cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Matagi Thompson /Hawai'i

Matagi Thompson

DB · Hawai'i · Jr · #25

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

16 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Hawai'i for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Hawai'i for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Hawai'i

Returning around him

  • 46% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +7 net (16 in / 9 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Hawai'i · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #120 · 2026 recruiting class #124

DB · HAWAI'I · MOUNTAIN WEST

Matagi Thompson

  • 3
  • #25
  • 6-2 | 190 lb
  • Honolulu, HI

CFB Zeitgeist Score

31

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 78th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13490

<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 DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

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

HS
Recruit
★★
#2536 national
CFB
College
Hawai'i
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class3
Jersey25
Measurements6-2 | 190 lb
HometownHonolulu, HI
Primary teamHawai'i

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 2-star No. 2536 recruit
Composite rating 0.7933 HighSchool
Signed with Hawai'i 2021
Origin Punahou Honolulu, HI, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 2-star | 0.7933 No. 2536 recruit | HighSchool | Hawai'i

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#13490Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13540Where 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 Hawai'i

Composite

0.7933

#2536 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 Matagi Thompson

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 Matagi Thompson

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
16Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
26Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 16): needs 12.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 16): needs 16.8/game over remaining 5.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.2/game over remaining 5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/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.

Matagi Thompson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Hawai'i's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.0 tackles for loss, and 1 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 #13490 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 0.0 TFL

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 16 11 solo | #2295/4942 (54th pct)
TFL 0.0 Backfield disruption | #3020/4972 (39th 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
16 54th
SOLO
11 60th
TFL
0.0 39th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 23-20vs Stanford330.00.00
Wk 3W 23-3vs Portland State110.00.01
Wk 4L 21-23vs Fresno State330.00.00
Wk 5W 44-35@ Air Force410.00.010Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 8W 31-19@ Colorado State220.00.00
Wk 13L 10-38@ UNLV200.00.00
Wk 14W 27-7vs Wyoming000.00.01
BowlW 35-31vs California110.00.01
Total16110.00.013
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

2022Hawai'i3-10HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-leaning
2023Hawai'i5-8HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-heavy
2025Hawai'i9-4HC: Timmy Chang · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Hawai'i16110.00.031--
2023Hawai'i110.00.0------
2022Hawai'i1490.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons31210.00.031--
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 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th pct)
QB pressures 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 16 #2295/4942 54th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.0 #3020/4972 39th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 14.0 #292/578 50th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 14 #365/578 37th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 11 #1855/4584 60th 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 Thorpe 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
Home5g1.60.00.00.6
Road3g2.70.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g1.80.00.00.5
Losses2g2.50.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g2.40.00.00.4
Weeks 8+3g1.30.00.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

31Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (7th).

Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct
11defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Tackles#2295 / 2975 · 21st pct
16defe
Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct
0.0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DB · 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
Matagi ThompsonHawai'iTyler MartinMassachusetts· 59% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 54% simBrevin HamblinUtah State· 53% sim
Passes defended
78
Thompson
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
98
Hamblin
Solo tackles
35
Thompson
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
99
Hamblin
Interceptions
31
Thompson
31
Martin
31
Hamblin
Sacks
24
Thompson
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
74
Hamblin
QB hurries
22
Thompson
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
22
Hamblin
Tackles
21
Thompson
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
99
Hamblin
Tackles for loss
7
Thompson
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
56
Hamblin

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

Player DNA

The Centerfielder

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Julius Wood’s 2021 season.

Julius Wood

85%match

East Carolina · 2021

#2

Jayden Goodwin

Air Force · 2021

84%
#3

T.J. Tampa

Iowa State · 2021

NFL Rd 4
80%
#4

Micheal Caraway Jr.

Southern Miss · 2023

80%
#5

Caleb Offord

Buffalo · 2022

81%

Matches Julius on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Weight

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jarvis Brownlee's senior season at Louisville (2023).

Jarvis Brownlee

69%match

Louisville · 2023

#2

Amier Boyd-Matthews

Texas Tech · 2025

68%
#3

Coleman Bryson

North Carolina · 2025

63%
#4

Dylahn McKinney

Colorado · 2025

65%
#5

Nick Cull

Ole Miss · 2025

60%

Matches Jarvis on

Class year
Interceptions
PD rate

Differs from Jarvis on

Height (higher)
Tackle volume (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Timmy Chang

Pass share

60.2%

540 pass / 357 run

Plays / game

69.0

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.8%

427 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Timmy Chang
Hawai'i
2023
Timmy Chang
Hawai'i
2025
Timmy Chang
Hawai'i

Played his entire career under Timmy Chang.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownHonolulu, HI
Height6'2"
Weight190 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey25

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 Hawai'i DB3 #13490 #13540 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 Hawai'i DB3 #15053 #15096 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 Hawai'i DB3 #14843 #14957 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Hawai'i Mountain West DB 3 No. 25 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Honolulu, HI
2024 Hawai'i Mountain West DB 3 No. 25 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Honolulu, HI
2023 Hawai'i Mountain West DB 3 No. 25 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Honolulu, HI
2022 Hawai'i Mountain West DB 3 No. 25 | 6-2 | 190 lb | Honolulu, HI