CFB Zeitgeist Score
57
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by yards / catch at the 87th percentile.
Willie Rodriguez
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
310 REC YDS · 23 REC · 1 REC TD
2026 Outlook
Returning to Kentucky for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Tight end · Kentucky
Returning around him
- 27% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
- 4 Kentucky players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +2 net (29 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Kentucky · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #27 · 2026 recruiting class #29
TE · KENTUCKY · SEC
Willie Rodriguez
- 2
- #81
- 6-4 | 252 lb
- Taylor Mill, KY
Heisman Heat
#1218
<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 TE AWARD
Mackey
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2024–2025+230%
Up 230% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
Kentucky
NFL
NFL Draft
—
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 3-star | 0.8728 | No. 836 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.
Achievements
- Program Benchmark 5.5% Program Benchmark Season leader for the program at the player's position across the headline volume metric (passing yards / rushing yards / receiving yards). Held by 5.5% of the 2025 pool. Team leader in receiving yards (310).
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
0.8728
#836 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
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 Willie Rodriguez
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
50
Mixed Sentiment
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=2
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Willie Rodriguez
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Yards per reception
13.5
yds
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #194 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 64th
Why it matters
#194 of 531 All FBS WRs at 13.5 yards per reception (23 catches).
Vs cohort
This player 13.5 (64th)
MODERATE · n=23 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Receiving yards (total)#383 / 531
- Receiving TDs#402 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 13 at Vanderbilt — 78 ypr
Result L 17-45
The week the volume broke through — put up 78 yds at Vanderbilt.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 11g
310Rec yards
23Receptions
1Rec TDs
Per game
28.2Rec yards
2Receptions
0Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
366.4Rec yards
27Receptions
1Rec TDs
To hit 700-yard receiver (currently 310): needs 195/game over remaining 2.
To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 310): needs 345/game over remaining 2.
To hit 60-catch season (currently 23): needs 18.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 80-catch season (currently 23): needs 28.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 8 receiving TDs (currently 1): needs 3.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 1): needs 4.5/game over remaining 2.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Willie Rodriguez's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Kentucky, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
TE 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?
Big-play receiver against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
23 83rd
YDS
310 86th
YPR
13.5 84th
TD
1 71st
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-16vs Toledo | 2 | 31 | 15.5 | 0 | 23 | |
| Wk 2 | L 23-30vs Ole Miss | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 3 | W 48-23vs Eastern Michigan | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 1 | 25 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-35@ South Carolina | 2 | 66 | 33.0 | 0 | 53 | |
| Wk 6 | L 14-35@ Georgia | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 8 | L 13-16vs Texas | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 9 | L 34-56vs Tennessee | 2 | 28 | 14.0 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wk 10 | W 10-3@ Auburn | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 11 | W 38-7vs Florida | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 13 | L 17-45@ Vanderbilt | 6 | 78 | 13.0 | 0 | 20 | Season-high 78 yds |
| Wk 14 | L 0-41@ Louisville | 1 | 15 | 15.0 | 0 | 15 | |
| Total | 23 | 310 | 13.1 | 1 | 53 |
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
2024Kentucky4-8HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning, slow tempo
2025Kentucky5-7HC: Mark Stoops · Run-leaning
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The tight end's share of the passing offense, which helps distinguish a featured receiving tight end from a secondary option.
A blended usage view that shows how often the offense flows through the tight end compared with other same-level peers.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receptions | 23 | #84/475 | 83rd pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 310 | #66/475 | 86th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 1 | #140/475 | 71st pct | Scoringvs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 13.5 | #79/475 | 84th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Pass share | 10.0% | #91/468 | 81st pct | Air-game usagevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 53 | #29/475 | 94th pct | Metricvs FBS TE |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 6.7% | #89/468 | 81st pct | Money-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 6.1% | #100/468 | 79th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 5.3% | #96/468 | 80th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Role share | 4.8% | #93/468 | 80th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS TE |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 4.2% | #106/468 | 78th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 3.9% | #136/468 | 71st pct | Early-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.0% | #58/468 | 88th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS TE |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 1 | #34/55 | 40th pct | Turnoversvs FBS TE |
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 Mackey 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 · 11 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 1.8 | 22.7 | 11.9 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 2.4 | 34.8 | 14.5 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 1.5 | 18.8 | 11.4 | 0.2 |
| Losses7g | 2.4 | 33.6 | 14.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 1.8 | 28.2 | 15.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.3 | 28.2 | 11.5 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort
57Solid starter
Elite: yards / catch (86th). Strength: long catch (85th). Concern: rec tds (21st).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · TE · 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
Willie RodriguezKentuckyEli RaridonNotre Dame· 82% simRiley NowakowskiIndiana· 81% simEli FinleyLouisiana Tech· 77% sim
Yards / catch
Long catch
Rec yards
Receptions
Fumbles lost
Rec TDs
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Complete TE
Dual-threat: blocks when needed, catches when needed. Coveted on both sides.
TE
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Luke Mcgary’s 2024 season.
Luke Mcgary
76%match
#2
Neal Johnson
75%
#3
Dae'Quan Wright
75%
#4
Shane Calhoun
74%
#5
Ben Yurosek
73%
Matches Luke on
Height
TD rate
Reception volume
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Luke Mcgary's sophomore season at Tulsa (2024).
Luke Mcgary
82%match
#2
Decker DeGraaf
80%
#3
Zach Ortwerth
76%
#4
Zack Marshall
76%
#5
Luke Reynolds
75%
Matches Luke on
Yards / reception
TD rate
Reception volume
Differs from Luke on
Class year (lower)
EPA / play (adj) (lower)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mark Stoops
Pass share
46.2%
366 pass / 427 run
Plays / game
66.1
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
10.0%
280 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025
1 coach2024
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
2025
Mark Stoops
Kentucky
Played his entire career under Mark Stoops.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownTaylor Mill, KY
Height6'4"
Weight252 lb
Class2
PositionTE
Jersey81
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamKentucky
ConferenceSEC
Joined2025
Career arc2 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 | Kentucky | TE2 | #1218 | #1398 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | SEC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.