cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kameryn Fountain /USC

Kameryn Fountain

DE · USC · So · #1

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

37 TACKLES · 5.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to USC for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to USC for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive end · USC

Returning around him

  • 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 3 USC players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -13 net (9 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

USC · Last season: 9-4 (AP #16) · Talent rank #17 · 2026 recruiting class #14

DE · USC · BIG TEN

Kameryn Fountain

  • 2
  • #1
  • 6-5 | 265 lb
  • Mobile, AL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

68

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 97th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8442

<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 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#66 national
CFB
College
USC
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDE
Class2
Jersey1
Measurements6-5 | 265 lb
HometownMobile, AL
Primary teamUSC

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 66 recruit
Composite rating 0.9687 HighSchool
Signed with USC 2024
Origin Booker T. Washington Atlanta, GA, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 4-star | 0.9687 No. 66 recruit | HighSchool | USC

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#8442Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8787Where 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 USC

Composite

0.9687

#66 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 Kameryn Fountain

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 Kameryn Fountain

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 12g
37Tackles
10.5Tackles for loss
5.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.9Tackles for loss
0.5Sacks
Projected (13g)
40Tackles
11.4Tackles for loss
6.0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 37): needs 43/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 37): needs 63/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 5.5): needs 0.5/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 5.5): needs 4.5/game over remaining 1.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Kameryn Fountain is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on USC's defense, with 5.5 sacks, 10.5 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.

Current place #8442 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 66 recruit

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 28 solo | #1007/4942 (80th pct)
TFL 10.5 Backfield disruption | #91/4972 (98th pct)
Sacks 5.5 Pass-rush finish | #90/4972 (98th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
37 80th
SOLO
28 87th
TFL
10.5 98th
SACK
5.5 98th
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 73-13vs Missouri State222.01.00Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 2W 59-20vs Georgia Southern111.01.00
Wk 3W 33-17@ Purdue321.50.50
Wk 4W 45-31vs Michigan State331.00.00
Wk 5L 32-34@ Illinois210.00.00
Wk 7W 31-13vs Michigan420.50.00
Wk 8L 24-34@ Notre Dame221.01.00
Wk 10W 21-17@ Nebraska221.00.00
Wk 12W 26-21vs Iowa330.00.00
Wk 13L 27-42@ Oregon410.00.00
Wk 14W 29-10vs UCLA430.00.00
BowlL 27-30@ TCU762.52.00
Total372810.55.50
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

2024USC7-6HC: Lincoln Riley · Pass-leaning
2025USC9-4HC: Lincoln Riley · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025USC372810.55.5------
2024USC19104.52.0------
Career2 loaded seasons563815.07.5------
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
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 10.5 #91/4972 98th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 5.5 #90/4972 98th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 28 #608/4584 87th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th pct Takeawaysvs 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

StatusAwaiting 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g2.80.80.30.0
Road6g3.31.00.60.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins8g2.80.90.30.0
Losses4g3.80.90.80.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.11.20.60.0
Weeks 8+5g3.00.40.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DE cohort

68Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: sacks (96th). Strength: tackles for loss (96th). Concern: passes defended (17th).

Sacks#90 / 2975 · 97th pct
5.5defe
Tackles for loss#91 / 2975 · 97th pct
10.5defe
Solo tackles#608 / 2975 · 79th pct
28defe
Tackles#1007 / 2975 · 65th pct
37defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DE · 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
Kameryn FountainUSCKhalil MurdockBuffalo· 81% simBryun ParhamUConn· 81% simJohnny Chaney Jr.Florida International· 81% sim
Sacks
97
Fountain
96
Murdock
99
Parham
89
Jr.
Tackles for loss
97
Fountain
99
Murdock
99
Parham
91
Jr.
Solo tackles
79
Fountain
98
Murdock
99
Parham
100
Jr.
Tackles
65
Fountain
100
Murdock
100
Parham
99
Jr.
QB hurries
55
Fountain
55
Murdock
55
Parham
55
Jr.
Forced fumbles
47
Fountain
47
Murdock
47
Parham
47
Jr.
Passes defended
18
Fountain
48
Murdock
48
Parham
48
Jr.

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

Player DNA

The Power Rusher

Bull-rushes through contact and sets a hard edge against the run.

EDGE

His 2025 production profile sits closest to J.T. Tuimoloau’s 2021 season.

J.T. Tuimoloau

82%match

Ohio State · 2021

#2

Jatorian Hansford

South Florida · 2022

80%
#3

Jordan Allen

Kansas State · 2025

80%
#4

Paul Oyewale

TCU · 2023

79%
#5

Jimari Butler

Nebraska · 2023

79%

Matches J.T. on

Sack rate
Weight
TFL rate

Differs from J.T. on

Class year (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Cameron Thomas's sophomore season at San Diego State (2021).

Cameron Thomas

90%match

San Diego State · 2021

1st-team All-AmericanNFL Rd 3 · Pk 23
#2

Amontrae Bradford

Georgia Tech · 2025

83%
#3

Jordan Allen

Kansas State · 2025

82%
#4

Kayvon Thibodeaux

Oregon · 2021

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 5
81%
#5

George Karlaftis

Purdue · 2021

1st-team All-AmericanNFL Rd 1 · Pk 30
77%

Matches Cameron on

Class year
Height
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

50.4%

420 pass / 414 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

3.8%

313 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Lincoln Riley
USC
2025
Lincoln Riley
USC

Played his entire career under Lincoln Riley.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMobile, AL
Height6'5"
Weight265 lb
Class2
PositionDE
Jersey1

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 USC DE2 #8442 #8787 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 USC Big Ten DE 2 No. 1 | 6-5 | 265 lb | Mobile, AL
2024 USC Big Ten DE 2 No. 1 | 6-5 | 265 lb | Mobile, AL