cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Cole Martin /UCLA

Cole Martin

DB · UCLA · So · #21

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

65 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to UCLA for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to UCLA for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · UCLA

Returning around him

  • 22% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +12 net (41 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

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

UCLA · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #26 · 2026 recruiting class #46

DB · UCLA · BIG TEN

Cole Martin

  • 2
  • #21
  • 5-9 | 190 lb
  • Pasadena, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

53

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 69th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#9880

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#217 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class2
Jersey21
Measurements5-9 | 190 lb
HometownPasadena, CA
Primary teamUCLA

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 217 recruit
Composite rating 0.9191 HighSchool
Signed with Oregon 2023
Origin Basha Chandler, AZ, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 4-star | 0.9191 No. 217 recruit | HighSchool | Oregon

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#9880Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9549Where 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 Oregon

Composite

0.9191

#217 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 Cole Martin

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 Cole Martin

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 12g
65Tackles
3.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
70Tackles
3.8Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 65): needs 15/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 65): needs 35/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 6/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 10/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.

Cole Martin is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on UCLA's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 3.5 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 #9880 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 217 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 65 31 solo | #331/4942 (93rd pct)
TFL 3.5 Backfield disruption | #869/4972 (83rd pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
65 93rd
SOLO
31 89th
TFL
3.5 83rd
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 10-43vs Utah630.00.00
Wk 2L 23-30@ UNLV300.00.01
Wk 3L 10-35vs New Mexico820.00.01
Wk 5L 14-17@ Northwestern931.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 6W 42-37vs Penn State310.00.00
Wk 7W 38-13@ Michigan State631.00.00
Wk 8W 20-17vs Maryland640.50.01
Wk 9L 6-56@ Indiana630.00.00
Wk 11L 21-28vs Nebraska321.00.00
Wk 12L 10-48@ Ohio State740.00.00
Wk 13L 14-48vs Washington440.00.010
Wk 14L 10-29@ USC420.00.00
Total65313.50.013
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

2023Oregon12-2HC: Dan Lanning · Balanced
2025UCLA3-9HC: Deshaun Foster · Balanced, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025UCLA65313.50.031--
2023Oregon21130.00.011--
Career2 loaded seasons86443.50.042--
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 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th 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 65 #331/4942 93rd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 3.5 #869/4972 83rd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 31 #483/4584 89th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 27.0 #124/578 79th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 27 #245/578 58th pct Takeawaysvs 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g5.00.20.00.3
Road6g5.80.30.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins3g5.00.50.00.3
Losses9g5.60.20.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g5.80.30.00.3
Weeks 8+6g5.00.20.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

53Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles (88th). Strength: solo tackles (83rd). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Tackles#331 / 2975 · 89th pct
65defe
Solo tackles#483 / 2975 · 83rd pct
31defe
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
Tackles for loss#866 / 2975 · 69th pct
3.5defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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
Cole MartinUCLATyler MartinMassachusetts· 94% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 89% simRobert FitzgeraldNorthwestern· 84% sim
Tackles
89
Martin
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
99
Fitzgerald
Solo tackles
83
Martin
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
100
Fitzgerald
Passes defended
78
Martin
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
86
Fitzgerald
Tackles for loss
69
Martin
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
85
Fitzgerald
Interceptions
31
Martin
31
Martin
31
Fitzgerald
Sacks
24
Martin
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
24
Fitzgerald
QB hurries
22
Martin
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
55
Fitzgerald

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

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Patrick Smith-Young’s 2025 season.

Patrick Smith-Young

82%match

North Texas · 2025

#2

Darrian Lewis

Akron · 2023

78%
#3

King Mack

Penn State · 2025

76%
#4

Jordan Vincent

New Mexico State · 2023

73%
#5

Bryce Jackson

UNLV · 2021

72%

Matches Patrick on

Height
Weight
PD rate

Differs from Patrick on

Class year (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jeremiah Vessel's junior season at UAB (2025).

Jeremiah Vessel

69%match

UAB · 2025

#2

King Mack

Penn State · 2025

70%
#3

Kerry Brown

Minnesota · 2025

68%
#4

Deven Bryant

Washington · 2025

64%
#5

Brandon Hill

Pittsburgh · 2022

NFL Rd 7
62%

Matches Jeremiah on

Class year
Weight
PD rate

Differs from Jeremiah on

Height (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Deshaun Foster

Pass share

48.9%

358 pass / 374 run

Plays / game

61.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

280 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
Chip Kelly
UCLA
2025
Deshaun Foster
UCLA
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Chip Kelly → Deshaun Foster. 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.

HometownPasadena, CA
Height5'9"
Weight190 lb
Class2
PositionDB
Jersey21

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 Arizona State DB2 #9880 #9549 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 Oregon DB2 #5650 #5572 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 UCLA Big Ten DB 2 No. 21 | 5-9 | 190 lb | Pasadena, CA
2024 Arizona State Big 12 DB 2 No. 21 | 5-9 | 190 lb | Pasadena, CA
2023 Oregon Pac-12 DB 2 No. 21 | 5-9 | 190 lb | Pasadena, CA