CFB Zeitgeist Score
64
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 93rd percentile.
Junior Poyser
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
30 TACKLES · 4 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Buffalo for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive tackle · 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
DT · BUFFALO · MID-AMERICAN
Junior Poyser
- 2
- #97
- 6-2 | 310 lb
- Brampton, ON
Heisman Heat
#13012
<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 · Season-by-season Standing
3 seasons on the ladder
2023
Buffalo · DT
—
2024
Buffalo · DT
—
★
2025
Buffalo · DT
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2-star | 0.7906 | No. 2294 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—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★☆☆☆
to Buffalo
Composite
0.7906
#2294 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 Junior Poyser
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 Junior Poyser
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 11g
30Tackles
5Tackles for loss
4Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.4Sacks
Projected (13g)
35Tackles
5.9Tackles for loss
4.7Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 30): needs 25/game over remaining 2.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 30): needs 35/game over remaining 2.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 4): needs 1/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 4): needs 3/game over remaining 2.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Junior Poyser 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 4.0 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
30 72nd
SOLO
14 67th
TFL
5.0 89th
SACK
4.0 97th
QBH
2 66th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 2 | W 45-6vs St. Francis (PA) | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 31-28@ Kent State | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 17-21vs Troy | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | L 17-20vs UConn | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 6 | W 31-30vs Eastern Michigan | 5 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 5 tackles |
| Wk 8 | W 28-21@ Massachusetts | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 16-24vs Akron | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 28-3@ Bowling Green | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 19-38@ Central Michigan | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 20-37vs Miami (OH) | 2 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 26-31vs Ohio | 4 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 30 | 14 | 5.0 | 4.0 | — | 0 |
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
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 | 30 | #1362/4942 | 72nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 5.0 | #553/4972 | 89th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 4.0 | #169/4972 | 97th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 2 | #647/1878 | 66th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 14 | #1520/4584 | 67th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 3.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins5g | 3.0 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Losses6g | 2.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort
64Solid starter
Elite: sacks (93rd). Concern: passes defended (17th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DT · 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
Junior PoyserBuffaloMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 72% simJackson KuwatchMiami (OH)· 69% simMaverick BaranowskiMinnesota· 69% sim
Sacks
Tackles for loss
QB hurries
Tackles
Solo tackles
Passes defended
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 Ronald Hull’s 2025 season.
Ronald Hull
93%match
#2
Jamall Hickbottom
86%
#3
Langston Murray
82%
#4
Dallas Vakalahi
79%
#5
Sonny Hazard
79%
Matches Ronald on
Class year
Height
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jeffson Lafontant's junior season at UCF (2025).
Jeffson Lafontant
76%match
#2
Darrell Prater
69%
#3
Dallas Afalava
66%
#4
Jayden Cofield
66%
#5
Mason Graham
Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 5
64%
Matches Jeffson on
Class year
Sack rate
Weight
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 · 2023–2025
2 coaches2023
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.
HometownBrampton, ON
Height6'2"
Weight310 lb
Class2
PositionDT
Jersey97
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamBuffalo
ConferenceMid-American
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-MAC
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-MAC | all_conference | Buffalo | MAC | DL |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.