CFB Zeitgeist Score
35
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 67th percentile.
Curt Neal
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
16 TACKLES · 0 SACKS
Where He Ended Up · Transfer
Transferred to Purdue
2025Illinois
2026Purdue
DL · ILLINOIS · BIG TEN
Curt Neal
- 3
- #99
- 6-0 | 300 lb
- Cornelius, NC
Heisman Heat
#10588
<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 DEFENSE AWARD
Nagurski
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
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 | 0.8859 | No. 464 recruit | HighSchool | Wisconsin |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Illinois -> Purdue | 3-star | 0.8600 | Immediate |
| 2025 | Wisconsin -> Illinois | 3-star | 0.8400 | Immediate |
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 Wisconsin
Composite
0.8859
#464 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 Curt Neal
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 Curt Neal
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 10g
16Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
21Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0Sacks
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 16): needs 21.3/game over remaining 3.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 16): needs 28/game over remaining 3.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 3.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 3.3/game over remaining 3.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Curt Neal is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Illinois's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.5 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?
Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
16 54th
SOLO
10 56th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
2 64th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 52-3vs Western Illinois | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-0vs Western Michigan | 2 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 4 | L 10-63@ Indiana | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 34-32vs USC | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 16-34vs Ohio State | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 35-13vs Rutgers | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 12 | W 24-6vs Maryland | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 13 | L 10-27@ Wisconsin | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 20-13vs Northwestern | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 30-28vs Tennessee | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 16 | 10 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 2 |
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
2022Wisconsin7-6HC: Jim Leonhard · Run-heavy
2023Wisconsin7-6HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced
2024Wisconsin5-7HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning
2025Illinois9-4HC: Bret Bielema · Run-leaning
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 | 16 | #2295/4942 | 54th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 0.5 | #2658/4972 | 47th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 0.0 | #1762/4972 | 65th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 2 | #792/2184 | 64th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 10 | #1996/4584 | 56th 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
Status—Awaiting 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 · 10 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home8g | 1.8 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Road2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins7g | 1.9 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Losses3g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 1.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort
35Mid-pack
Concern: tackles for loss (18th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DL · 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
Curt NealIllinoisBlake FletcherAir Force· 57% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 55% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 52% sim
Passes defended
QB hurries
Solo tackles
Sacks
Tackles
Tackles for loss
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Two-Gap Base
Stout at the point of attack; controls his gap and stacks blocks.
IDL
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kolo Uasike’s 2021 season.
Kolo Uasike
89%match
#2
Shannon Forman
88%
#3
Lama Lavea
83%
#4
Darius Shipp
82%
#5
Alvin Gulley Jr.
82%
Matches Kolo on
Sack rate
TFL rate
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Markus Clark's senior season at Liberty (2025).
Markus Clark
83%match
#2
Bishop Thomas
75%
#3
Asani Redwood
71%
#4
Jamall Hickbottom
67%
#5
Zy Brockington
66%
Matches Markus on
Class year
Sack rate
Weight
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bret Bielema
Pass share
45.6%
372 pass / 444 run
Plays / game
62.8
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
11.0%
292 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coach2022
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2023
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2024
Bret Bielema
Illinois
2025
Bret Bielema
Illinois
Played his entire career under Bret Bielema.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownCornelius, NC
Height6'0"
Weight300 lb
Class3
PositionDL
Jersey99
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamIllinois
ConferenceBig Ten
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.
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.