cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / George Rooks /Syracuse

George Rooks

DL · Syracuse · Sr · #91

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

12 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Syracuse for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Syracuse for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive line · Syracuse

Returning around him

  • 14% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -10 net (19 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Syracuse · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #34 · 2026 recruiting class #42

DL · SYRACUSE · ACC

George Rooks

  • 4
  • #91
  • 6-5 | 295 lb
  • Jersey City, NJ

CFB Zeitgeist Score

20

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 28th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10633

<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

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#271 national
CFB
College
3 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey91
Measurements6-5 | 295 lb
HometownJersey City, NJ
Primary teamSyracuse

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 271 recruit
Composite rating 0.9070 HighSchool
Signed with Michigan 2021
Origin St. Peter's Prep Jersey City, NJ, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 4-star | 0.9070 No. 271 recruit | HighSchool | Michigan

Transfer Arc

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

Portal moves 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Syracuse 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Apr 25, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Boston College -> Syracuse 3-star | 0.8600 | Immediate
2023 Michigan -> Boston College 3-star | 0.8700 | 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#10633Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#10507Where 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 Michigan

Composite

0.9070

#271 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 George Rooks

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 George Rooks

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 5g
12Tackles
1Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
31Tackles
2.6Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 12): needs 8.5/game over remaining 8.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 12): needs 11/game over remaining 8.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 0.8/game over remaining 8.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.2/game over remaining 8.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

George Rooks is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Syracuse's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 1.0 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 #10633 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 271 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 12 6 solo | #2651/4942 (46th pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
12 46th
SOLO
6 43rd
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
0.0 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 5 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 26-45@ Tennessee110.00.00
Wk 4W 34-21@ Clemson100.00.00
Wk 5L 3-38vs Duke410.00.00Season-high 4 tackles
Wk 13L 7-70@ Notre Dame310.00.00
Wk 14L 12-34vs Boston College331.00.00
Total1261.00.00
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

2022Michigan13-1HC: Jim Harbaugh · Run-heavy
2023Boston College7-6HC: Jeff Hafley · Run-leaning
2025Syracuse3-9HC: Fran Brown · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Syracuse1261.00.0------
2023Boston College27122.51.5------
2022Michigan110.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons40193.51.5------
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 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 12 #2651/4942 46th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 6 #2592/4584 43rd 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 · 5 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home2g3.50.50.00.0
Road3g1.70.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins1g1.00.00.00.0
Losses4g2.80.20.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-73g2.00.00.00.0
Weeks 8+2g3.00.50.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

20Below cohort
6 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: tackles (9th).

Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe
Passes defended#1916 / 2975 · 18th pct
0defe
Solo tackles#2560 / 2975 · 12th pct
6defe
Tackles#2651 / 2975 · 9th pct
12defe

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
George RooksSyracuseTyler MartinMassachusetts· 47% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 41% simBlake FletcherAir Force· 40% sim
Tackles for loss
28
Rooks
63
Martin
85
Vaughns
28
Fletcher
Sacks
24
Rooks
24
Martin
63
Vaughns
24
Fletcher
QB hurries
22
Rooks
22
Martin
22
Vaughns
92
Fletcher
Passes defended
18
Rooks
67
Martin
48
Vaughns
67
Fletcher
Solo tackles
12
Rooks
87
Martin
96
Vaughns
91
Fletcher
Tackles
9
Rooks
98
Martin
99
Vaughns
99
Fletcher

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 Sokoya McDuffie’s 2023 season.

Sokoya McDuffie

92%match

UConn · 2023

#2

Jonathan Decker

Central Michigan · 2025

92%
#3

Jordan Bertagnole

Wyoming · 2021

86%
#4

Casey Rogers

Oregon · 2022

85%
#5

Jordan Bertagnole

Wyoming · 2023

All-Mountain West
84%

Matches Sokoya on

TFL rate
Height
Sack rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jalen Logan-Redding's senior season at Minnesota (2024).

Jalen Logan-Redding

90%match

Minnesota · 2024

#2

Jordan Bertagnole

Wyoming · 2023

All-Mountain West
87%
#3

Michael Diatta

Virginia · 2024

85%
#4

Eddie Kelly

West Virginia · 2025

85%
#5

Cameron Horsley

Boston College · 2023

84%

Matches Jalen on

Class year
Sack rate
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Fran Brown

Pass share

48.6%

408 pass / 432 run

Plays / game

70.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.2%

379 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

3 coaches
2022
Dino Babers
Syracuse
2023
Nunzio Campanile
Syracuse
era →
2025
Fran Brown
Syracuse
era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Dino Babers, Nunzio Campanile, and Fran Brown. Multi-era developmental context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownJersey City, NJ
Height6'5"
Weight295 lb
Class4
PositionDL
Jersey91

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 Boston College DL4 #10633 #10507 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | ACC
2023 Boston College DL4 #11256 #11790 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | ACC
2022 Michigan DL4 #4205 #3728 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big Ten

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Syracuse ACC DL 4 No. 91 | 6-5 | 295 lb | Jersey City, NJ
2024 Boston College ACC DL 4 No. 91 | 6-5 | 295 lb | Jersey City, NJ
2023 Boston College ACC DL 4 No. 91 | 6-5 | 295 lb | Jersey City, NJ
2022 Michigan Big Ten DL 4 No. 91 | 6-5 | 295 lb | Jersey City, NJ