cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Bronson Olevao /Utah State

Bronson Olevao

LB · Utah State · Jr

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

88 TACKLES · 4 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Utah State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Utah State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Utah State

Returning around him

  • 63% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: +10 net (29 in / 19 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Utah State · Last season: 6-7 · Talent rank #114 · 2026 recruiting class #87

LB · UTAH STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST

Bronson Olevao

  • 3
  • 6-1 | 215 lb
  • Salt Lake City, UT

CFB Zeitgeist Score

83

All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 93rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#14873

<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
No recruit profile
CFB
College
Utah State
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class3
Jersey--
Measurements6-1 | 215 lb
HometownSalt Lake City, UT
Primary teamUtah State

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 · 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#14873Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#15018Where 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.

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 Bronson Olevao

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 Bronson Olevao

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
88Tackles
7.5Tackles for loss
4Sacks
Per game
7Tackles
0.6Tackles for loss
0.3Sacks
Final
88Tackles
7.5Tackles for loss
4Sacks

✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 88.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Bronson Olevao is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Utah State's defense, with 4.0 sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, and 2 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 #14873 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 4.0 sacks | 7.5 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 88 33 solo | #97/4942 (98th pct)
TFL 7.5 Backfield disruption | #234/4972 (95th pct)
Sacks 4.0 Pass-rush finish | #169/4972 (97th 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
88 98th
SOLO
33 91st
TFL
7.5 95th
SACK
4.0 97th
QBH
6 94th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th
INT
2 87th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 28-16vs UTEP531.01.01
Wk 2L 22-44@ Texas A&M431.00.00
Wk 3W 49-30vs Air Force910.50.50
Wk 4W 48-7vs McNeese921.51.50
Wk 5L 35-55@ Vanderbilt530.00.00
Wk 7L 26-44@ Hawai'i110.00.00
Wk 8W 30-25vs San José State1450.00.00Season-high 14 tackles
Wk 9L 14-33@ New Mexico500.50.00
Wk 11W 51-14vs Nevada621.00.00
Wk 12L 26-29@ UNLV1020.00.011
Wk 13W 28-17@ Fresno State442.01.010
Wk 14L 24-25vs Boise State920.00.01
BowlL 21-34vs Washington State750.00.00
Total88337.54.023
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

2023Utah State6-7HC: Blake Anderson · Run-leaning
2025Utah State6-7HC: Bronco Mendenhall · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Utah State88337.54.032--
2023Utah State652.00.0------
Career2 loaded seasons94389.54.032--
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 2 0 pick-six TD | #114/869 (87th pct)
Pass breakups 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th pct)
QB pressures 6 Quarterback hurries | #117/1878 (94th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 88 #97/4942 98th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 7.5 #234/4972 95th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 4.0 #169/4972 97th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 2 #114/869 87th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 6 #117/1878 94th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 33 #417/4584 91st pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 20 #310/578 47th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 10.0 #361/578 38th pct Takeawaysvs 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 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
Home7g8.40.60.40.3
Road6g4.80.60.20.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g7.81.00.70.2
Losses7g5.90.20.00.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g5.70.60.40.1
Weeks 8+6g8.00.60.20.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

83All-Conference
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (96th). Strength: qb hurries (94th).

Tackles#97 / 2975 · 97th pct
88defe
QB hurries#117 / 2975 · 95th pct
6defe
Sacks#169 / 2975 · 93rd pct
4.0defe
Tackles for loss#234 / 2975 · 91st pct
7.5defe
Solo tackles#417 / 2975 · 85th pct
33defe
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Interceptions#114 / 817 · 75th pct
2inte
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb

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 · 8 metrics
Bronson OlevaoUtah StateJohn MillerUtah State· 95% simRasheem BilesPittsburgh· 95% simCaden FordhamNC State· 94% sim
Tackles
97
Olevao
99
Miller
98
Biles
100
Fordham
QB hurries
95
Olevao
98
Miller
88
Biles
88
Fordham
Sacks
93
Olevao
99
Miller
95
Biles
91
Fordham
Tackles for loss
91
Olevao
96
Miller
100
Biles
96
Fordham
Solo tackles
85
Olevao
92
Miller
91
Biles
99
Fordham
Passes defended
78
Olevao
78
Miller
86
Biles
78
Fordham
Interceptions
75
Olevao
75
Biles
75
Fordham
Forced fumbles
47
Olevao
47
Biles
47
Fordham

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

Player DNA

The Every-Down Linebacker

Leads the team in tackles and rarely leaves the field.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Eugene Asante’s 2023 season.

Eugene Asante

83%match

Auburn · 2023

#2

Kyle Louis

Pittsburgh · 2025

All-ACCNFL Rd 4
82%
#3

Cam'Ron Carter

Colorado State · 2021

82%
#4

Tory Gethers

New Mexico State · 2025

81%
#5

Derrick Smith

Western Kentucky · 2022

78%

Matches Eugene on

Weight
TFL rate
Sack rate

Differs from Eugene on

PD rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to C.J. Allen's junior season at Georgia (2025).

C.J. Allen

86%match

Georgia · 2025

#2

Mikel Jones

Syracuse · 2022

86%
#3

Kyle Louis

Pittsburgh · 2025

All-ACCNFL Rd 4
85%
#4

Jayden Wilson

UTEP · 2025

82%
#5

Chris Rodgers

Tulane · 2025

82%

Matches C.J. on

Class year
TFL rate
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Bronco Mendenhall

Pass share

47.9%

403 pass / 439 run

Plays / game

64.8

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

12.7%

339 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
Blake Anderson
Utah State
2025
Bronco Mendenhall
Utah State
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Blake Anderson → Bronco Mendenhall. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownSalt Lake City, UT
Height6'1"
Weight215 lb
Class3
PositionLB

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 Utah State LB3 #14873 #15018 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 Utah State LB3 #12649 #12667 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 Utah State LB3 #13794 #13751 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Utah State Mountain West LB 3 6-1 | 215 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2024 Utah State Mountain West LB 3 6-1 | 215 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2023 Utah State Mountain West LB 3 6-1 | 215 lb | Salt Lake City, UT
2022 Utah State Mountain West LB 3 6-1 | 215 lb | Salt Lake City, UT