cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Hosea Wheeler /Indiana

Hosea Wheeler

DL · Indiana · Sr

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

31 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 TRANSFERTransferred Indiana → Baylor for 2026

Where He Ended Up · Transfer

Transferred to Baylor

2025Indiana
2026Baylor

DL · INDIANA · BIG TEN

Hosea Wheeler

  • 4
  • 6-3 | 300 lb
  • Sacramento, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

47

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 73rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13377

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

2 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R09 All-Conference HM / 2nd team · 2023

2023

Western Kentucky · DL

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

2025

Indiana · DL

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDL
Class4
Jersey--
Measurements6-3 | 300 lb
HometownSacramento, CA
Primary teamIndiana

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 2 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Baylor 2026
Transfer stars 4-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 22, 2026
Season Move Context
2026 Indiana -> Baylor 4-star | 0.9200 | Immediate
2025 Western Kentucky -> Indiana 3-star | 0.8500 | 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#13377Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13166Where 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 Hosea Wheeler

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 Hosea Wheeler

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

final
Through 13g
31Tackles
4Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
2Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Final
31Tackles
4Tackles for loss
0Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Hosea Wheeler is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Indiana's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 4.0 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 #13377 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 2 portal moves

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 31 13 solo | #1302/4942 (74th pct)
TFL 4.0 Backfield disruption | #738/4972 (85th 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?

High-disruption defender against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defender

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
31 74th
SOLO
13 65th
TFL
4.0 85th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
2 66th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 27-14vs Old Dominion510.00.00Season-high 5 tackles
Wk 3W 73-0vs Indiana State301.00.00
Wk 4W 63-10vs Illinois210.50.00
Wk 5W 20-15@ Iowa110.00.00
Wk 7W 30-20@ Oregon310.00.00
Wk 8W 38-13vs Michigan State310.50.00
Wk 9W 56-6vs UCLA110.00.00
Wk 10W 55-10@ Maryland110.00.00
Wk 11W 27-24@ Penn State530.50.00
Wk 12W 31-7vs Wisconsin100.00.00
Wk 14W 56-3@ Purdue311.50.00
BowlW 38-3vs Alabama210.00.00
BowlW 27-21vs Miami110.00.00
Total31134.00.00
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

2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2025Indiana16-0HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-heavy
SeasonTeam
2025Indiana31134.00.0------
2023Western Kentucky40204.02.0--1--
Career2 loaded seasons71338.02.0--1--
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 31 #1302/4942 74th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.0 #738/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 13 #1622/4584 65th 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.

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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home8g2.20.20.00.0
Road5g2.60.40.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins13g2.40.30.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g2.40.20.00.0
Weeks 8+6g2.30.40.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DL cohort

47Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: passes defended (17th).

Tackles for loss#736 / 2975 · 73rd pct
4.0defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Tackles#1302 / 2975 · 55th pct
31defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Solo tackles#1622 / 2975 · 44th pct
13defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
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 · 7 metrics
Hosea WheelerIndianaMicah DaveyUTEP· 68% simMarcAnthony ParkerNavy· 66% simEthan WesloskiNorth Texas· 65% sim
Tackles for loss
73
Wheeler
91
Davey
87
Parker
95
Wesloski
QB hurries
72
Wheeler
82
Davey
88
Parker
95
Wesloski
Tackles
55
Wheeler
99
Davey
98
Parker
99
Wesloski
Forced fumbles
47
Wheeler
47
Davey
47
Parker
47
Wesloski
Solo tackles
44
Wheeler
99
Davey
96
Parker
99
Wesloski
Sacks
24
Wheeler
63
Davey
80
Parker
74
Wesloski
Passes defended
18
Wheeler
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 Immanuel Hickman Sr.’s 2023 season.

Immanuel Hickman Sr.

90%match

South Florida · 2023

#2

Phillip Paea

Utah State · 2021

90%
#3

Douglas Blue-Eli

South Florida · 2023

88%
#4

Keshon Griffin

Rutgers · 2025

87%
#5

Tawfiq Thomas

Colorado · 2025

87%

Matches Immanuel on

TFL rate
Sack rate
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Seth Mason's junior season at UL Monroe (2022).

Seth Mason

95%match

UL Monroe · 2022

#2

Simon Sandberg

Oregon State · 2022

94%
#3

Isaiah Mullens

Wisconsin · 2022

90%
#4

Elijah Jeudy

Nebraska · 2024

90%
#5

Rolan Wooden II

Coastal Carolina · 2022

89%

Matches Seth on

Class year
Height
Sack rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Curt Cignetti

Pass share

38.7%

404 pass / 641 run

Plays / game

65.3

16 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.3%

275 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

2 coaches
2023
Tom Allen
Indiana
2025
Curt Cignetti
Indiana
era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tom Allen → Curt Cignetti. 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.

HometownSacramento, CA
Height6'3"
Weight300 lb
Class4
PositionDL

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2024)

All-Conference USA

Trophy Case · Detail

Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.

All-Conference

2 all-conference honors

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
2024 All-Conference USA all_conference Western Kentucky | Conference USA DT
2023 All-Conference USA all_conference Western Kentucky | Conference USA DT

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Western Kentucky DL4 #13377 #13166 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Conference USA
2023 Western Kentucky DL4 #11221 #11411 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Conference USA
2022 Western Kentucky DL4 #12072 #11747 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Conference USA

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Indiana Big Ten DL 4 6-3 | 300 lb | Sacramento, CA
2024 Western Kentucky Conference USA DL 4 6-3 | 300 lb | Sacramento, CA
2023 Western Kentucky Conference USA DL 4 6-3 | 300 lb | Sacramento, CA
2022 Western Kentucky Conference USA DL 4 6-3 | 300 lb | Sacramento, CA