CFB Zeitgeist Score
78
All-Conference in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 85th percentile.
Devon Williams
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
89 TACKLES · 2.5 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Minnesota for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Linebacker · Minnesota
Returning around him
- 44% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- 1 Minnesota player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -1 net (19 in / 20 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Minnesota · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #41 · 2026 recruiting class #49
LB · MINNESOTA · BIG TEN
Devon Williams
- 4
- #9
- 6-1 | 230 lb
- Dublin, OH
Heisman Heat
#8524
<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 · StarterR06 · Starter
Starter. A locked-in starting role.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#21 in market ▼ from #18 · 6 books
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 | 3-star | 0.8748 | No. 592 recruit | HighSchool | Minnesota |
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 Minnesota
Composite
0.8748
#592 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 Devon Williams
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 Devon Williams
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
89Tackles
8.5Tackles for loss
2.5Sacks
Per game
7Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0.2Sacks
Projected (13g)
96Tackles
9.2Tackles for loss
2.7Sacks
✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 89.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 89): needs 11/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 3.5/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 2.5): needs 7.5/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.
Devon Williams is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Minnesota's defense, with 2.5 sacks, 8.5 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 | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
TOT
89 98th
SOLO
37 93rd
TFL
8.5 97th
SACK
2.5 92nd
QBH
1 44th
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 23-10vs Buffalo | 8 | 6 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 2 | W 66-0vs Northwestern State | 3 | 1 | 0.5 | 0.5 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 3 | L 14-27@ California | 7 | 3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 31-28vs Rutgers | 13 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 13 tackles |
| Wk 6 | L 3-42@ Ohio State | 8 | 3 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 7 | W 27-20vs Purdue | 11 | 4 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 8 | W 24-6vs Nebraska | 6 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 9 | L 3-41@ Iowa | 9 | 3 | 2.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 10 | W 23-20vs Michigan State | 5 | 3 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | L 13-42@ Oregon | 3 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 17-7vs Wisconsin | 9 | 4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 20-17vs New Mexico | 7 | 5 | 1.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 89 | 37 | 8.5 | 2.5 | — | 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
2021Nebraska3-9HC: Scott Frost · Run-leaning
2022Minnesota9-4HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy
2023Minnesota6-7HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy, slow tempo
2024Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced
2025Minnesota8-5HC: P.J. Fleck · Balanced, slow tempo
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 | 89 | #91/4942 | 98th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 8.5 | #175/4972 | 97th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 2.5 | #393/4972 | 92nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 1 | #1241/2184 | 43rd pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | QB hurries | 1 | #1051/1878 | 44th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 37 | #303/4584 | 93rd 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 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 | 7.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Road4g | 6.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 7.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Losses4g | 6.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 8.1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Weeks 8+5g | 6.4 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
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: tackles (96th). Strength: tackles for loss (93rd).
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
Devon WilliamsMinnesotaJohnny Chaney Jr.Florida International· 95% simJackson KuwatchMiami (OH)· 95% simKhalil MurdockBuffalo· 94% sim
Tackles
Tackles for loss
Solo tackles
Sacks
QB hurries
Passes defended
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Every-Down Linebacker
Leads the team in tackles and rarely leaves the field.
LB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Shadrach Banks’s 2025 season.
Shadrach Banks
88%match
#2
Teddy Gallagher
All-Sun Belt
88%
#3
Tony Grier Jr.
86%
#4
Corban Hondru
All-MAC
86%
#5
Aiden Fisher
All-Big TenNFL Rd 7
85%
Matches Shadrach on
Class year
Tackle volume
Sack rate
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Shadrach Banks's graduate season at UTSA (2025).
Shadrach Banks
91%match
#2
Dorian Hopkins
88%
#3
TJ Quinn
86%
#4
Parker McKenna
81%
#5
Jadon Pearson
All-Mountain West
79%
Matches Shadrach on
Class year
Sack rate
Tackle volume
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
P.J. Fleck
Pass share
51.7%
397 pass / 371 run
Plays / game
59.1
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.3%
302 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
1 coach2021
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
2022
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
2023
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
2024
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
2025
P.J. Fleck
Minnesota
Played his entire career under P.J. Fleck.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownDublin, OH
Height6'1"
Weight230 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey9
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamMinnesota
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc6 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 | Minnesota | LB4 | #8524 | #8922 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2023 | Minnesota | LB4 | #11134 | #11571 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2022 | Minnesota | LB4 | #10600 | #10345 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2021 | Nebraska | LB4 | #11201 | #11074 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Minnesota | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |
| 2024 | Minnesota | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |
| 2023 | Minnesota | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |
| 2022 | Minnesota | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |
| 2021 | Nebraska | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |
| 2021 | Minnesota | Big Ten | LB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-1 | 230 lb | Dublin, OH |