cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Francis Brewu /Pittsburgh

Francis Brewu

DL · Pittsburgh · So · #95

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

34 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 TRANSFERTransferred Pittsburgh → Notre Dame for 2026

Where He Ended Up · Transfer

Transferred to Notre Dame

2025Pittsburgh
2026Notre Dame

DL · PITTSBURGH · ACC

Francis Brewu

  • 2
  • #95
  • 6-2 | 280 lb
  • Westerville, OH

CFB Zeitgeist Score

60

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 85th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#7219

<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 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#479 national
CFB
College
Pittsburgh
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class2
Jersey95
Measurements6-2 | 280 lb
HometownWesterville, OH
Primary teamPittsburgh

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 479 recruit
Composite rating 0.8900 HighSchool
Signed with Pittsburgh 2024
Origin Thomas Worthington Columbus, OH, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 3-star | 0.8900 No. 479 recruit | HighSchool | Pittsburgh

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Notre Dame 2026
Transfer stars 4-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 13, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 Pittsburgh -> Notre Dame 4-star | 0.9400 | 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 16
Current nowcast#7219Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#7674Where 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 Pittsburgh

Composite

0.8900

#479 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 Francis Brewu

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 Francis Brewu

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 11g
34Tackles
6Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
40Tackles
7.1Tackles for loss
1.2Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 34): needs 23/game over remaining 2.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 34): needs 33/game over remaining 2.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 2.5/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 4.5/game over remaining 2.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Francis Brewu is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Pittsburgh's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 6.0 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.

Current place #7219 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 6.0 TFL

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 34 18 solo | #1138/4942 (77th pct)
TFL 6.0 Backfield disruption | #406/4972 (92nd pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
34 77th
SOLO
18 74th
TFL
6.0 92nd
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
2 66th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 61-9vs Duquesne210.00.00
Wk 2W 45-17vs Central Michigan430.00.00
Wk 3L 24-31@ West Virginia931.01.00Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 5L 27-34vs Louisville100.00.00
Wk 7W 34-31@ Florida State100.00.00
Wk 8W 30-13@ Syracuse221.00.00
Wk 10W 35-20@ Stanford321.00.00
Wk 12L 15-37vs Notre Dame311.00.00
Wk 13W 42-28@ Georgia Tech540.00.00
Wk 14L 7-38vs Miami311.00.00
BowlL 17-23@ East Carolina111.00.00
Total34186.01.00
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

2024Pittsburgh7-6HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced, fast tempo
2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Pittsburgh34186.01.0------
2024Pittsburgh1523.01.5------
Career2 loaded seasons49209.02.5------
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 0 Coverage disruption
QB pressures 2 Quarterback hurries | #647/1878 (66th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 34 #1138/4942 77th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 6.0 #406/4972 92nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 18 #1178/4584 74th 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

StatusAwaiting 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home5g2.60.40.00.0
Road6g3.50.70.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins6g2.80.30.00.0
Losses5g3.40.80.20.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.00.30.20.0
Weeks 8+5g3.20.80.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

60Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (85th). Concern: passes defended (17th).

Tackles for loss#406 / 2975 · 85th pct
6.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles#1138 / 2975 · 61st pct
34defe
Solo tackles#1178 / 2975 · 59th pct
18defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe

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
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 · 6 metrics
Francis BrewuPittsburghMicah DaveyUTEP· 77% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 77% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 75% sim
Tackles for loss
85
Brewu
91
Davey
87
Parker
95
Wesloski
QB hurries
72
Brewu
82
Davey
88
Parker
95
Wesloski
Sacks
63
Brewu
63
Davey
80
Parker
74
Wesloski
Tackles
61
Brewu
99
Davey
98
Parker
99
Wesloski
Solo tackles
59
Brewu
99
Davey
96
Parker
99
Wesloski
Passes defended
18
Brewu
18
Davey
18
Parker
18
Wesloski

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 Sid Kaba’s 2025 season.

Sid Kaba

85%match

Marshall · 2025

#2

Thomas Collins

Oregon State · 2025

83%
#3

Edric Hill

Alabama · 2025

82%
#4

Terrell Cooper

TCU · 2022

81%
#5

Darin Conley

Ball State · 2025

81%

Matches Sid on

Class year
Sack rate
TFL rate

Differs from Sid on

Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Mark Hensley's sophomore season at Northern Illinois (2025).

Mark Hensley

84%match

Northern Illinois · 2025

#2

Thomas Collins

Oregon State · 2025

84%
#3

Ashton Coker

UTEP · 2025

83%
#4

Corey McIntyre Jr.

West Virginia · 2025

82%
#5

Darin Conley

Ball State · 2025

82%

Matches Mark on

Class year
Sack rate
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi

Pass share

52.3%

464 pass / 424 run

Plays / game

68.3

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

365 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Pat Narduzzi
Pittsburgh
2025
Pat Narduzzi
Pittsburgh

Played his entire career under Pat Narduzzi.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.

HometownWesterville, OH
Height6'2"
Weight280 lb
Class2
PositionDL
Jersey95

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 Pittsburgh DL2 #7219 #7674 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Pittsburgh ACC DL 2 No. 95 | 6-2 | 280 lb | Westerville, OH
2024 Pittsburgh ACC DL 2 No. 95 | 6-2 | 280 lb | Westerville, OH