CFB Zeitgeist Score
78
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 98th percentile.
Bryan Thomas Jr.
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
40 TACKLES · 7 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to South Carolina for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · South Carolina
Returning around him
- 62% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 3 South Carolina players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: +1 net (25 in / 24 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
South Carolina · Last season: 4-8 (AP #11) · Talent rank #18 · 2026 recruiting class #18
LB · SOUTH CAROLINA · SEC
Bryan Thomas Jr.
- 4
- #46
- 6-2 | 249 lb
- Windermere, FL
Heisman Heat
#8278
<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 1 · 2-deepR04 · Rotational
Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
South Carolina
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 3-star | 0.8600 | No. 994 recruit | HighSchool |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| 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 16Heisman 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 —
Composite
0.8600
#994 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
PENDINGThe 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 Bryan Thomas Jr.
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 Bryan Thomas Jr.
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the defensive totals stand
Through 12g
40Tackles
11Tackles for loss
7Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.9Tackles for loss
0.6Sacks
Projected (13g)
43Tackles
11.9Tackles for loss
7.6Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 40): needs 40/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 40): needs 60/game over remaining 1.
✓ Hit 6-sack season · finished with 7.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 7): needs 3/game over remaining 1.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Bryan Thomas Jr. is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on South Carolina's defense, with 7.0 sacks, 11.0 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
40 82nd
SOLO
24 83rd
TFL
11.0 99th
SACK
7.0 99th
QBH
12 99th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
1 43rd
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 24-11vs Virginia Tech | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-10vs South Carolina State | 4 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 7-31vs Vanderbilt | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 20-29@ Missouri | 3 | 1 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 35-13vs Kentucky | 7 | 5 | 2.0 | 2.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 7 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 10-20@ LSU | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | L 7-26vs Oklahoma | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 22-29vs Alabama | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 10 | L 14-30@ Ole Miss | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 30-31@ Texas A&M | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 51-7vs Coastal Carolina | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | L 14-28vs Clemson | 3 | 1 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | 24 | 11.0 | 7.0 | — | 1 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2022South Carolina8-5HC: Shane Beamer · Balanced
2023South Carolina5-7HC: Shane Beamer · Balanced
2025South Carolina4-8HC: Shane Beamer · Run-leaning
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | South Carolina | 40 | 24 | 11.0 | 7.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | South Carolina | 21 | 11 | 1.0 | 0.0 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2022 | South Carolina | 6 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1 | -- | -- |
| Career | 3 loaded seasons | 67 | 38 | 12.0 | 7.0 | 2 | -- | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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.
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.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 40 | #906/4942 | 82nd pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 11.0 | #74/4972 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 7.0 | #39/4972 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 1 | #1241/2184 | 43rd pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 12 | #11/1878 | 99th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 24 | #790/4584 | 83rd 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 3.4 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| Road4g | 3.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins4g | 4.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Losses8g | 2.8 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 3.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.2 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
78All-Conference
Elite: qb hurries (99th). Strength: sacks (98th).
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
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
Bryan Thomas Jr.South CarolinaAmare CampbellPenn State· 84% simMac HarrisSouth Florida· 83% simOumar DiomandeUConn· 83% sim
QB hurries
Sacks
Tackles for loss
Solo tackles
Tackles
Passes defended
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Thumper
Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Trey Moore’s 2024 season.
Trey Moore
82%match
NFL Rd 4
#2
Chris Braswell
All-SECNFL Rd 2 · Pk 25
77%
#3
Jack Kelly
76%
#4
Daniel Grzesiak
73%
#5
Tyler Guidry
73%
Matches Trey on
Weight
Sack rate
TFL rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Trey Moore's senior season at Texas (2024).
Trey Moore
86%match
All-AACNFL Rd 4
#2
Chaz Chambliss
81%
#3
Lanell Carr
80%
#4
Jack Kelly
80%
#5
Tre'Mon Morris-Brash
All-Big 12
80%
Matches Trey on
PD rate
Sack rate
Tackle volume
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Shane Beamer
Pass share
45.5%
340 pass / 407 run
Plays / game
62.2
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
13.0%
316 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Shane Beamer
South Carolina
2023
Shane Beamer
South Carolina
2025
Shane Beamer
South Carolina
Played his entire career under Shane Beamer.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownWindermere, FL
Height6'2"
Weight249 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey46
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamSouth Carolina
ConferenceSEC
Joined2025
Career arc4 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | South Carolina | LB4 | #8278 | #8043 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | SEC |
| 2023 | South Carolina | LB4 | #11248 | #11332 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | SEC |
| 2022 | South Carolina | LB4 | #10565 | #10357 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | SEC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | South Carolina | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 46 | 6-2 | 249 lb | Windermere, FL |
| 2024 | South Carolina | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 46 | 6-2 | 249 lb | Windermere, FL |
| 2023 | South Carolina | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 46 | 6-2 | 249 lb | Windermere, FL |
| 2022 | South Carolina | SEC | LB | 4 | No. 46 | 6-2 | 249 lb | Windermere, FL |