cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Brian Booker /New Mexico

Brian Booker

DT · New Mexico · Jr · #92

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

19 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to New Mexico for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to New Mexico for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · New Mexico

Returning around him

  • 12% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 1 New Mexico player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +1 net (15 in / 14 out)

2026 Award watch

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

New Mexico · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #131 · 2026 recruiting class #138

DT · NEW MEXICO · MOUNTAIN WEST

Brian Booker

  • 3
  • #92
  • 6-3 | 325 lb
  • Mansfield, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

55

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 74th percentile.

Heisman Heat

Awaiting

Not on the live Heisman board this week.

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

TOP DEFENSE AWARD

Nagurski

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R03 · Backup

Backup. On the two-deep, pushing for snaps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
New Mexico
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDT
Class3
Jersey92
Measurements6-3 | 325 lb
HometownMansfield, TX
Primary teamNew Mexico

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

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

Where the model places this player relative to the rest of the Heisman field.

Current nowcast--Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast--Where the full season sim points
Win probability--Chance to actually win the trophy
Finalist probability--Chance to make the finalist tier
Ballot probability--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.

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 Brian Booker

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 Brian Booker

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
19Tackles
3Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
27Tackles
4.3Tackles for loss
2.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 19): needs 15.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 19): needs 20.2/game over remaining 4.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 1.1/game over remaining 4.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 2.1/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.

Brian Booker is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on New Mexico's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 3.0 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 -- -- win | -- finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.5 sacks | 3.0 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 19 10 solo | #2072/4942 (58th pct)
TFL 3.0 Backfield disruption | #1006/4972 (80th pct)
Sacks 1.5 Pass-rush finish | #724/4972 (85th 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
19 58th
SOLO
10 56th
TFL
3.0 80th
SACK
1.5 85th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 5W 38-20vs New Mexico State210.00.00
Wk 6L 28-35@ San José State110.00.00
Wk 7L 25-41@ Boise State321.50.01
Wk 8W 24-22vs Nevada210.00.00
Wk 9W 33-14vs Utah State430.00.00Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 10W 40-35@ UNLV000.00.00
Wk 12W 20-17vs Colorado State100.50.50
Wk 13W 20-3@ Air Force300.50.50
BowlL 17-20@ Minnesota320.50.50
Total19103.01.51
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

2025New Mexico9-4HC: Jason Eck · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025New Mexico19103.01.51----
Career1 loaded season19103.01.51----
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd 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 19 #2072/4942 58th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.0 #1006/4972 80th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.5 #724/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 10 #1996/4584 56th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Ball Security Fumbles lost 0 #1/773 100th 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 Lombardi 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
Home4g2.20.10.10.0
Road5g2.00.50.20.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g2.00.20.20.0
Losses3g2.30.70.20.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g2.20.50.10.2
Weeks 8+5g2.00.20.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

55Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (28th).

Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct
1.5defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Tackles for loss#1001 / 2975 · 63rd pct
3.0defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Solo tackles#1996 / 2975 · 31st pct
10defe
Tackles#2072 / 2975 · 29th pct
19defe

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

Advanced Savant · DT · 2025

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
Brian BookerNew MexicoTrey FieldsNorth Texas· 61% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 61% simJaxton EckNew Mexico· 61% sim
Sacks
74
Booker
63
Fields
80
Parker
74
Eck
QB hurries
72
Booker
95
Fields
88
Parker
82
Eck
Tackles for loss
63
Booker
87
Fields
87
Parker
87
Eck
Passes defended
48
Booker
67
Fields
18
Parker
67
Eck
Forced fumbles
47
Booker
47
Fields
47
Parker
47
Eck
Solo tackles
31
Booker
96
Fields
96
Parker
100
Eck
Tackles
29
Booker
98
Fields
98
Parker
100
Eck

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

Player DNA

The Nose Anchor

Two-gap space-eater who occupies blockers and frees the linebackers.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tyleik Williams’s 2023 season.

Tyleik Williams

86%match

Ohio State · 2023

All-Big TenNFL Rd 1 · Pk 28
#2

Kayden McDonald

Ohio State · 2025

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 2 · Pk 4
85%
#3

Josaih Hayes

Kentucky · 2023

85%
#4

Josaih Hayes

Kentucky · 2021

83%
#5

McKinnley Jackson

Texas A&M · 2022

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 34
83%

Matches Tyleik on

Weight
Height
TFL rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Kenneth Grant's sophomore season at Michigan (2023).

Kenneth Grant

84%match

Michigan · 2023

All-Big TenNFL Rd 1 · Pk 13
#2

Otito Ogbonnia

UCLA · 2021

NFL Rd 5
83%
#3

Siale Taupaki

UCLA · 2025

82%
#4

Ahmad Moten

Miami · 2024

81%
#5

Josaih Hayes

Kentucky · 2021

80%

Matches Kenneth on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Jason Eck

Pass share

43.3%

350 pass / 459 run

Plays / game

62.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

11.3%

293 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Jason Eck
New Mexico

Played his entire career under Jason Eck.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMansfield, TX
Height6'3"
Weight325 lb
Class3
PositionDT
Jersey92

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
This player hasn’t appeared on a Heisman ballot tracked by the model.

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 New Mexico Mountain West DT 3 No. 92 | 6-3 | 325 lb | Mansfield, TX