cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Jack Pedersen /UCLA

Jack Pedersen

TE · UCLA · Jr · #28

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

72 REC YDS · 11 REC · 0 REC TD

2026 RETURNINGReturning to UCLA for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to UCLA for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Tight end · UCLA

Returning around him

  • 22% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: +12 net (41 in / 29 out)

2026 Award watch

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

UCLA · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #26 · 2026 recruiting class #46

TE · UCLA · BIG TEN

Jack Pedersen

  • 3
  • #28
  • 6-5 | 240 lb
  • Murrieta, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

3

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by rec tds at the 7th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#1705

<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 TE AWARD

Mackey

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · receiving yards

2024–2025
1262024
72.02025

-43%

Sharp dropoff (-43%) — career inflection point.

Career Arc

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

Identity & Role

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

PositionTE
Class3
Jersey28
Measurements6-5 | 240 lb
HometownMurrieta, CA
Primary teamUCLA

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 248 recruit
Composite rating 0.9107 HighSchool
Signed with UCLA 2022
Origin Vista Murrieta Murrieta, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2022 4-star | 0.9107 No. 248 recruit | HighSchool | UCLA

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#1705Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#2524Where 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 UCLA

Composite

0.9107

#248 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 Jack Pedersen

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 Jack Pedersen

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 receiving totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 7g
72Rec yards
11Receptions
0Rec TDs
Per game
10.3Rec yards
2Receptions
0Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
133.7Rec yards
20Receptions
0Rec TDs

To hit 700-yard receiver (currently 72): needs 104.7/game over remaining 6.

To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 72): needs 154.7/game over remaining 6.

To hit 60-catch season (currently 11): needs 8.2/game over remaining 6.

To hit 80-catch season (currently 11): needs 11.5/game over remaining 6.

To hit 8 receiving TDs (currently 0): needs 1.3/game over remaining 6.

To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 0): needs 1.7/game over remaining 6.

What made this player interesting

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

Jack Pedersen's story is about how role and output meet each other. For UCLA, 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 #1705 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 3.7% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 248 recruit

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

TE season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Receptions 11 0 rec TD | #176/475 (63rd pct)
Receiving yards 72 6.5 per catch | #228/475 (52nd pct)
Scrimmage yards 72 Total offensive yardage | #228/475 (52nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Receiving weapon against FBS receiving peers.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Receiving

REC
11 63rd
YDS
72 52nd
YPR
6.5 18th
TD
0 46th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 7 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppRECYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1L 10-43vs Utah22613.0015Season-high 26 yds
Wk 2L 23-30@ UNLV3206.7013
Wk 3L 10-35vs New Mexico122.002
Wk 5L 14-17@ Northwestern122.002
Wk 6W 42-37vs Penn State2105.006
Wk 12L 10-48@ Ohio State177.007
Wk 13L 14-48vs Washington155.005
Total11725.8015
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

2024UCLA5-7HC: Deshaun Foster · Balanced, slow tempo
2025UCLA3-9HC: Deshaun Foster · Balanced, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025UCLA11726.50--
2024UCLA1212610.51--
Career2 loaded seasons231988.61--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Pass share

The tight end's share of the passing offense, which helps distinguish a featured receiving tight end from a secondary option.

Role share

A blended usage view that shows how often the offense flows through the tight end compared with other same-level peers.

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.

