CFB Zeitgeist Score
75
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 74th percentile.
Deontae Lawson
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
80 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Alabama for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · Alabama
Returning around him
- 43% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- 10 Alabama players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -7 net (17 in / 24 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Alabama · Last season: 11-4 (AP #11) · Talent rank #2 · 2026 recruiting class #3
LB · ALABAMA · SEC
Deontae Lawson
- 4
- 6-2 | 228 lb
- Mobile, AL
Heisman Heat
#3203
<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 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2022
Alabama · LB
—
2023
Alabama · LB
—
2024
Alabama · LB
—
★
2025
Alabama · LB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
Alabama
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4-star | 0.9744 | No. 52 recruit | HighSchool | Alabama |
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—
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★★☆
to Alabama
Composite
0.9744
#52 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 Deontae Lawson
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 Deontae Lawson
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 14g
80Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
6Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Final
80Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 80.
Why this is a rare defensive case
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Deontae Lawson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Alabama's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 4.5 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?
High-disruption defender | Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
80 97th
SOLO
45 97th
TFL
4.5 87th
SACK
1.5 85th
QBH
1 44th
Coverage & Takeaways
PD
4 84th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 14 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-31@ Florida State | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 10 tackles |
| Wk 2 | W 73-0vs UL Monroe | 4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 24-21@ Georgia | 4 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 6 | W 30-14vs Vanderbilt | 4 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-24@ Missouri | 7 | 5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 37-20vs Tennessee | 6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | W 29-22@ South Carolina | 7 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 11 | W 20-9vs LSU | 9 | 5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 21-23vs Oklahoma | 5 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 56-0vs Eastern Illinois | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 27-20@ Auburn | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 15 | L 7-28vs Georgia | 6 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 34-24@ Oklahoma | 10 | 6 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Bowl | L 3-38@ Indiana | 4 | 2 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 80 | 45 | 4.5 | 1.5 | — | 4 |
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
2022Alabama11-2HC: Nick Saban · Balanced
2023Alabama12-2HC: Nick Saban · Run-heavy
2024Alabama9-4HC: Kalen DeBoer · Run-leaning
2025Alabama11-4HC: Kalen DeBoer · Balanced
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 | 80 | #145/4942 | 97th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 4.5 | #648/4972 | 87th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 1.5 | #724/4972 | 85th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 4 | #340/2184 | 84th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 45 | #128/4584 | 97th pct | Volumevs 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.
ALL-CONF HM
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16
Why he’s here
All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.
What moves him up
A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.
What moves him down
A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.
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 · 14 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 5.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Road7g | 6.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins10g | 5.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Losses4g | 5.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 5.6 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+7g | 5.9 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort
75Solid starter
Elite: solo tackles (95th). Strength: tackles (94th).
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
Deontae LawsonAlabamaKeaton ThomasBaylor· 93% simMarsel McDuffieUNLV· 92% simTJ DotteryOle Miss· 92% sim
Solo tackles
Tackles
Passes defended
Tackles for loss
Sacks
QB hurries
Forced fumbles
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Coverage 'Backer
Carries tight ends and patrols the middle of the field in coverage.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Bryce Boettcher’s 2024 season.
Bryce Boettcher
87%match
BurlsworthAll-Big TenNFL Rd 4
#2
Anthony Brackenridge
87%
#3
Deontae Lawson
86%
#4
Jett Johnson
84%
#5
Dyontae Johnson
All-MAC
82%
Matches Bryce on
Height
Tackle volume
PD rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Levelle Bailey's senior season at Fresno State (2023).
Levelle Bailey
91%match
All-Mountain West
#2
Anthony Brackenridge
89%
#3
Mohamed Toure
87%
#4
Jalen Garner
86%
#5
Cole Kozlowski
85%
Matches Levelle on
Tackle volume
Weight
TFL rate
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Kalen DeBoer
Pass share
53.4%
523 pass / 456 run
Plays / game
65.3
15 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
6.8%
384 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
2 coaches2022
Nick Saban
Alabama
2023
Nick Saban
Alabama
2024era →
Kalen DeBoer
Alabama
2025
Kalen DeBoer
Alabama
Coaching transition mid-career: Nick Saban → Kalen DeBoer. 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.
HometownMobile, AL
Height6'2"
Weight228 lb
Class4
PositionLB
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamAlabama
ConferenceSEC
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2025)
All-SEC
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
1 all-conference honor
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | All-SEC | all_conference | Alabama | SEC | LB |
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Alabama | LB4 | #3203 | #3312 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | SEC |
| 2023 | Alabama | LB4 | #2252 | #2427 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | SEC |
| 2022 | Alabama | LB4 | #4028 | #3725 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | SEC |
| 2021 | Alabama | LB4 | #3962 | #3508 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | SEC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.