cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Noah Avinger /Utah State

Noah Avinger

CB · Utah State · Sr

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

81 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Utah State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Utah State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Cornerback · Utah State

Returning around him

  • 63% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: +10 net (29 in / 19 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Utah State · Last season: 6-7 · Talent rank #114 · 2026 recruiting class #87

CB · UTAH STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST

Noah Avinger

  • 4
  • 6-0 | 190 lb
  • Cerritos, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

75

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by interceptions at the 90th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#15358

<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 · Season-by-season Standing

3 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R09 All-Conference HM / 2nd team · 2025

2021

San Diego State · CB

2022

San Diego State · CB

2025

Utah State · CB

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#600 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.

PositionCB
Class4
Jersey--
Measurements6-0 | 190 lb
HometownCerritos, CA
Primary teamUtah State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 600 recruit
Composite rating 0.8741 HighSchool
Signed with San Diego State 2021
Origin Servite Anaheim, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8741 No. 600 recruit | HighSchool | San Diego State

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 New Mexico 2024
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Nov 28, 2023
Season Move Context
2024 San Diego State -> New Mexico 3-star | 0.8700 | 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#15358Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#15489Where 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

NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft

Market value, pedigree & pro outcome

Recruit stars

★★★☆☆

to San Diego State

Composite

0.8741

#600 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 Noah Avinger

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 Noah Avinger

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
81Tackles
3.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
7Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
88Tackles
3.8Tackles for loss
1.1Sacks

✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 81.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 81): needs 19/game over remaining 1.

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

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 9/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.

Noah Avinger is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Utah State's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 3.5 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 #15358 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

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 81 42 solo | #135/4942 (97th pct)
TFL 3.5 Backfield disruption | #869/4972 (83rd 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?

Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
81 97th
SOLO
42 96th
TFL
3.5 83rd
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
10 99th
INT
3 94th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 28-16vs UTEP1180.00.00
Wk 2L 22-44@ Texas A&M640.00.010
Wk 3W 49-30vs Air Force930.00.010
Wk 4W 48-7vs McNeese310.00.02
Wk 5L 35-55@ Vanderbilt1220.00.010Season-high 12 tackles
Wk 7L 26-44@ Hawai'i330.00.01
Wk 8W 30-25vs San José State110.00.02
Wk 9L 14-33@ New Mexico930.00.00
Wk 11W 51-14vs Nevada710.00.00
Wk 12L 26-29@ UNLV331.00.02
Wk 13W 28-17@ Fresno State650.00.02
Wk 14L 24-25vs Boise State1182.51.012.5 TFL
Total81423.51.0310
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

2021San Diego State11-2HC: Brady Hoke · Run-heavy
2022San Diego State7-6HC: Brady Hoke · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Utah State6-7HC: Bronco Mendenhall · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Utah State81423.51.0103--
2022San Diego State35241.50.031--
2021San Diego State15100.50.021--
Career3 loaded seasons131765.51.0155--
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 0 pick-six TD | #56/869 (94th pct)
Pass breakups 10 Coverage disruption | #20/2184 (99th 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 81 #135/4942 97th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.5 #869/4972 83rd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 3 #56/869 94th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 10 #20/2184 99th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 42 #165/4584 96th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 11 #393/578 32nd pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 3.7 #485/578 16th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th 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.

ALL-CONF HM

On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex

ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16

Why he’s here

All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.

What moves him up

A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.

What moves him down

A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.

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
Home6g7.00.40.20.8
Road6g6.50.20.00.8

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g6.20.00.01.0
Losses6g7.30.60.20.7

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g7.30.00.00.5
Weeks 8+6g6.20.60.21.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the CB cohort

75All-Conference
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (99th). Strength: tackles (95th).

Passes defended#20 / 2975 · 99th pct
10defe
Tackles#135 / 2975 · 95th pct
81defe
Solo tackles#165 / 2975 · 94th pct
42defe
Interceptions#56 / 817 · 90th pct
3inte
Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct
3.5defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb

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

Advanced Savant · CB · 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 · 8 metrics
Noah AvingerUtah StateJacob RodriguezTexas Tech· 90% simEli BlakeyMiami (OH)· 89% simAndon ThomasArmy· 87% sim
Passes defended
99
Avinger
94
Rodriguez
98
Blakey
91
Thomas
Tackles
95
Avinger
100
Rodriguez
99
Blakey
99
Thomas
Solo tackles
94
Avinger
99
Rodriguez
99
Blakey
100
Thomas
Interceptions
90
Avinger
95
Rodriguez
75
Blakey
Tackles for loss
69
Avinger
96
Rodriguez
77
Blakey
73
Thomas
Sacks
63
Avinger
63
Rodriguez
63
Blakey
51
Thomas
QB hurries
55
Avinger
55
Rodriguez
82
Blakey
82
Thomas
Forced fumbles
47
Avinger
47
Rodriguez
47
Blakey

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

Player DNA

The Ball Hawk

Reads the quarterback's eyes and takes the ball away.

CB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jalen Mcclendon’s 2025 season.

Jalen Mcclendon

71%match

Bowling Green · 2025

All-MAC
#2

Tyon Davis

Tulsa · 2021

70%
#3

Jaquez White

Troy · 2025

70%
#4

Christian Roland-Wallace

Arizona · 2022

65%
#5

Corey Mayfield Jr.

UTSA · 2022

All-Conference USA
69%

Matches Jalen on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Differs from Jalen on

Tackle volume (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Gregory Rubin's senior season at Memphis (2024).

Gregory Rubin

81%match

Memphis · 2024

#2

Abraham Camara

TCU · 2024

81%
#3

Kempton Shine

Eastern Michigan · 2023

81%
#4

Peter Manuma

Hawai'i · 2025

79%
#5

Johnathan Baldwin

UNLV · 2024

All-Mountain West
79%

Matches Gregory on

Class year
Weight
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Bronco Mendenhall

Pass share

47.9%

403 pass / 439 run

Plays / game

64.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

12.7%

339 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025

2 coaches
2021
Blake Anderson
Utah State
2022
Blake Anderson
Utah State
2025
Bronco Mendenhall
Utah State
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Blake Anderson → Bronco Mendenhall. 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.

HometownCerritos, CA
Height6'0"
Weight190 lb
Class4
PositionCB

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2025)

All-Mountain West

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
2025 All-Mountain West all_conference Utah State | Mountain West DB

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 CB4 #15358 #15489 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 San Diego State CB4 #14279 #14283 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 San Diego State CB4 #10687 #10674 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West
2021 San Diego State CB4 #8615 #8352 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Utah State Mountain West CB 4 6-0 | 190 lb | Cerritos, CA
2024 New Mexico Mountain West CB 4 6-0 | 190 lb | Cerritos, CA
2023 San Diego State Mountain West CB 4 6-0 | 190 lb | Cerritos, CA
2022 San Diego State Mountain West CB 4 6-0 | 190 lb | Cerritos, CA
2021 San Diego State Mountain West CB 4 6-0 | 190 lb | Cerritos, CA