cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Nicolas Sessions /New Mexico State

Nicolas Sessions

S · New Mexico State · Sr · #5

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

61 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to New Mexico State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to New Mexico State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · New Mexico State

Returning around him

  • 56% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: +1 net (25 in / 24 out)

2026 Award watch

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

New Mexico State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #130 · 2026 recruiting class #126

S · NEW MEXICO STATE · CONFERENCE USA

Nicolas Sessions

  • 4
  • #5
  • 6-0 | 190 lb
  • Salt Lake City, UT

CFB Zeitgeist Score

60

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

Heisman Heat

#15282

<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

R06 · Starter

Starter. A locked-in starting role.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1800 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2021–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class4
Jersey5
Measurements6-0 | 190 lb
HometownSalt Lake City, UT
Primary teamNew Mexico State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1800 recruit
Composite rating 0.8315 HighSchool
Signed with Oklahoma State 2020
Origin East Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Class Profile Context
2020 3-star | 0.8315 No. 1800 recruit | HighSchool | Oklahoma State

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#15282Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#15429Where 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 Oklahoma State

Composite

0.8315

#1800 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 Nicolas Sessions

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 Nicolas Sessions

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
61Tackles
2.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
66Tackles
2.7Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 61): needs 19/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 61): needs 39/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.

Nicolas Sessions 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, 2.5 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 #15282 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 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 61 41 solo | #387/4942 (92nd pct)
TFL 2.5 Backfield disruption | #1236/4972 (75th 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?

High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
61 92nd
SOLO
41 96th
TFL
2.5 75th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 19-3vs Bryant540.00.01
Wk 2W 21-14vs Tulsa330.00.01
Wk 3L 14-49@ Louisiana Tech750.00.00
Wk 5L 20-38@ New Mexico630.00.00
Wk 6W 37-10vs Sam Houston531.00.00
Wk 8L 27-30@ Liberty850.00.00
Wk 9L 17-24vs Missouri State961.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 10L 16-35@ Western Kentucky430.00.00
Wk 11L 21-24vs Kennesaw State540.00.00
Wk 12L 9-42@ Tennessee110.00.00
Wk 13W 34-31@ UTEP430.00.00
Wk 14L 24-31vs Middle Tennessee410.50.01
Total61412.50.03
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

2021Oklahoma State11-2HC: Mike Gundy · Run-leaning, fast tempo
2023Oklahoma State10-4HC: Mike Gundy · Pass-leaning
2025New Mexico State4-8HC: Tony Sanchez · Pass-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025New Mexico State61412.50.03----
2023Oklahoma State310.00.0------
2021Oklahoma State440.00.0--1--
Career3 loaded seasons68462.50.031--
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th pct)
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 61 #387/4942 92nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.5 #1236/4972 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 41 #188/4584 96th 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g5.20.40.00.5
Road6g5.00.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins4g4.20.20.00.5
Losses8g5.50.20.00.1

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g5.20.20.00.4
Weeks 8+7g5.00.20.00.1

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

60Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (93rd). Strength: tackles (86th). Concern: sacks (23rd).

Solo tackles#188 / 2975 · 93rd pct
41defe
Tackles#387 / 2975 · 87th pct
61defe
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Tackles for loss#1222 / 2975 · 56th pct
2.5defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe

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 · 6 metrics
Nicolas SessionsNew Mexico StateBryce LlewellynEastern Michigan· 87% simRobert FitzgeraldNorthwestern· 86% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 85% sim
Solo tackles
93
Sessions
95
Llewellyn
100
Fitzgerald
100
Ra-El
Tackles
87
Sessions
99
Llewellyn
99
Fitzgerald
99
Ra-El
Passes defended
78
Sessions
86
Llewellyn
86
Fitzgerald
91
Ra-El
Tackles for loss
56
Sessions
80
Llewellyn
85
Fitzgerald
56
Ra-El
QB hurries
55
Sessions
72
Llewellyn
55
Fitzgerald
22
Ra-El
Sacks
24
Sessions
24
Llewellyn
24
Fitzgerald
24
Ra-El

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 Te'Rai Powell’s 2023 season.

Te'Rai Powell

90%match

Massachusetts · 2023

#2

Zion Childress

Kentucky · 2023

89%
#3

Myles Slusher

Purdue · 2025

89%
#4

Bryson Shaw

Ohio State · 2021

88%
#5

Joseph Charleston

Missouri · 2023

88%

Matches Te'Rai on

PD rate
Height
Tackle volume

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Myles Slusher's graduate season at Purdue (2025).

Myles Slusher

96%match

Purdue · 2025

#2

Tyler Rudolph

Massachusetts · 2024

89%
#3

Marcus Fuqua

Buffalo · 2024

All-MAC
87%
#4

Zion Childress

Kentucky · 2024

87%
#5

Quadric Bullard

UCF · 2024

87%

Matches Myles on

Class year
Height
PD rate

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 · 2021–2025

3 coaches
2021
Doug Martin
New Mexico State
2023
Jerry Kill
New Mexico State
era →
2025
Tony Sanchez
New Mexico State
era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Doug Martin, Jerry Kill, and Tony Sanchez. Multi-era developmental context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownSalt Lake City, UT
Height6'0"
Weight190 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey5

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 S4 #15282 #15429 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA
2023 Oklahoma State S4 #12117 #11859 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 Oklahoma State S4 #11464 #11337 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12
2021 Oklahoma State S4 #5367 #5168 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 New Mexico State Conference USA S 4 No. 5 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2024 New Mexico State Conference USA S 4 No. 5 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2023 Oklahoma State Big 12 S 4 No. 5 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2022 Oklahoma State Big 12 S 4 No. 5 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2021 Oklahoma State Big 12 S 4 No. 5 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Salt Lake City, UT