CFB Zeitgeist Score
71
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 80th percentile.
Joshua Josephs
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
33 TACKLES · 2 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · NFL
Washington2026 NFL rookie season
#147Rd 5 · Pick 7
Washington2026 NFL rookie season
DL · TENNESSEE · SEC
Joshua Josephs
- 4
- #19
- 6-3 | 240 lb
- Kennesaw, GA
Heisman Heat
#1447
<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 DEFENSE AWARD
Nagurski
—
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
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
Tennessee
NFL
NFL Draft
R5 · #147
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4-star | 0.8993 | No. 330 recruit | HighSchool | Tennessee |
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 Tennessee
Composite
0.8993
#330 national
NFL Draft
2026 · Rd 5, Pick 7
#147 overall · Washington
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 Joshua Josephs
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 Joshua Josephs
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 10g
33Tackles
5Tackles for loss
2Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
43Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
2.6Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 33): needs 15.7/game over remaining 3.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 33): needs 22.3/game over remaining 3.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 2): needs 1.3/game over remaining 3.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 2): needs 2.7/game over remaining 3.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Joshua Josephs is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Tennessee's defense, with 2.0 sacks, 5.0 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-disruption defender against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
33 76th
SOLO
17 73rd
TFL
5.0 89th
SACK
2.0 90th
QBH
6 94th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
2 64th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-26vs Syracuse | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 72-17vs East Tennessee State | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 3 | L 41-44vs Georgia | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | W 56-24vs UAB | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 5 | W 41-34@ Mississippi State | 9 | 3 | 1.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 9 tackles |
| Wk 7 | W 34-31vs Arkansas | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 20-37@ Alabama | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 56-34@ Kentucky | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | L 27-33vs Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 24-45vs Vanderbilt | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 33 | 17 | 5.0 | 2.0 | — | 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
2022Tennessee11-2HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning
2023Tennessee9-4HC: Josh Heupel · Run-leaning
2024Tennessee10-3HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy, fast tempo
2025Tennessee8-5HC: Josh Heupel · 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 | 33 | #1194/4942 | 76th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 5.0 | #553/4972 | 89th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 2.0 | #491/4972 | 90th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 2 | #792/2184 | 64th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 6 | #117/1878 | 94th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 17 | #1252/4584 | 73rd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 2 | #13/736 | 98th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Defensive TD | 1 | #23/200 | 89th pct | Scoringvs 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 Lombardi 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 · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Road3g | 4.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins6g | 3.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Losses4g | 2.5 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 4.2 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.0 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort
71Solid starter
Elite: qb hurries (94th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DL · 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
Joshua JosephsTennesseeTrey FieldsNorth Texas· 78% simRay ConeyTulsa· 77% simMac HarrisSouth Florida· 77% sim
QB hurries
Sacks
Tackles for loss
Passes defended
Tackles
Solo tackles
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Two-Gap Base
Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.
IDL
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Blaine Spires’s 2022 season.
Blaine Spires
89%match
#2
Aeneas DiCosmo
89%
#3
Jaylon Allen
All-AAC
88%
#4
Aeneas DiCosmo
87%
#5
Gabriel Lopez
86%
Matches Blaine on
Sack rate
Height
TFL rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Kobe Stewart's senior season at Buffalo (2025).
Kobe Stewart
94%match
#2
Nicholas Rinaldi
91%
#3
Jaylon Allen
All-AAC
90%
#4
Aeneas DiCosmo
88%
#5
CJ Bazile
88%
Matches Kobe on
Class year
Height
Weight
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Josh Heupel
Pass share
47.3%
437 pass / 486 run
Plays / game
71.0
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
5.4%
334 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Josh Heupel
Tennessee
2023
Josh Heupel
Tennessee
2024
Josh Heupel
Tennessee
2025
Josh Heupel
Tennessee
Played his entire career under Josh Heupel.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownKennesaw, GA
Height6'3"
Weight240 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey19
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamTennessee
ConferenceSEC
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.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.