdue650.00.01
Wk 5W 56-13@ Arkansas430.00.00
Wk 6W 28-7vs Boise State220.00.00
Wk 7W 36-7vs NC State111.01.00
Wk 10W 25-10@ Boston College110.00.00
Wk 11W 49-10vs Navy210.00.01
Wk 13W 70-7vs Syracuse882.00.010
Wk 14W 49-20@ Stanford430.00.00
Total37303.01.012
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

2021Virginia Tech6-6HC: J.C. Price · Run-heavy
2022Virginia Tech3-8HC: Brent Pry · Balanced
2023Virginia Tech7-6HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning
2025Notre Dame10-2HC: Marcus Freeman · Run-leaning, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Notre Dame37303.01.021--
2023Virginia Tech55242.00.02----
2022Virginia Tech43220.00.02----
2021Virginia Tech960.00.01----
Career4 loaded seasons144825.01.071--
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 1 1 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th 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 37 #1007/4942 80th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 44.0 #40/578 93rd pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 44 #134/578 77th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 30 #515/4584 89th pct Volumevs 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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g3.80.60.20.4
Road4g4.50.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins8g3.50.40.10.2
Losses1g9.00.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g4.40.20.20.2
Weeks 8+4g3.80.50.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

55Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (81st). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Solo tackles#515 / 2975 · 82nd pct
30defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Tackles#1007 / 2975 · 65th pct
37defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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
Jalen StromanNotre DameBrevin HamblinUtah State· 81% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 81% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 81% sim
Solo tackles
82
Stroman
99
Hamblin
96
Vaughns
87
Martin
Passes defended
67
Stroman
98
Hamblin
48
Vaughns
67
Martin
Tackles
65
Stroman
99
Hamblin
99
Vaughns
98
Martin
Sacks
63
Stroman
74
Hamblin
63
Vaughns
24
Martin
Tackles for loss
63
Stroman
56
Hamblin
85
Vaughns
63
Martin
Interceptions
31
Stroman
31
Hamblin
31
Martin
QB hurries
22
Stroman
22
Hamblin
22
Vaughns
22
Martin

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

Player DNA

The Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Mitch Leigber’s 2025 season.

Mitch Leigber

97%match

Stanford · 2025

#2

Silas Walters

Miami (OH) · 2023

88%
#3

Mordecai McDaniel

Charlotte · 2024

86%
#4

Kamren Fabiculanan

Washington · 2022

85%
#5

Lummie Young IV

Tulane · 2022

86%

Matches Mitch on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Mitch Leigber's graduate season at Stanford (2025).

Mitch Leigber

98%match

Stanford · 2025

#2

Sirad Bryant

UAB · 2025

86%
#3

Alex Branch

Akron · 2025

85%
#4

Donyai Taylor

UTSA · 2024

All-AAC
84%
#5

Wesley Walker

Michigan · 2024

85%

Matches Mitch on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Marcus Freeman

Pass share

44.0%

321 pass / 409 run

Plays / game

60.8

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

4.7%

257 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025

2 coaches
2021
Brian Kelly
Notre Dame
2022
Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame
era →
2023
Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame
2025
Marcus Freeman
Notre Dame

Coaching transition mid-career: Brian Kelly → Marcus Freeman. 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.

HometownBristow, VA
Height6'1"
Weight199 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey7

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 Virginia Tech S4 #10214 #10127 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 Virginia Tech S4 #10412 #10382 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | ACC
2022 Virginia Tech S4 #11191 #11359 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | ACC
2021 Virginia Tech S4 #10540 #10474 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | ACC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Notre Dame FBS Independents S 4 No. 7 | 6-1 | 199 lb | Bristow, VA
2024 Virginia Tech ACC S 4 No. 7 | 6-1 | 199 lb | Bristow, VA
2023 Virginia Tech ACC S 4 No. 7 | 6-1 | 199 lb | Bristow, VA
2022 Virginia Tech ACC S 4 No. 7 | 6-1 | 199 lb | Bristow, VA
2021 Virginia Tech ACC S 4 No. 7 | 6-1 | 199 lb | Bristow, VA