cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Landyn Watson /Kentucky

Landyn Watson

LB · Kentucky · Sr · #9

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

21 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 TRANSFERTransferred Kentucky → Kansas for 2026

Where He Ended Up · Transfer

Transferred to Kansas

2025Kentucky
2026Kansas

LB · KENTUCKY · SEC

Landyn Watson

  • 4
  • #9
  • 6-1 | 242 lb
  • Austin, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

29

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by qb hurries at the 55th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10453

<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 LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#480 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey9
Measurements6-1 | 242 lb
HometownAustin, TX
Primary teamKentucky

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 480 recruit
Composite rating 0.8826 HighSchool
Signed with TCU 2021
Origin Hutto Hutto, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8826 No. 480 recruit | HighSchool | TCU

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Kansas 2026
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 5, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 Kentucky -> Kansas 3-star | 0.8600 | Immediate
2025 Marshall -> Kentucky 3-star | 0.8600 | 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 16
Current nowcast#10453Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10831Where 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 TCU

Composite

0.8826

#480 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 Landyn Watson

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 Landyn Watson

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 10g
21Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
27Tackles
1.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 21): needs 19.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 21): needs 26.3/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 3.3/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.

Landyn Watson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kentucky's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 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.

Current place #10453 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 2 portal moves

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 21 8 solo | #1929/4942 (61st pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
21 61st
SOLO
8 50th
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 24-16vs Toledo210.00.00
Wk 3W 48-23vs Eastern Michigan100.50.00
Wk 5L 13-35@ South Carolina310.00.00
Wk 8L 13-16vs Texas220.00.00
Wk 9L 34-56vs Tennessee100.00.00
Wk 10W 10-3@ Auburn100.00.00
Wk 11W 38-7vs Florida310.00.00
Wk 12W 42-10vs Tennessee Tech210.50.00
Wk 13L 17-45@ Vanderbilt520.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 14L 0-41@ Louisville100.00.00
Total2181.00.00
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

2023Marshall6-7HC: Charles Huff · Balanced
2024Marshall10-3HC: Charles Huff · Run-leaning
2025Kentucky5-7HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Kentucky2181.00.0------
2024Marshall66204.00.0--1--
2023Marshall430.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons91315.00.0--1--
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 21 #1929/4942 61st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 8 #2283/4584 50th pct Volumevs 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 Butkus 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/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g1.80.20.00.0
Road4g2.50.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g1.80.20.00.0
Losses5g2.40.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g2.00.20.00.0
Weeks 8+7g2.10.10.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

29Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Tackles#1929 / 2975 · 34th pct
21defe
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Solo tackles#2282 / 2975 · 21st pct
8defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 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 · 6 metrics
Landyn WatsonKentuckyBlake FletcherAir Force· 54% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 53% simMicah DaveyUTEP· 48% sim
QB hurries
55
Watson
92
Fletcher
22
Martin
82
Davey
Tackles
34
Watson
99
Fletcher
98
Martin
99
Davey
Tackles for loss
28
Watson
28
Fletcher
63
Martin
91
Davey
Sacks
24
Watson
24
Fletcher
24
Martin
63
Davey
Solo tackles
21
Watson
91
Fletcher
87
Martin
99
Davey
Passes defended
18
Watson
67
Fletcher
67
Martin
18
Davey

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

Player DNA

The Balanced Linebacker

Solid in every phase without a signature dimension.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Wesley Steiner’s 2023 season.

Wesley Steiner

86%match

Auburn · 2023

#2

Wesley Steiner

Auburn · 2021

86%
#3

Quentin Wilfawn

South Alabama · 2022

84%
#4

Jimmy Rolder

Michigan · 2024

NFL Rd 4
83%
#5

Jesiah Pierre

Texas Tech · 2021

80%

Matches Wesley on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Steven Scheidt's junior season at Eastern Michigan (2022).

Steven Scheidt

93%match

Eastern Michigan · 2022

#2

Quentin Wilfawn

South Alabama · 2022

All-Sun Belt
90%
#3

Tatum Grass

Wisconsin · 2022

88%
#4

Jaylon Scott

NC State · 2022

88%
#5

Tony Grier Jr.

South Florida · 2022

88%

Matches Steven on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mark Stoops

Pass share

46.2%

366 pass / 427 run

Plays / game

66.1

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

10.0%

280 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2024
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2025
Mark Stoops
Kentucky

Played his entire career under Mark Stoops.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownAustin, TX
Height6'1"
Weight242 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey9

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 Marshall LB4 #10453 #10831 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Sun Belt
2023 Marshall LB4 #12635 #12569 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Sun Belt
2022 TCU LB4 #6584 #6254 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12
2021 TCU LB4 #13429 #13337 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kentucky SEC LB 4 No. 9 | 6-1 | 242 lb | Austin, TX
2024 Marshall Sun Belt LB 4 No. 9 | 6-1 | 242 lb | Austin, TX
2023 Marshall Sun Belt LB 4 No. 9 | 6-1 | 242 lb | Austin, TX
2022 TCU Big 12 LB 4 No. 9 | 6-1 | 242 lb | Austin, TX
2021 TCU Big 12 LB 4 No. 9 | 6-1 | 242 lb | Austin, TX