cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Boo Carter /Tennessee

Boo Carter

DB · Tennessee · So · #23

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

26 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Tennessee for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Tennessee for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Tennessee

Returning around him

  • 22% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 5 Tennessee players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -8 net (21 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Tennessee · Last season: 8-5 (AP #18) · Talent rank #16 · 2026 recruiting class #11

DB · TENNESSEE · SEC

Boo Carter

  • 2
  • #23
  • 5-11 | 200 lb
  • Chattanooga, TN

CFB Zeitgeist Score

71

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 77th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#4417

<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 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#120 national
CFB
College
Tennessee
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class2
Jersey23
Measurements5-11 | 200 lb
HometownChattanooga, TN
Primary teamTennessee

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 129 recruit
Composite rating 0.9409 HighSchool
Signed with Tennessee 2024
Origin Bradley Central Cleveland, TN, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 4-star | 0.9409 No. 129 recruit | HighSchool | Tennessee
2023 4-star | 0.9446 No. 120 recruit | HighSchool | Tennessee

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#4417Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#4158Where 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 Tennessee

Composite

0.9409

#129 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 Boo Carter

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 Boo Carter

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 9g
26Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
38Tackles
6.5Tackles for loss
1.4Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 26): needs 13.5/game over remaining 4.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 26): needs 18.5/game over remaining 4.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.2/game over remaining 4.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Boo Carter is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Tennessee's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 4.5 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 #4417 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 129 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 26 17 solo | #1609/4942 (67th pct)
TFL 4.5 Backfield disruption | #648/4972 (87th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
26 67th
SOLO
17 73rd
TFL
4.5 87th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th
FF
3 100th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 45-26vs Syracuse110.00.00
Wk 2W 72-17vs East Tennessee State310.00.00
Wk 3L 41-44vs Georgia530.50.00
Wk 4W 56-24vs UAB963.01.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 5W 41-34@ Mississippi State000.00.01
Wk 7W 34-31vs Arkansas430.00.01
Wk 8L 20-37@ Alabama210.00.01
Wk 9W 56-34@ Kentucky221.00.00
Wk 10L 27-33vs Oklahoma
Total26174.51.03
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

2024Tennessee10-3HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy, fast tempo
2025Tennessee8-5HC: Josh Heupel · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Tennessee26174.51.03--3
2024Tennessee38283.01.0--12
Career2 loaded seasons64457.52.0315
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 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th pct)
QB pressures 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 26 #1609/4942 67th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.5 #648/4972 87th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 17 #1252/4584 73rd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Forced fumbles 3 #1/45 100th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Ball Security Fumbles lost 1 #753/773 3rd pct Turnoversvs 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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g3.70.60.20.2
Road3g1.30.30.00.7

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g3.20.70.20.3
Losses3g2.30.20.00.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.70.60.20.3
Weeks 8+3g1.30.30.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

71Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: forced fumbles (99th).

Forced fumbles#1 / 687 · 100th pct
3fumb
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct
4.5defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Solo tackles#1252 / 2975 · 56th pct
17defe
Tackles#1609 / 2975 · 45th pct
26defe

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
Boo CarterTennesseeTreylin PayneTexas State· 71% simTJ DotteryOle Miss· 71% simJaylen WesterWestern Kentucky· 71% sim
Forced fumbles
100
Carter
Passes defended
78
Carter
67
Payne
67
Dottery
67
Wester
Tackles for loss
77
Carter
87
Payne
83
Dottery
90
Wester
QB hurries
72
Carter
82
Payne
55
Dottery
82
Wester
Sacks
63
Carter
80
Payne
74
Dottery
74
Wester
Solo tackles
56
Carter
95
Payne
97
Dottery
98
Wester
Tackles
45
Carter
98
Payne
98
Dottery
99
Wester

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 Jaden Milliner-Jones’s 2023 season.

Jaden Milliner-Jones

87%match

Colorado · 2023

#2

Lynard Harris

UL Monroe · 2025

82%
#3

Sylvester Smith

Auburn · 2025

81%
#4

Tae Harris

Georgia Tech · 2025

79%
#5

Kylon Griffin

Clemson · 2024

79%

Matches Jaden on

PD rate
Height
Tackle volume

Differs from Jaden on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Ja'Von Kimpson's sophomore season at Miami (OH) (2022).

Ja'Von Kimpson

94%match

Miami (OH) · 2022

#2

Aaron Gates

Florida · 2024

88%
#3

Lynard Harris

UL Monroe · 2025

85%
#4

Korey Johnson

Air Force · 2025

84%
#5

Demaurez Bellamy

South Florida · 2021

84%

Matches Ja'Von on

Class year
Height
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

Pass share

47.3%

437 pass / 486 run

Plays / game

71.0

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.4%

334 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Josh Heupel
Tennessee
2025
Josh Heupel
Tennessee

Played his entire career under Josh Heupel.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownChattanooga, TN
Height5'11"
Weight200 lb
Class2
PositionDB
Jersey23

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 Tennessee DB2 #4417 #4158 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Tennessee SEC DB 2 No. 23 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Chattanooga, TN
2024 Tennessee SEC DB 2 No. 23 | 5-11 | 200 lb | Chattanooga, TN