cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Justin Jones /Auburn

Justin Jones

RB · Auburn · Sr · #35

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

53 RUSH YDS · 0 RUSH TD · 11 CARRIES

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Auburn for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Auburn for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · Auburn

Returning around him

  • 22% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 5 Auburn players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -1 net (38 in / 39 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Auburn · Last season: 5-7 (AP #22) · Talent rank #13 · 2026 recruiting class #8

RB · AUBURN · SEC

Justin Jones

  • 4
  • #35
  • 6-1 | 214 lb
  • Birmingham, AL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

16

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 45th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#1395

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · rushing yards

2023–2025
33.02023
24.02024
53.02025

+61%

Up 61% from first season to most-recent.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Auburn
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB
Class4
Jersey35
Measurements6-1 | 214 lb
HometownBirmingham, AL
Primary teamAuburn

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
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.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
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 16
Current nowcast#1395Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#1780Where 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.

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 Justin Jones

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

75

Grounded Optimism

Sample 2 mentions
Confidence BELOW-FLOOR

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmOwn fans: 2 mentions · belief +50 · "Since being hired on March 27, 2019, head coach Nate Oats has continually lifted"Own fansNational: 2 mentions · belief +0 · "Tennessee Rep. Justin Jones, a Fisk graduate, said during a recent demonstration"National
  • Own fans · n=2
  • National · n=2

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Justin Jones

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 rushing totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 7g
53Rush yards
11Carries
0Rush TDs
Per game
7.6Rush yards
2Carries
0Rush TDs
Projected (13g)
98.4Rush yards
20Carries
0Rush TDs

To hit 750-yard season (currently 53): needs 116.2/game over remaining 6.

To hit 1,000-yard season (currently 53): needs 157.8/game over remaining 6.

To hit 1,500-yard season (currently 53): needs 241.2/game over remaining 6.

To hit 10 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 1.7/game over remaining 6.

To hit 15 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 2.5/game over remaining 6.

To hit 20 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 6.

What made this player interesting

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

Justin Jones's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Auburn, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.

Current place #1395 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 4.5% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

RB season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Scrimmage yards 59 53 rush | 6 rec | #511/735 (31st pct)
Rush TD 0 11 carries | #447/739 (40th pct)
Yards/carry 4.8 Per-rush efficiency | #326/735 (56th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Rushing

CAR
11 29th
YDS
53 31st
YPC
4.8 56th
TD
0 40th

Receiving

REC
2 25th
YDS
6 12th
YPR
3.0 11th
TD
0 70th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 7 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCARYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 38-24@ Baylor
Wk 2W 42-3vs Ball State263.005
Wk 3W 31-15vs South Alabama
Wk 5L 10-16@ Texas A&M
Wk 8L 17-23vs Missouri111.001
Wk 13W 62-17vs Mercer6355.8020Season-high 35 yds
Wk 14L 20-27vs Alabama2115.507
Total11533.8020
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

2023Auburn6-7HC: Hugh Freeze · Run-heavy
2024Auburn5-7HC: Hugh Freeze · Balanced
2025Auburn5-7HC: Hugh Freeze · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Auburn11534.80--
2024Auburn12424.00--
2023Auburn4338.20--
Career3 loaded seasons161106.90--
SeasonTeam
2025Auburn263.00--
2024Auburn----------
2023Auburn----------
Career3 loaded seasons263.00--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Rushing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.

Role share

How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.

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.

Receiving work 2 6 rec yds | #414/552 (25th pct)
Usage 4.5% 7.8% rush share | #567/738 (23rd pct)
Rushing WEPA -- Adjusted value feed still loading
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Rushing Rushing yards 53 #511/735 31st pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rush TD 0 #447/739 40th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing Yards / carry 4.8 #326/735 56th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receptions 2 #414/552 25th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving yards 6 #485/548 12th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Role share 4.5% #567/738 23rd pct Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing Rushing LONG 20 #400/733 46th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Rushing Carries 11 #525/739 29th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving LONG 3 #515/540 5th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Yards / catch 3.0 #489/548 11th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving TD 0 #169/552 70th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Usage Rush share 7.8% #551/738 25th pct Ground-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage 2nd-down usage 6.0% #520/738 30th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Standard-down usage 4.8% #569/738 23rd pct Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage 1st-down usage 4.2% #586/738 21st pct Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Passing-down usage 3.9% #527/738 29th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS RB
Usage 3rd-down usage 3.6% #518/738 30th pct Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Pass share 1.5% #451/738 39th pct Air-game usagevs FBS RB
Ball Security Fumbles lost 0 #1/256 100th pct Turnoversvs 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

StatusAwaiting tracker

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 7 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Home5g10.63.80.0
Road2g

Win vs Loss

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Wins4g10.24.40.0
Losses3g4.03.20.0

First half vs Second half

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Weeks 1-74g1.53.00.0
Weeks 8+3g15.74.10.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

16Below cohort
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: fumbles lost (86th). Concern: carries (0th).

Fumbles lost#1 / 201 · 87th pct
0fumb
Yards / carry#189 / 349 · 45th pct
4.8rush
Long run#308 / 349 · 11th pct
20rush
Receptions#318 / 338 · 5th pct
2rece
Rec yards#325 / 338 · 4th pct
6rece
Rush TDs#326 / 349 · 3rd pct
0rush
Rush yards#350 / 349 · 0th pct
53rush
Carries#350 / 349 · 0th pct
11rush

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Advanced Savant · RB · 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 · 8 metrics
Justin JonesAuburnJordan BrunsonMiami (OH)· 49% simChavon WrightNorthern Illinois· 47% simTae MeadowsTroy· 46% sim
Fumbles lost
87
Jones
49
Brunson
49
Wright
49
Meadows
Yards / carry
45
Jones
41
Brunson
33
Wright
29
Meadows
Long run
11
Jones
73
Brunson
49
Wright
53
Meadows
Receptions
5
Jones
2
Brunson
32
Wright
45
Meadows
Rec yards
4
Jones
3
Brunson
10
Wright
38
Meadows
Rush TDs
3
Jones
50
Brunson
62
Wright
72
Meadows
Rush yards
0
Jones
80
Brunson
84
Wright
74
Meadows
Carries
0
Jones
85
Brunson
92
Wright
84
Meadows

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Hugh Freeze

Pass share

44.7%

360 pass / 445 run

Plays / game

67.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

13.3%

308 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Hugh Freeze
Auburn
2024
Hugh Freeze
Auburn
2025
Hugh Freeze
Auburn

Played his entire career under Hugh Freeze.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownBirmingham, AL
Height6'1"
Weight214 lb
Class4
PositionRB
Jersey35

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 Auburn RB4 #1395 #1780 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC
2023 Auburn RB4 #1532 #1527 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC
2022 Auburn RB4 #2869 #2907 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | SEC
2021 UAB RB4 #2140 #1870 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA
2020 UAB RB4 #294 #260 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Auburn SEC RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL
2024 Auburn SEC RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL
2023 Auburn SEC RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL
2022 Auburn SEC RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL
2021 UAB Conference USA RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL
2020 UAB Conference USA RB 4 No. 35 | 6-1 | 214 lb | Birmingham, AL