CFB Zeitgeist Score
45
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 58th percentile.
Aidan Laughery
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
382 RUSH YDS · 3 RUSH TD · 75 CARRIES
2026 Outlook
Returning to Illinois for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · Illinois
Returning around him
- 52% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 3 Illinois players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -8 net (19 in / 27 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Illinois · Last season: 9-4 (AP #23) · Talent rank #64 · 2026 recruiting class #45
RB · ILLINOIS · BIG TEN
Aidan Laughery
- 3
- #21
- 5-11 | 200 lb
- Gibson City, IL
Heisman Heat
#120
<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 RB AWARD
Doak Walker
—
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 · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2022
Illinois · RB
—
2023
Illinois · RB
—
★
2024
Illinois · RB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2025
Illinois · RB
—
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2022–2025+4144%
Up 4144% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
Illinois
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3-star | 0.8752 | No. 650 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
0.8752
#650 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 Aidan Laughery
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 Aidan Laughery
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 rushing totals stand
Through 9g
382Rush yards
75Carries
3Rush TDs
Per game
42.4Rush yards
8Carries
0Rush TDs
Projected (13g)
551.8Rush yards
108Carries
4Rush TDs
To hit 750-yard season (currently 382): needs 92/game over remaining 4.
To hit 1,000-yard season (currently 382): needs 154.5/game over remaining 4.
To hit 1,500-yard season (currently 382): needs 279.5/game over remaining 4.
To hit 10 rushing TDs (currently 3): needs 1.8/game over remaining 4.
To hit 15 rushing TDs (currently 3): needs 3/game over remaining 4.
To hit 20 rushing TDs (currently 3): needs 4.2/game over remaining 4.
Why the honors trail matters
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
The useful clue on this card is not just the Heisman rank, but the broader honors spine. Aidan Laughery already has 1 loaded recognition item, which helps distinguish a player who is merely productive from one who is already earning selector-level validation.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
RB 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?
Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Rushing
CAR
75 70th
YDS
382 70th
YPC
5.1 65th
TD
3 73rd
Receiving
REC
9 57th
YDS
54 51st
YPR
6.0 38th
TD
0 70th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 52-3vs Western Illinois | 9 | 101 | 11.2 | 2 | 57 | Season-high 101 yds |
| Wk 2 | W 45-19@ Duke | 6 | 5 | 0.8 | 0 | 6 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-32vs USC | 7 | 25 | 3.6 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 7 | L 16-34vs Ohio State | 8 | 50 | 6.3 | 1 | 23 | |
| Wk 9 | L 25-42@ Washington | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 10 | W 35-13vs Rutgers | 9 | 41 | 4.6 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-27@ Wisconsin | 5 | 16 | 3.2 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 14 | W 20-13vs Northwestern | 9 | 37 | 4.1 | 0 | 9 | |
| Bowl | W 30-28vs Tennessee | 13 | 77 | 5.9 | 0 | 28 | |
| Total | 75 | 382 | 4.8 | 3 | 57 |
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
2022Illinois8-5HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning
2023Illinois5-7HC: Bret Bielema · Balanced
2024Illinois10-3HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning
2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.
How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 382 | #219/735 | 70th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 3 | #204/739 | 73rd pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 5.1 | #257/735 | 65th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receptions | 9 | #236/552 | 57th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 54 | #267/548 | 51st pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.10 | #209/362 | 43rd pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 65 weighted playsvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Role share | 14.2% | #198/738 | 73rd pct | Share of team offensevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Carries | 75 | #223/739 | 70th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 57 | #118/733 | 84th pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 17 | #264/540 | 51st pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 6.0 | #340/548 | 38th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 0 | #169/552 | 70th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Rush share | 24.3% | #194/738 | 74th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 19.7% | #148/738 | 80th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 18.2% | #163/738 | 78th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 13.6% | #221/738 | 70th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 4.5% | #481/738 | 35th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | Pass share | 3.9% | #237/738 | 68th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 3.2% | #535/738 | 28th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS RB |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 55.2 | 5.9 | 0.5 |
| Road3g | 17.0 | 2.4 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins6g | 47.7 | 5.0 | 0.3 |
| Losses3g | 32.0 | 4.3 | 0.3 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 51.6 | 5.6 | 0.6 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 31.0 | 3.8 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
45Mid-pack
Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · RB · 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.
wepa_rushing0.1Low (p25–p50) (n=178)
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Aidan LaugheryIllinoisTae MeadowsTroy· 71% simBill DavisLouisiana· 70% simJeremiah CobbAuburn· 69% sim
Long run
Yards / carry
Rush TDs
Rush yards
Carries
Receptions
Rec yards
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Balanced Back
Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to TJ Green’s 2021 season.
TJ Green
85%match
#2
Omiri Wiggins
85%
#3
Christian Turner
84%
#4
TJ Green
80%
#5
Michel Dukes
78%
Matches TJ on
Receiving share
Yards / carry
Weight
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jacory Merritt’s path through Arizona.
Jacory Merritt
90%match
#2
Ainias Smith
All-SECNFL Rd 5
89%
#3
Dylan Sampson
NFL Rd 4
89%
#4
Emmett Johnson
All-Big TenNFL Rd 5
87%
#5
Rhamondre Stevenson
NFL Rd 4
87%
Matches Jacory on
Height
Yards per carry
Weight
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Ajay Allen's senior season at Tulsa (2025).
Ajay Allen
78%match
#2
Zylan Perry
76%
#3
Christian Washington
All-Mountain West
76%
#4
Jalen Buckley
All-MAC
74%
#5
Demond Claiborne
All-ACCNFL Rd 6
70%
Matches Ajay on
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Receiving share
Yards / carry
Differs from Ajay on
Yards / reception (lower)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
45.6%
372 pass / 444 run
Plays / game
62.8
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
11.0%
292 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2023
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2024
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2025
Bret Bielema
Illinois
Played his entire career under Bret Bielema.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownGibson City, IL
Height5'11"
Weight200 lb
Class3
PositionRB
Jersey21
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamIllinois
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Big Ten
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | All-Big Ten | all_conference | Big Ten | -- |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Illinois | Big Ten | RB | 3 | No. 21 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Gibson City, IL |
| 2024 | Illinois | Big Ten | RB | 3 | No. 21 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Gibson City, IL |
| 2023 | Illinois | Big Ten | RB | 3 | No. 21 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Gibson City, IL |
| 2022 | Illinois | Big Ten | RB | 3 | No. 21 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Gibson City, IL |