CFB Zeitgeist RB Score
Awaiting
Jaylan Knighton
Limited signal — not enough coverage for a story yet.
2026 Outlook
Returning to West Virginia for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Running back · West Virginia
Returning around him
- 26% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- Transfer portal: -16 net (34 in / 50 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
West Virginia · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #63 · 2026 recruiting class #43
RB · WEST VIRGINIA · BIG 12
Jaylan Knighton
- 4
- #22
- 5-10 | 185 lb
- Lauderhill, FL
Heisman Heat
#619
<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 0 · Not on teamR01 · Scout team / redshirt
Scout team / redshirt. Developing behind the depth chart.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2021
Miami · RB
—
2022
Miami · RB
—
★
2023
SMU · RB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2024
SMU · RB
—
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2021–2024-92%
Sharp dropoff (-92%) — career inflection point.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
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 | 4-star | 0.9530 | No. 106 recruit | HighSchool | Miami |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | SMU -> West Virginia | 3-star | 0.8500 | Immediate |
| 2023 | Miami -> SMU | 3-star | 0.8900 | 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 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 Miami
Composite
0.9530
#106 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 Jaylan Knighton
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 Jaylan Knighton
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.
Scenario Explorer
Available for players with a qualifying signature metric (passing yards, rushing yards, receiving yards, sacks, etc.). The slider projects how a season finishes if the current pace holds.
Why the honors trail matters
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
The useful clue on this card is not just the Heisman rank, but the broader honors spine. Jaylan Knighton already has 1 loaded recognition item, which helps distinguish a player who is merely productive from one who is already earning selector-level validation.
2024 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
RB season snapshot
2024 season snapshot | final
2024 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?
Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.
2024 Season · Final
2024 season snapshot | final
Rushing
CAR
12 31st
YDS
43 26th
YPC
3.6 24th
TD
0 40th
Receiving
REC
4 38th
YDS
42 44th
YPR
10.5 81st
TD
0 70th
Game Log
Week-by-week box
No per-game rows for this season yet — the table fills in as box scores arrive.
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
2021Miami7-5HC: Jess Simpson · Balanced
2022Miami5-7HC: Mario Cristobal · Balanced
2023SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · 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 | 43 | #543/735 | 26th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #447/739 | 40th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 3.6 | #561/735 | 24th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receptions | 4 | #343/552 | 38th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 42 | #306/548 | 44th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.12 | #173/362 | 52nd pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 147 weighted playsvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Role share | 10.6% | #299/738 | 60th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 17 | #434/733 | 41st pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Carries | 12 | #512/739 | 31st pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 18 | #258/540 | 52nd pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 10.5 | #104/548 | 81st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 0 | #169/552 | 70th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Rush share | 16.7% | #317/738 | 57th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 14.3% | #240/738 | 68th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 13.8% | #102/738 | 86th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 13.5% | #253/738 | 66th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 5.8% | #410/738 | 45th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | Pass share | 5.3% | #142/738 | 81st pct | Air-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 4.5% | #576/738 | 22nd pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS RB |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits
Per-game splits
Splits fill in once box scores from at least three games land for this season.
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.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Rich Rodriguez
Pass share
38.7%
327 pass / 517 run
Plays / game
70.3
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
10.7%
272 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2024
2 coaches2021
Neal Brown
West Virginia
2022
Neal Brown
West Virginia
2023
Neal Brown
West Virginia
2024era →
Chad Scott
West Virginia
Coaching transition mid-career: Neal Brown → Chad Scott. 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.
HometownLauderhill, FL
Height5'10"
Weight185 lb
Class4
PositionRB
Jersey22
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamWest Virginia
ConferenceBig 12
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2023)
All-AAC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | All-AAC | all_conference | SMU | AAC | RB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | SMU | RB4 | #619 | #508 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
| 2023 | SMU | RB4 | #140 | #140 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | American Athletic |
| 2022 | Miami | RB4 | #1383 | #1799 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
| 2021 | Miami | RB4 | #197 | #279 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | West Virginia | Big 12 | RB | 4 | No. 22 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Lauderhill, FL |
| 2024 | SMU | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 22 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Lauderhill, FL |
| 2023 | SMU | American Athletic | RB | 4 | No. 22 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Lauderhill, FL |
| 2022 | Miami | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 22 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Lauderhill, FL |
| 2021 | Miami | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 22 | 5-10 | 185 lb | Lauderhill, FL |