cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Dalton Brooks /Texas A&M

Dalton Brooks

S · Texas A&M · Jr · #25

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

61 TACKLES · 3 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Texas A&M for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Texas A&M for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Texas A&M

Returning around him

  • 75% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
  • 10 Texas A&M players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -2 net (19 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Texas A&M · Last season: 11-2 (AP #7) · Talent rank #8 · 2026 recruiting class #9

S · TEXAS A&M · SEC

Dalton Brooks

  • 3
  • #25
  • 6-0 | 193 lb
  • Shiner, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

69

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 89th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10091

<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
★★★★
#93 national
CFB
College
Texas A&M
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class3
Jersey25
Measurements6-0 | 193 lb
HometownShiner, TX
Primary teamTexas A&M

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 93 recruit
Composite rating 0.9539 HighSchool
Signed with Texas A&M 2023
Origin Shiner Shiner, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 4-star | 0.9539 No. 93 recruit | HighSchool | Texas A&M

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#10091Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#9937Where 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 Texas A&M

Composite

0.9539

#93 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 Dalton Brooks

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 Dalton Brooks

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
61Tackles
5.5Tackles for loss
3Sacks
Per game
5Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
66Tackles
6.0Tackles for loss
3.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 61): needs 19/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 61): needs 39/game over remaining 1.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 3): needs 3/game over remaining 1.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 3): needs 7/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.

Dalton Brooks is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Texas A&M's defense, with 3.0 sacks, 5.5 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 #10091 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 93 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 61 41 solo | #387/4942 (92nd pct)
TFL 5.5 Backfield disruption | #477/4972 (90th pct)
Sacks 3.0 Pass-rush finish | #292/4972 (94th pct)
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.

High-disruption defenderHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
61 92nd
SOLO
41 96th
TFL
5.5 90th
SACK
3.0 94th
QBH
3 75th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 2W 44-22vs Utah State110.00.00
Wk 3W 41-40@ Notre Dame540.00.00
Wk 5W 16-10vs Auburn330.00.00
Wk 6W 31-9vs Mississippi State431.00.00
Wk 7W 34-17vs Florida420.00.00
Wk 8W 45-42@ Arkansas972.51.002.5 TFL
Wk 9W 49-25@ LSU640.00.00
Wk 11W 38-17@ Missouri620.00.00
Wk 12W 31-30vs South Carolina320.00.010
Wk 13W 48-0vs Samford100.00.00
Wk 14L 17-27@ Texas1291.01.01Season-high 12 tackles
BowlL 3-10vs Miami741.01.00
Total61415.53.011
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

2023Texas A&M7-6HC: Elijah Robinson · Balanced
2025Texas A&M11-2HC: Mike Elko · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Texas A&M61415.53.011--
2023Texas A&M19101.50.0--1--
Career2 loaded seasons80517.03.012--
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
QB pressures 3 Quarterback hurries | #462/1878 (75th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 61 #387/4942 92nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 5.5 #477/4972 90th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 3.0 #292/4972 94th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 3 #462/1878 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 41 #188/4584 96th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 39.0 #55/578 91st pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 39 #159/578 73rd pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 2 #13/736 98th 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 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
Home7g3.30.30.10.0
Road5g7.60.70.40.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins10g4.20.30.10.0
Losses2g9.51.01.00.5

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g4.00.30.20.0
Weeks 8+6g6.20.60.30.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

69Solid starter
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (93rd). Strength: sacks (88th).

Solo tackles#188 / 2975 · 93rd pct
41defe
Sacks#291 / 2975 · 89th pct
3.0defe
Tackles#387 / 2975 · 87th pct
61defe
Tackles for loss#477 / 2975 · 83rd pct
5.5defe
QB hurries#457 / 2975 · 82nd pct
3defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte

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

Advanced Savant · S · 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
Dalton BrooksTexas A&MMaverick BaranowskiMinnesota· 93% simAmare CampbellPenn State· 93% simDaniel WingateMaryland· 92% sim
Solo tackles
93
Brooks
98
Baranowski
100
Campbell
99
Wingate
Sacks
89
Brooks
89
Baranowski
89
Campbell
74
Wingate
Tackles
87
Brooks
98
Baranowski
99
Campbell
98
Wingate
Tackles for loss
83
Brooks
95
Baranowski
96
Campbell
87
Wingate
QB hurries
82
Brooks
82
Baranowski
88
Campbell
72
Wingate
Passes defended
48
Brooks
48
Baranowski
48
Campbell
48
Wingate
Forced fumbles
47
Brooks
47
Campbell
Interceptions
31
Brooks
31
Wingate

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 Nasir Peoples’s 2022 season.

Nasir Peoples

90%match

Virginia Tech · 2022

#2

Te'Rai Powell

Massachusetts · 2021

89%
#3

Kendall Bournes

Massachusetts · 2025

89%
#4

Vonte Davis

Utah · 2021

89%
#5

Akili Arnold

USC · 2024

88%

Matches Nasir on

PD rate
Tackle volume
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Brenden Jordan's junior season at Texas Tech (2025).

Brenden Jordan

90%match

Texas Tech · 2025

#2

Brandon Hill

Pittsburgh · 2022

NFL Rd 7
84%
#3

AJ Brown

UAB · 2025

83%
#4

Wesley Miller

South Alabama · 2025

All-Sun Belt
84%
#5

Ethan Slade

BYU · 2023

83%

Matches Brenden on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mike Elko

Pass share

45.8%

407 pass / 482 run

Plays / game

68.4

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

3.8%

286 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
Elijah Robinson
Texas A&M
2025
Mike Elko
Texas A&M
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Elijah Robinson → Mike Elko. 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.

HometownShiner, TX
Height6'0"
Weight193 lb
Class3
PositionS
Jersey25

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 Texas A&M S3 #10091 #9937 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | SEC
2023 Texas A&M S3 #9610 #9411 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | SEC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Texas A&M SEC S 3 No. 25 | 6-0 | 193 lb | Shiner, TX
2024 Texas A&M SEC S 3 No. 25 | 6-0 | 193 lb | Shiner, TX
2023 Texas A&M SEC S 3 No. 25 | 6-0 | 193 lb | Shiner, TX