Usage 3.7% 7.1% pass-game share | #172/468 (63rd pct)
Return yards 0 0 return TD
Touchdowns 0 Across offense and returns | #257/475 (46th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Receiving Receptions 11 #176/475 63rd pct Volumevs FBS TE
Receiving Receiving yards 72 #228/475 52nd pct Volumevs FBS TE
Receiving Receiving TD 0 #257/475 46th pct Scoringvs FBS TE
Receiving Yards / catch 6.5 #389/475 18th pct Efficiencyvs FBS TE
Usage Pass share 7.1% #172/468 63rd pct Air-game usagevs FBS TE
Receiving Receiving LONG 15 #324/475 32nd pct Metricvs FBS TE
Usage 2nd-down usage 5.3% #96/468 80th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS TE
Usage 1st-down usage 4.7% #93/468 80th pct Early-down loadvs FBS TE
Usage Passing-down usage 4.1% #195/468 59th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS TE
Usage Role share 3.7% #150/468 68th pct Share of team offensevs FBS TE
Usage Standard-down usage 3.5% #168/468 64th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS TE
Usage 3rd-down usage 0.0% #339/468 28th pct Money-down loadvs FBS TE
Usage Rush share 0.0% #58/468 88th pct Ground-game usagevs FBS TE

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 Mackey 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 · 7 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Home4g1.510.86.20.0
Road3g1.79.75.20.0

Win vs Loss

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Wins1g2.010.05.00.0
Losses6g1.510.36.00.0

First half vs Second half

REC/gYDS/gYPRTD/g
Weeks 1-75g1.812.05.70.0
Weeks 8+2g1.06.06.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

3Below cohort
5 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: receptions (0th).

Rec TDs#152 / 175 · 7th pct
0rece
Yards / catch#172 / 175 · 2nd pct
6.5rece
Long catch#172 / 175 · 2nd pct
15rece
Rec yards#174 / 175 · 1st pct
72rece
Receptions#176 / 175 · 0th pct
11rece

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

Advanced Savant · TE · 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 · 5 metrics
Jack PedersenUCLABryce CaufieldOregon State· 61% simHayden HansenFlorida· 56% simTyler FortenberryArkansas State· 52% sim
Rec TDs
7
Pedersen
21
Caufield
43
Hansen
43
Fortenberry
Yards / catch
2
Pedersen
7
Caufield
16
Hansen
26
Fortenberry
Long catch
2
Pedersen
39
Caufield
32
Hansen
32
Fortenberry
Rec yards
1
Pedersen
44
Caufield
54
Hansen
58
Fortenberry
Receptions
0
Pedersen
66
Caufield
69
Hansen
75
Fortenberry

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

Player DNA

The Complete TE

Dual-threat: blocks when needed, catches when needed. Coveted on both sides.

TE

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Dante Zanders’s 2022 season.

Dante Zanders

86%match

Florida · 2022

#2

Trey Miller

Louisiana · 2025

80%
#3

Jordan Murray

Hawai'i · 2022

84%
#4

Grant Misch

Virginia · 2022

80%
#5

Dylan Leonard

Georgia Tech · 2021

80%

Matches Dante on

Height
Weight
EPA / play (adj)

Differs from Dante on

Recruiting rating (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Dylan Leonard's sophomore season at Georgia Tech (2021).

Dylan Leonard

87%match

Georgia Tech · 2021

#2

Dante Zanders

Florida · 2022

85%
#3

Jordan Williams

Ball State · 2021

84%
#4

Ben Ratzlaff

Western Kentucky · 2021

76%
#5

Collin Moore

California · 2021

82%

Matches Dylan on

Total EPA (college ability)
EPA / play (adj)
Weight

Differs from Dylan on

Class year (lower)

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Deshaun Foster

Pass share

48.9%

358 pass / 374 run

Plays / game

61.0

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

9.3%

280 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Deshaun Foster
UCLA
2025
Deshaun Foster
UCLA

Played his entire career under Deshaun Foster.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMurrieta, CA
Height6'5"
Weight240 lb
Class3
PositionTE
Jersey28

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 UCLA TE3 #1705 #2524 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 UCLA TE3 #3229 #2953 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12
2022 UCLA TE3 #2759 #2365 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 UCLA Big Ten TE 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 240 lb | Murrieta, CA
2024 UCLA Big Ten TE 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 240 lb | Murrieta, CA
2023 UCLA Pac-12 TE 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 240 lb | Murrieta, CA
2022 UCLA Pac-12 TE 3 No. 28 | 6-5 | 240 lb | Murrieta, CA