cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Naeten Mitchell /New Mexico State

Naeten Mitchell

S · New Mexico State · So · #4

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

92 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 TRANSFERTransferred New Mexico State → Colorado for 2026

Where He Ended Up · Transfer

Transferred to Colorado

2025New Mexico State
2026Colorado

S · NEW MEXICO STATE · CONFERENCE USA

Naeten Mitchell

  • 2
  • #4
  • 5-11 | 175 lb
  • Temple, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

62

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 90th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#15606

<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 2 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
New Mexico State
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class2
Jersey4
Measurements5-11 | 175 lb
HometownTemple, TX
Primary teamNew Mexico State

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 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Colorado 2026
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 5, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 New Mexico State -> Colorado 3-star | 0.8500 | 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#15606Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#15718Where 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 Naeten Mitchell

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 Naeten Mitchell

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
92Tackles
1.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
8Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
100Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
0Sacks

✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 92.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 92): needs 8/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

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

Naeten Mitchell is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on New Mexico State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.5 tackles for loss, and 3 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 #15606 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 0.0 sacks | 1.5 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 92 58 solo | #77/4942 (98th pct)
TFL 1.5 Backfield disruption | #1771/4972 (64th 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?

Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
92 98th
SOLO
58 99th
TFL
1.5 64th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
7 96th
INT
3 94th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 19-3vs Bryant210.00.00
Wk 2W 21-14vs Tulsa860.00.00
Wk 3L 14-49@ Louisiana Tech1190.00.00
Wk 5L 20-38@ New Mexico1240.00.00Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 6W 37-10vs Sam Houston1071.00.012
Wk 8L 27-30@ Liberty650.00.00
Wk 9L 17-24vs Missouri State640.00.021
Wk 10L 16-35@ Western Kentucky850.00.00
Wk 11L 21-24vs Kennesaw State640.00.01
Wk 12L 9-42@ Tennessee1070.00.00
Wk 13W 34-31@ UTEP510.00.03
Wk 14L 24-31vs Middle Tennessee850.50.00
Total92581.50.037
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

2025New Mexico State4-8HC: Tony Sanchez · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025New Mexico State92581.50.073--
Career1 loaded season92581.50.073--
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 3 1 pick-six TD | #56/869 (94th pct)
Pass breakups 7 Coverage disruption | #85/2184 (96th 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 92 #77/4942 98th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.5 #1771/4972 64th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 3 #56/869 94th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 7 #85/2184 96th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 86 #27/578 96th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 58 #29/4584 99th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 28.7 #110/578 81st pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Defensive TD 1 #23/200 89th pct Scoringvs FBS DEF
Defense Pick-six TD 1 #13/119 90th pct Scoringvs 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g6.70.20.00.7
Road6g8.70.00.00.5

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins4g6.20.20.01.2
Losses8g8.40.10.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g8.60.20.00.4
Weeks 8+7g7.00.10.00.7

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

62Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (98th). Strength: tackles (97th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Solo tackles#29 / 2975 · 99th pct
58defe
Tackles#77 / 2975 · 97th pct
92defe
Passes defended#85 / 2975 · 96th pct
7defe
Interceptions#56 / 817 · 90th pct
3inte
Tackles for loss#1711 / 2975 · 39th pct
1.5defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · S · 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
Naeten MitchellNew Mexico StateTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 93% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 85% simDevin LafayetteTroy· 83% sim
Solo tackles
99
Mitchell
100
Ra-El
97
Johnson
98
Lafayette
Tackles
97
Mitchell
99
Ra-El
98
Johnson
99
Lafayette
Passes defended
96
Mitchell
91
Ra-El
96
Johnson
91
Lafayette
Interceptions
90
Mitchell
95
Johnson
75
Lafayette
Tackles for loss
39
Mitchell
56
Ra-El
47
Johnson
56
Lafayette
Sacks
24
Mitchell
24
Ra-El
63
Johnson
63
Lafayette
QB hurries
22
Mitchell
22
Ra-El
22
Johnson
22
Lafayette

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

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Quadric Bullard’s 2021 season.

Quadric Bullard

70%match

UCF · 2021

#2

Jacob Fields

Louisiana Tech · 2025

70%
#3

J.J. Roberts

Marshall · 2024

60%
#4

Xavier Smith

UTEP · 2024

56%
#5

Jack Tchienchou

Tulane · 2025

All-AAC
59%

Matches Quadric on

PD rate
Weight
Tackle volume

Differs from Quadric on

Class year (lower)
Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Ian Foster's sophomore season at Southern Miss (2025).

Ian Foster

69%match

Southern Miss · 2025

#2

Xavier Smith

UTEP · 2024

63%
#3

Rashad Torrence II

Florida · 2021

66%
#4

Dillon Thieneman

Purdue · 2024

All-Big TenNFL Rd 1 · Pk 25
62%
#5

Rolijah Hardy

Indiana · 2025

All-Big Ten
62%

Matches Ian on

Class year
PD rate
Weight

Differs from Ian on

Tackle volume (higher)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Tony Sanchez

Pass share

57.4%

472 pass / 350 run

Plays / game

68.5

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.7%

359 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Tony Sanchez
New Mexico State

Played his entire career under Tony Sanchez.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownTemple, TX
Height5'11"
Weight175 lb
Class2
PositionS
Jersey4

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 New Mexico State S2 #15606 #15718 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA
2023 New Mexico State S2 #13574 #13303 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 New Mexico State Conference USA S 2 No. 4 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Temple, TX
2024 New Mexico State Conference USA S 2 No. 4 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Temple, TX
2023 New Mexico State Conference USA S 2 No. 4 | 5-11 | 175 lb | Temple, TX