cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Martavius French /Colorado

Martavius French

LB · Colorado · Sr · #37

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

31 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Colorado for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Colorado for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Colorado

Returning around him

  • 7% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +4 net (42 in / 38 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Colorado · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #30 · 2026 recruiting class #37

LB · COLORADO · BIG 12

Martavius French

  • 4
  • #37
  • 6-2 | 225 lb
  • Memphis, TN

CFB Zeitgeist Score

54

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 73rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8938

<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

R03 · Backup

Backup. On the two-deep, pushing for snaps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

4 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R09 All-Conference HM / 2nd team · 2024

2022

UTSA · LB

2023

UTSA · LB

2024

UTSA · LB

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

2025

Colorado · LB

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey37
Measurements6-2 | 225 lb
HometownMemphis, TN
Primary teamColorado

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 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Colorado 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 5, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 UTSA -> Colorado 3-star | 0.8600 | Immediate
2021 Tennessee -> Hutchinson C.C. TBD

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#8938Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9826Where 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 Martavius French

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 Martavius French

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 8g
31Tackles
4Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
50Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
1.6Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 31): needs 9.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 31): needs 13.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1/game over remaining 5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.8/game over remaining 5.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Martavius French is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Colorado's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 4.0 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 #8938 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 31 20 solo | #1302/4942 (74th pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
31 74th
SOLO
20 78th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 20-27vs Georgia Tech651.50.00Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 2W 31-7vs Delaware641.01.00
Wk 3L 20-36@ Houston330.00.00
Wk 4W 37-20vs Wyoming441.00.00
Wk 5L 21-24vs BYU320.00.00
Wk 9L 7-53@ Utah420.50.00
Wk 11L 22-29@ West Virginia400.00.00
Wk 14L 14-24@ Kansas State100.00.00
Total31204.01.00
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

2022UTSA11-3HC: Jeff Traylor · Balanced
2023UTSA9-4HC: Jeff Traylor · Run-leaning
2024UTSA7-6HC: Jeff Traylor · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Colorado3-9HC: Deion Sanders · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Colorado31204.01.0------
2024UTSA805217.01.03----
2023UTSA61354.51.53----
2022UTSA22121.50.01----
Career4 loaded seasons19411927.03.57----
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 31 #1302/4942 74th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 20 #1029/4584 78th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 2 #13/736 98th 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 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 · 8 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g4.80.90.20.0
Road4g3.00.10.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g5.01.00.50.0
Losses6g3.50.30.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g4.40.70.20.0
Weeks 8+3g3.00.20.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

54Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
Solo tackles#1029 / 2975 · 64th pct
20defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th pct
31defe
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 · 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 · 7 metrics
Martavius FrenchColoradoMicah DaveyUTEP· 76% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 75% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 73% sim
Tackles for loss
73
French
91
Davey
87
Parker
85
Vaughns
Solo tackles
64
French
99
Davey
96
Parker
96
Vaughns
Sacks
63
French
63
Davey
80
Parker
63
Vaughns
Tackles
55
French
99
Davey
98
Parker
99
Vaughns
QB hurries
55
French
82
Davey
88
Parker
22
Vaughns
Forced fumbles
47
French
47
Davey
47
Parker
47
Vaughns
Passes defended
18
French
18
Davey
18
Parker
48
Vaughns

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 Jamal Gates’s 2021 season.

Jamal Gates

87%match

Florida International · 2021

#2

Mikai Gbayor

Nebraska · 2023

87%
#3

Solon Page III

Tennessee · 2022

86%
#4

Trimarcus Cheeks

Houston · 2022

85%
#5

Markel Perry

Sam Houston · 2023

84%

Matches Jamal on

Weight
Sack rate
TFL rate

Differs from Jamal on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Prince Bemah's senior season at Charlotte (2024).

Prince Bemah

88%match

Charlotte · 2024

#2

Carl Jones

UCLA · 2023

85%
#3

Hayden Hatcher

Kansas · 2023

84%
#4

Shaun Myers

Colorado · 2025

84%
#5

JonJon Vaughns

UCLA · 2023

84%

Matches Prince on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Deion Sanders

Pass share

45.6%

356 pass / 424 run

Plays / game

65.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

12.5%

320 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Mike Sanford Jr.
Colorado
2023
Deion Sanders
Colorado
era →
2024
Deion Sanders
Colorado
2025
Deion Sanders
Colorado

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Sanford Jr. → Deion Sanders. 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.

HometownMemphis, TN
Height6'2"
Weight225 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey37

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2024)

All-AAC

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

All-Conference

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
2024 All-AAC all_conference UTSA | AAC LB

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 UTSA LB4 #8938 #9826 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | American Athletic
2023 UTSA LB4 #6918 #7470 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | American Athletic
2022 UTSA LB4 #9835 #9656 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Colorado Big 12 LB 4 No. 37 | 6-2 | 225 lb | Memphis, TN
2024 UTSA American Athletic LB 4 No. 37 | 6-2 | 225 lb | Memphis, TN
2023 UTSA American Athletic LB 4 No. 37 | 6-2 | 225 lb | Memphis, TN
2022 UTSA Conference USA LB 4 No. 37 | 6-2 | 225 lb | Memphis, TN