cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Elijah Jackson /Ball State

Elijah Jackson

RB · Ball State · So

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

17 RUSH YDS · 0 RUSH TD · 8 CARRIES

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Ball State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Ball State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · Ball State

Returning around him

  • 8% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +6 net (24 in / 18 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Ball State · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #115 · 2026 recruiting class #119

RB · BALL STATE · MID-AMERICAN

Elijah Jackson

  • 2
  • 5-8 | 178 lb
  • Indianapolis, IN

CFB Zeitgeist Score

3

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by rec yards at the 22nd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#1349

<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 RB AWARD

Doak Walker

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · rushing yards

2024–2025
97.02024
17.02025

-82%

Sharp dropoff (-82%) — career inflection point.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
2 teams
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB
Class2
Jersey--
Measurements5-8 | 178 lb
HometownIndianapolis, IN
Primary teamBall State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
Class Profile Context
No recruiting profile is on file for this player.

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#1349Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#1983Where 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.

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 Elijah Jackson

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

50

Mixed Sentiment

Sample 1 mentions
Confidence BELOW-FLOOR

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmOwn fans: 1 mentions · belief +0 · "Kansas State football enters the 2026 season with major questions at defensive t"Own fans
  • Own fans · n=1

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Elijah Jackson

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 rushing totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 3g
17Rush yards
8Carries
0Rush TDs
Per game
5.7Rush yards
3Carries
0Rush TDs
Projected (13g)
73.7Rush yards
35Carries
0Rush TDs

To hit 750-yard season (currently 17): needs 73.3/game over remaining 10.

To hit 1,000-yard season (currently 17): needs 98.3/game over remaining 10.

To hit 1,500-yard season (currently 17): needs 148.3/game over remaining 10.

To hit 10 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 1/game over remaining 10.

To hit 15 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 1.5/game over remaining 10.

To hit 20 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 2/game over remaining 10.

What made this player interesting

The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.

Elijah Jackson's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Ball State, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.

Current place #1349 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 6.0% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

RB season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Scrimmage yards 54 17 rush | 37 rec | #621/735 (16th pct)
Rush TD 0 8 carries | #447/739 (40th pct)
Yards/carry 2.1 Per-rush efficiency | #682/735 (7th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Rushing

CAR
8 25th
YDS
17 16th
YPC
2.1 7th
TD
0 40th

Receiving

REC
1 16th
YDS
37 42nd
YPR
37.0 100th
TD
0 70th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 3 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCARYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1L 0-31@ Purdue177.007
Wk 2L 3-42@ Auburn681.303Season-high 8 yds
Wk 7L 0-42@ Western Michigan122.002
Total8173.407
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

2024Purdue1-11HC: Ryan Walters · Balanced, slow tempo
2025Ball State4-8HC: Mike Uremovich · Run-heavy, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Ball State8172.10--
2024Purdue69716.21--
Career2 loaded seasons141148.11--
SeasonTeam
2025Ball State13737.00--
2024Purdue273.50--
Career2 loaded seasons34414.70--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Rushing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.

Role share

How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.

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.

Receiving work 1 37 rec yds | #467/552 (16th pct)
Usage 6.0% 9.8% rush share | #489/738 (34th pct)
Rushing WEPA -- Adjusted value feed still loading
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Rushing Rushing yards 17 #621/735 16th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rush TD 0 #447/739 40th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing Yards / carry 2.1 #682/735 7th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receptions 1 #467/552 16th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving yards 37 #317/548 42nd pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Role share 6.0% #489/738 34th pct Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing Carries 8 #558/739 25th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rushing LONG 7 #632/733 14th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving LONG 37 #87/540 84th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Yards / catch 37.0 #3/548 100th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving TD 0 #169/552 70th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Usage Rush share 9.8% #496/738 33rd pct Ground-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage Standard-down usage 9.2% #370/738 50th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage 1st-down usage 6.9% #465/738 37th pct Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage 2nd-down usage 6.1% #517/738 30th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage 3rd-down usage 2.6% #569/738 23rd pct Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Passing-down usage 1.6% #631/738 15th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS RB
Usage Pass share 1.5% #451/738 39th pct Air-game usagevs FBS RB

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

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 3 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Road3g5.73.40.0

Win vs Loss

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Losses3g5.73.40.0

First half vs Second half

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Weeks 1-73g5.73.40.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

3Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: carries (0th).

Rec yards#264 / 338 · 22nd pct
37rece
Rush TDs#326 / 349 · 3rd pct
0rush
Receptions#327 / 338 · 2nd pct
1rece
Rush yards#350 / 349 · 0th pct
17rush
Yards / carry#350 / 349 · 0th pct
2.1rush
Long run#350 / 349 · 0th pct
7rush
Carries#350 / 349 · 0th pct
8rush

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

Advanced Savant · RB · 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
Elijah JacksonBall StateTae MeadowsTroy· 43% simJordan BrunsonMiami (OH)· 43% simChavon WrightNorthern Illinois· 42% sim
Rec yards
22
Jackson
38
Meadows
3
Brunson
10
Wright
Rush TDs
3
Jackson
72
Meadows
50
Brunson
62
Wright
Receptions
2
Jackson
45
Meadows
2
Brunson
32
Wright
Rush yards
0
Jackson
74
Meadows
80
Brunson
84
Wright
Yards / carry
0
Jackson
29
Meadows
41
Brunson
33
Wright
Long run
0
Jackson
53
Meadows
73
Brunson
49
Wright
Carries
0
Jackson
84
Meadows
85
Brunson
92
Wright

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Mike Uremovich

Pass share

38.2%

277 pass / 449 run

Plays / game

60.5

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

19.6%

265 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

2 coaches
2024
Mike Neu
Ball State
2025
Mike Uremovich
Ball State
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Neu → Mike Uremovich. 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.

HometownIndianapolis, IN
Height5'8"
Weight178 lb
Class2
PositionRB

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 Purdue RB2 #1349 #1983 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 Purdue RB2 #3517 #3643 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Ball State Mid-American RB 2 5-8 | 178 lb | Indianapolis, IN
2024 Purdue Big Ten RB 2 5-8 | 178 lb | Indianapolis, IN
2023 Purdue Big Ten RB 2 5-8 | 178 lb | Indianapolis, IN