cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Alex Ford /Kennesaw State

Alex Ford

DB · Kennesaw State · Jr · #4

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

23 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Kennesaw State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Kennesaw State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Kennesaw State

Returning around him

  • 46% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +10 net (29 in / 19 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Kennesaw State · Last season: 10-4 · Talent rank #132 · 2026 recruiting class #137

DB · KENNESAW STATE · CONFERENCE USA

Alex Ford

  • 3
  • #4
  • 6-0 | 190 lb
  • Antioch, TN

CFB Zeitgeist Score

29

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 48th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13339

<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 0 · Not on team

R01 · Scout team / redshirt

Scout team / redshirt. Developing behind the depth chart.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#2019 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.

PositionDB
Class3
Jersey4
Measurements6-0 | 190 lb
HometownAntioch, TN
Primary teamKennesaw State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2019 recruit
Composite rating 0.8106 HighSchool
Signed with Western Kentucky 2022
Origin Father Ryan Nashville, TN, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 3-star | 0.8106 No. 2019 recruit | HighSchool | Western Kentucky

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#13339Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13155Where 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 Western Kentucky

Composite

0.8106

#2019 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 Alex Ford

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 Alex Ford

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 10g
23Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
30Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 23): needs 19/game over remaining 3.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 23): needs 25.7/game over remaining 3.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 3.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 3.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Alex Ford is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Kennesaw State's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.0 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.

Current place #13339 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

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 23 12 solo | #1813/4942 (63rd pct)
TFL 0.0 Backfield disruption | #3020/4972 (39th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
23 63rd
SOLO
12 62nd
TFL
0.0 39th
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 9-10@ Wake Forest110.00.00
Wk 2L 9-56@ Indiana640.00.00Season-high 6 tackles
Wk 3W 27-13vs Merrimack320.00.00
Wk 4W 28-21vs Arkansas State200.00.00
Wk 5W 24-16vs Middle Tennessee630.00.00
Wk 7W 35-7vs Louisiana Tech100.00.00
Wk 13W 41-34vs Missouri State1
Wk 14W 48-42@ Liberty110.00.01
Wk 15W 19-15@ Jacksonville State110.00.00
BowlL 6-41@ Western Michigan200.00.00
Total23120.00.011
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

2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2025Kennesaw State10-4HC: Jerry Mack · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Kennesaw State23120.00.011--
2023Western Kentucky321.00.0--1--
Career2 loaded seasons26141.00.012--
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 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
QB pressures 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 23 #1813/4942 63rd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.0 #3020/4972 39th 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 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 81.0 #6/578 99th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 81 #36/578 94th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 12 #1735/4584 62nd 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 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g2.40.00.00.0
Road5g2.20.00.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins7g2.00.00.00.1
Losses3g3.00.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.00.00.00.0
Weeks 8+3g0.70.00.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

29Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles for loss (7th).

Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Solo tackles#1735 / 2975 · 40th pct
12defe
Tackles#1813 / 2975 · 38th pct
23defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Tackles for loss#2548 / 2975 · 7th pct
0.0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DB · 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 · 7 metrics
Alex FordKennesaw StateTyler MartinMassachusetts· 64% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 56% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 55% sim
Passes defended
48
Ford
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
67
Fletcher
Solo tackles
40
Ford
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
91
Fletcher
Tackles
38
Ford
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
99
Fletcher
Interceptions
31
Ford
31
Martin
Sacks
24
Ford
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
24
Fletcher
QB hurries
22
Ford
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
92
Fletcher
Tackles for loss
7
Ford
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
28
Fletcher

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 Cam Miller’s 2023 season.

Cam Miller

93%match

Penn State · 2023

NFL Rd 6
#2

AJ Williams

Wake Forest · 2023

92%
#3

Davaughn Celestine

San Diego State · 2023

91%
#4

Michael Taaffe

Texas · 2022

NFL Rd 5
90%
#5

Quinn Whitlock

North Texas · 2021

90%

Matches Cam on

Weight
PD rate
Tackle volume

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jalen Tate's junior season at Georgia State (2022).

Jalen Tate

95%match

Georgia State · 2022

#2

Christian Harrison

Tennessee · 2024

93%
#3

Kevin Anderson

Texas State · 2022

91%
#4

Stephen Nnadozie

Army · 2025

89%
#5

Marcus Williams

Rice · 2023

85%

Matches Jalen on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jerry Mack

Pass share

44.2%

422 pass / 533 run

Plays / game

68.2

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.4%

282 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Kennesaw State
2025
Jerry Mack
Kennesaw State
era →

Played his entire career under Jerry Mack.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownAntioch, TN
Height6'0"
Weight190 lb
Class3
PositionDB
Jersey4

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 Western Kentucky DB3 #13339 #13155 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA
2023 Western Kentucky DB3 #13451 #13287 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Conference USA
2022 Western Kentucky DB3 #11902 #11636 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Kennesaw State Conference USA DB 3 No. 4 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Antioch, TN
2024 Western Kentucky Conference USA DB 3 No. 4 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Antioch, TN
2023 Western Kentucky Conference USA DB 3 No. 4 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Antioch, TN
2022 Western Kentucky Conference USA DB 3 No. 4 | 6-0 | 190 lb | Antioch, TN