cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Brandon Miyazono /SMU

Brandon Miyazono

LB · SMU · Jr · #29

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

44 TACKLES · 2 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to SMU for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to SMU for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · SMU

Returning around him

  • 50% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 SMU player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -11 net (14 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

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

SMU · Last season: 9-4 (AP #25) · Talent rank #25 · 2026 recruiting class #31

LB · SMU · ACC

Brandon Miyazono

  • 3
  • #29
  • 6-1 | 235 lb
  • Frisco, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

65

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 80th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#4966

<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 LB AWARD

Butkus

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
★★★
#1654 national
CFB
College
SMU
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey29
Measurements6-1 | 235 lb
HometownFrisco, TX
Primary teamSMU

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1654 recruit
Composite rating 0.8411 HighSchool
Signed with SMU 2023
Origin Frisco Frisco, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 3-star | 0.8411 No. 1654 recruit | HighSchool | SMU

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#4966Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#5205Where 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 SMU

Composite

0.8411

#1654 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 Brandon Miyazono

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 Brandon Miyazono

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

final
Through 13g
44Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
2Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Final
44Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
2Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Brandon Miyazono is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on SMU's defense, with 2.0 sacks, 4.5 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 #4966 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 2.0 sacks | 4.5 TFL

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 44 22 solo | #756/4942 (85th pct)
TFL 4.5 Backfield disruption | #648/4972 (87th pct)
Sacks 2.0 Pass-rush finish | #491/4972 (90th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderCoverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
44 85th
SOLO
22 80th
TFL
4.5 87th
SACK
2.0 90th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
8 98th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 42-13vs East Texas A&M830.00.00Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 2L 45-48vs Baylor330.00.02
Wk 3W 28-10@ Missouri State100.50.01
Wk 4L 24-35@ TCU410.50.01
Wk 6W 31-18vs Syracuse210.00.010
Wk 7W 34-10vs Stanford321.01.01
Wk 8W 35-24@ Clemson640.50.01
Wk 9L 12-13@ Wake Forest310.00.00
Wk 10W 26-20vs Miami420.00.01
Wk 11W 45-13@ Boston College210.00.00
Wk 13W 38-6vs Louisville221.01.00
Wk 14L 35-38@ California200.00.00
BowlW 24-19vs Arizona421.00.01
Total44224.52.018
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

2023SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2024SMU11-3HC: Rhett Lashlee · Run-leaning
2025SMU9-4HC: Rhett Lashlee · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025SMU44224.52.081--
2024SMU1553.01.0------
2023SMU1380.50.0------
Career3 loaded seasons72358.03.081--
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 8 Coverage disruption | #45/2184 (98th 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 44 #756/4942 85th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.5 #648/4972 87th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 2.0 #491/4972 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 8 #45/2184 98th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 22 #902/4584 80th 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 Butkus 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home7g3.70.40.30.7
Road6g3.00.20.00.5

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins9g3.60.40.20.6
Losses4g3.00.10.00.8

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.60.40.10.9
Weeks 8+6g3.20.20.20.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

65Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (97th). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Passes defended#45 / 2975 · 98th pct
8defe
Sacks#487 / 2975 · 80th pct
2.0defe
Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct
4.5defe
Tackles#756 / 2975 · 74th pct
44defe
Solo tackles#902 / 2975 · 69th pct
22defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 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
Brandon MiyazonoSMUNick AndersenWake Forest· 84% simOwen LongColorado State· 83% simBrevin HamblinUtah State· 83% sim
Passes defended
98
Miyazono
96
Andersen
91
Long
98
Hamblin
Sacks
80
Miyazono
74
Andersen
80
Long
74
Hamblin
Tackles for loss
77
Miyazono
90
Andersen
80
Long
56
Hamblin
Tackles
74
Miyazono
99
Andersen
100
Long
99
Hamblin
Solo tackles
69
Miyazono
96
Andersen
99
Long
99
Hamblin
Interceptions
31
Miyazono
31
Hamblin
QB hurries
22
Miyazono
22
Andersen
22
Long
22
Hamblin

Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.

Player DNA

The Coverage 'Backer

Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Bangally Kamara’s 2022 season.

Bangally Kamara

61%match

Pittsburgh · 2022

#2

Dakota Cochran

Central Michigan · 2022

59%
#3

Shayne Simon

Pittsburgh · 2022

58%
#4

Nick Straw

Navy · 2022

58%
#5

West Weeks

Virginia · 2021

56%

Matches Bangally on

Weight
PD rate
Sack rate

Differs from Bangally on

TFL rate (higher)
Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Tracy Hill Jr.'s junior season at Georgia Southern (2025).

Tracy Hill Jr.

71%match

Georgia Southern · 2025

All-Sun Belt
#2

Randon Fontenette

Vanderbilt · 2025

69%
#3

Daylan Carnell

Missouri · 2023

68%
#4

Terell Smith

Minnesota · 2022

NFL Rd 5
67%
#5

Jerry Mixon

Oregon · 2025

67%

Matches Tracy on

Tackle volume
TFL rate
Height

Differs from Tracy on

Weight (higher)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

Pass share

53.7%

460 pass / 396 run

Plays / game

65.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

5.4%

333 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2024
Rhett Lashlee
SMU
2025
Rhett Lashlee
SMU

Played his entire career under Rhett Lashlee.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFrisco, TX
Height6'1"
Weight235 lb
Class3
PositionLB
Jersey29

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 SMU LB3 #4966 #5205 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 SMU LB3 #8470 #8143 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | American Athletic

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 SMU ACC LB 3 No. 29 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Frisco, TX
2024 SMU ACC LB 3 No. 29 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Frisco, TX
2023 SMU American Athletic LB 3 No. 29 | 6-1 | 235 lb | Frisco, TX