CFB Zeitgeist Score
52
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 78th percentile.
VJ Payne
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
59 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · NFL
New York2026 NFL rookie season
#228Rd 7 · Pick 12
New York2026 NFL rookie season
S · KANSAS STATE · BIG 12
VJ Payne
- 4
- #7
- 6-3 | 208 lb
- Gainesville, GA
Heisman Heat
#10199
<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 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
Kansas State
NFL
NFL Draft
R7 · #228
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3-star | 0.8567 | No. 1083 recruit | HighSchool |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| 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 16Heisman 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 —
Composite
0.8567
#1083 national
NFL Draft
2026 · Rd 7, Pick 12
#228 overall · New York
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
PENDINGThe 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 VJ Payne
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 VJ Payne
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 12g
59Tackles
3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
64Tackles
3.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 59): needs 21/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 59): needs 41/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.
VJ Payne is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kansas State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 3.0 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
59 92nd
SOLO
40 95th
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
0.0 65th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
3 76th
INT
1 65th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 21-24vs Iowa State | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 1 | W 38-35vs North Dakota | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | L 21-24vs Army | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-23@ Arizona | 11 | 6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 11 tackles |
| Wk 5 | W 34-20vs UCF | 3 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | L 34-35@ Baylor | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 41-28vs TCU | 6 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 42-17@ Kansas | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 20-43vs Texas Tech | 4 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 14-6@ Oklahoma State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | L 47-51@ Utah | 10 | 6 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 14 | W 24-14vs Colorado | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 59 | 40 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 1 | 3 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2022Kansas State10-4HC: Chris Klieman · Run-leaning
2023Kansas State9-4HC: Chris Klieman · Run-leaning
2025Kansas State6-6HC: Chris Klieman · Run-leaning, slow tempo
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kansas State | 59 | 40 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| 2023 | Kansas State | 57 | 44 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 3 | 1 | -- |
| 2022 | Kansas State | 14 | 10 | 1.0 | 1.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 130 | 94 | 7.0 | 1.0 | 6 | 2 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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.
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.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 59 | #413/4942 | 92nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 3.0 | #1006/4972 | 80th 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 | Solo tackles | 40 | #212/4584 | 95th 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
Status—Awaiting 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 vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 4.4 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Road5g | 5.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins6g | 3.3 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Losses6g | 6.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.3 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 4.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort
52Mid-pack
Elite: solo tackles (92nd). Strength: tackles (85th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).
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
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
VJ PayneKansas StateTyler MartinMassachusetts· 93% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 92% simRobert FitzgeraldNorthwestern· 84% sim
Solo tackles
Tackles
Passes defended
Tackles for loss
Interceptions
Sacks
QB hurries
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Hybrid Nickel
Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.
S
His 2025 production profile sits closest to VJ Payne’s 2023 season.
VJ Payne
90%match
NFL Rd 7
#2
Tyrez Lindsey
85%
#3
Ryan Watts
NFL Rd 6
84%
#4
Michael Dixon
84%
#5
Tyree Skipper
All-Sun Belt
83%
Matches VJ on
Height
Tackle volume
Interceptions
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Zach Ford's senior season at Toledo (2023).
Zach Ford
90%match
#2
Smael Mondon Jr.
All-SECNFL Rd 5
87%
#3
Ty'Ron Hopper
NFL Rd 3 · Pk 28
84%
#4
Kain Medrano
All-Big TenNFL Rd 6
84%
#5
Trey Jones III
85%
Matches Zach on
Class year
Height
Tackle volume
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Chris Klieman
Pass share
46.4%
342 pass / 395 run
Plays / game
61.4
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
4.5%
288 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Chris Klieman
Kansas State
2023
Chris Klieman
Kansas State
2025
Chris Klieman
Kansas State
Played his entire career under Chris Klieman.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownGainesville, GA
Height6'3"
Weight208 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey7
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamKansas State
ConferenceBig 12
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | Kansas State | S4 | #10199 | #9928 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big 12 |
| 2023 | Kansas State | S4 | #9017 | #8986 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Big 12 |
| 2022 | Kansas State | S4 | #7260 | #7051 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big 12 |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kansas State | Big 12 | S | 4 | No. 7 | 6-3 | 208 lb | Gainesville, GA |
| 2024 | Kansas State | Big 12 | S | 4 | No. 7 | 6-3 | 208 lb | Gainesville, GA |
| 2023 | Kansas State | Big 12 | S | 4 | No. 7 | 6-3 | 208 lb | Gainesville, GA |
| 2022 | Kansas State | Big 12 | S | 4 | No. 7 | 6-3 | 208 lb | Gainesville, GA |