cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Randon Fontenette /Vanderbilt

Randon Fontenette

LB · Vanderbilt · Jr · #2

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

51 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Vanderbilt for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Vanderbilt for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Vanderbilt

Returning around him

  • 86% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • 1 Vanderbilt player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -1 net (18 in / 19 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Vanderbilt · Last season: 10-3 (AP #13) · Talent rank #55 · 2026 recruiting class #76

LB · VANDERBILT · SEC

Randon Fontenette

  • 3
  • #2
  • 6-2 | 220 lb
  • Freeport, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

73

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 87th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8330

<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 2 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#235 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey2
Measurements6-2 | 220 lb
HometownFreeport, TX
Primary teamVanderbilt

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 235 recruit
Composite rating 0.9163 HighSchool
Signed with TCU 2023
Origin Brazosport Freeport, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 4-star | 0.9163 No. 235 recruit | HighSchool | TCU

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#8330Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9162Where 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 TCU

Composite

0.9163

#235 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 Randon Fontenette

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 Randon Fontenette

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

final
Through 13g
51Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Final
51Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Randon Fontenette is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Vanderbilt's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 6.5 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 #8330 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 235 recruit

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 51 30 solo | #579/4942 (88th pct)
TFL 6.5 Backfield disruption | #340/4972 (93rd 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-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderCoverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
51 88th
SOLO
30 89th
TFL
6.5 93rd
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
5 90th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
6 93rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 45-3vs Charleston Southern100.00.00
Wk 2W 44-20@ Virginia Tech210.00.01
Wk 3W 31-7@ South Carolina432.00.00
Wk 4W 70-21vs Georgia State221.00.01
Wk 5W 55-35vs Utah State331.00.00
Wk 6L 14-30@ Alabama210.00.00
Wk 8W 31-24vs LSU330.00.01
Wk 9W 17-10vs Missouri621.00.00
Wk 10L 31-34@ Texas540.00.00
Wk 11W 45-38vs Auburn820.50.02Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 13W 45-17vs Kentucky421.00.00
Wk 14W 45-24@ Tennessee850.00.01
BowlL 27-34vs Iowa320.00.00
Total51306.50.06
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

2023TCU5-7HC: Sonny Dykes · Pass-leaning, fast tempo
2024Vanderbilt7-6HC: Clark Lea · Run-heavy
2025Vanderbilt10-3HC: Clark Lea · Balanced, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Vanderbilt51306.50.06----
2024Vanderbilt72418.02.571--
2023TCU1480.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons1377914.52.5131--
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 6 Coverage disruption | #144/2184 (93rd pct)
QB pressures 5 Quarterback hurries | #188/1878 (90th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 51 #579/4942 88th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 6.5 #340/4972 93rd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 6 #144/2184 93rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 5 #188/1878 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 30 #515/4584 89th 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 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home8g3.80.60.00.5
Road5g4.20.40.00.4

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins10g4.10.70.00.6
Losses3g3.30.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.40.60.00.3
Weeks 8+6g5.70.40.00.7

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

73Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (93rd). Strength: qb hurries (92nd). Concern: sacks (23rd).

Passes defended#144 / 2975 · 94th pct
6defe
QB hurries#188 / 2975 · 92nd pct
5defe
Tackles for loss#340 / 2975 · 87th pct
6.5defe
Solo tackles#515 / 2975 · 82nd pct
30defe
Tackles#579 / 2975 · 80th pct
51defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe

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 · 6 metrics
Randon FontenetteVanderbiltBryce LlewellynEastern Michigan· 87% simAndon ThomasArmy· 83% simBaron HopsonKennesaw State· 82% sim
Passes defended
94
Fontenette
86
Llewellyn
91
Thomas
94
Hopson
QB hurries
92
Fontenette
72
Llewellyn
82
Thomas
72
Hopson
Tackles for loss
87
Fontenette
80
Llewellyn
73
Thomas
96
Hopson
Solo tackles
82
Fontenette
95
Llewellyn
100
Thomas
100
Hopson
Tackles
80
Fontenette
99
Llewellyn
99
Thomas
100
Hopson
Sacks
24
Fontenette
24
Llewellyn
51
Thomas
51
Hopson

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

Player DNA

The Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Levelle Bailey’s 2021 season.

Levelle Bailey

75%match

Fresno State · 2021

#2

BJ Davis

East Carolina · 2023

72%
#3

Jalen Graham

Purdue · 2022

NFL Rd 7
72%
#4

Troy Brown

Central Michigan · 2021

All-MAC
70%
#5

James Kreutz

Illinois · 2025

69%

Matches Levelle on

Weight
TFL rate
PD rate

Differs from Levelle on

Sack rate (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to John Nestor's junior season at Minnesota (2025).

John Nestor

85%match

Minnesota · 2025

#2

Drew Spinogatti

James Madison · 2025

79%
#3

Saveon Brown

Buffalo · 2025

78%
#4

Edgerrin Cooper

Texas A&M · 2022

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 2 · Pk 13
78%
#5

DJ Coleman

Baylor · 2025

77%

Matches John on

PD rate
Tackle volume
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Clark Lea

Pass share

50.4%

400 pass / 394 run

Plays / game

61.1

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.3%

274 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Clark Lea
Vanderbilt
2024
Clark Lea
Vanderbilt
2025
Clark Lea
Vanderbilt

Played his entire career under Clark Lea.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFreeport, TX
Height6'2"
Weight220 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey2

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 Vanderbilt LB3 #8330 #9162 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC
2023 TCU LB3 #13255 #13233 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Vanderbilt SEC LB 3 No. 2 | 6-2 | 220 lb | Freeport, TX
2024 Vanderbilt SEC LB 3 No. 2 | 6-2 | 220 lb | Freeport, TX
2023 TCU Big 12 LB 3 No. 2 | 6-2 | 220 lb | Freeport, TX