cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON

Jaylen Poe

RB · Northern Illinois · So · #28

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

40 RUSH YDS · 0 RUSH TD · 6 CARRIES

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Northern Illinois for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Northern Illinois for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · Northern Illinois

Returning around him

  • 53% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: -17 net (5 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Northern Illinois · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #125 · 2026 recruiting class #84

RB · NORTHERN ILLINOIS · MID-AMERICAN

Jaylen Poe

  • 2
  • #28
  • 5-10 | 212 lb
  • Dallas, GA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

26

Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by yards / carry at the 94th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#3594

<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

2023–2025
44.02023
40.02025

-9%

Down 9% — context-dependent (injury / role change?).

Career Arc

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

Identity & Role

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

PositionRB
Class2
Jersey28
Measurements5-10 | 212 lb
HometownDallas, GA
Primary teamNorthern Illinois

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#3594Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#3675Where 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 Jaylen Poe

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 Jaylen Poe

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 4g
40Rush yards
6Carries
0Rush TDs
Per game
10Rush yards
2Carries
0Rush TDs
Projected (13g)
130Rush yards
20Carries
0Rush TDs

To hit 750-yard season (currently 40): needs 78.9/game over remaining 9.

To hit 1,000-yard season (currently 40): needs 106.7/game over remaining 9.

To hit 1,500-yard season (currently 40): needs 162.2/game over remaining 9.

To hit 10 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 1.1/game over remaining 9.

To hit 15 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 1.7/game over remaining 9.

To hit 20 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 2.2/game over remaining 9.

What made this player interesting

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

Jaylen Poe's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Northern Illinois, 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 #3594 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 6.0% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Development arc 9 return yds

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 74 40 rush | 34 rec | #549/735 (25th pct)
Rush TD 0 6 carries | #447/739 (40th pct)
Yards/carry 6.7 Per-rush efficiency | #67/735 (91st pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Efficient runner against FBS RB peers.

Efficient runner

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Rushing

CAR
6 20th
YDS
40 25th
YPC
6.7 91st
TD
0 40th

Receiving

REC
7 51st
YDS
34 40th
YPR
4.9 23rd
TD
0 70th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 4 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCARYDSAVGTDLONGNote
Wk 1W 19-17vs Holy Cross22211.0021Season-high 22 yds
Wk 2L 9-20@ Maryland
Wk 4L 10-38@ Mississippi State3165.3014
Wk 5L 3-6vs San Diego State122.002
Total6406.1021
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

2023Northern Illinois7-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning
2025Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Northern Illinois6406.70--
2023Northern Illinois6447.30--
Career2 loaded seasons12847.00--
SeasonTeam
2025Northern Illinois7344.90--
2023Northern Illinois----------
Career2 loaded seasons7344.90--
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 7 34 rec yds | #270/552 (51st pct)
Usage 6.0% 3.8% 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 40 #549/735 25th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Rushing Rush TD 0 #447/739 40th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Rushing Yards / carry 6.7 #67/735 91st pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receptions 7 #270/552 51st pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving yards 34 #330/548 40th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Role share 6.0% #489/738 34th pct Share of team offensevs FBS RB
Rushing Rushing LONG 21 #389/733 47th pct Metricvs FBS RB
Rushing Carries 6 #592/739 20th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving LONG 9 #425/540 21st pct Metricvs FBS RB
Receiving Yards / catch 4.9 #425/548 23rd pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Receiving Receiving TD 0 #169/552 70th pct Scoringvs FBS RB
Returns Kick return avg 9.0 #175/199 13th pct Efficiencyvs FBS RB
Returns Kick return yards 9 #181/200 10th pct Volumevs FBS RB
Returns Kick returns 1 #139/206 33rd pct Volumevs FBS RB
Usage Pass share 9.9% #33/738 96th pct Air-game usagevs FBS RB
Usage 3rd-down usage 8.3% #268/738 64th pct Money-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Passing-down usage 7.1% #338/738 54th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS RB
Usage 2nd-down usage 6.3% #505/738 32nd pct Middle-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Standard-down usage 5.3% #552/738 25th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS RB
Usage 1st-down usage 5.2% #545/738 26th pct Early-down loadvs FBS RB
Usage Rush share 3.8% #667/738 10th pct Ground-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 · 4 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Home2g12.06.50.0
Road2g8.05.30.0

Win vs Loss

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Wins1g22.011.00.0
Losses3g6.03.60.0

First half vs Second half

YDS/gYPCTD/g
Weeks 1-74g10.06.10.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

26Below cohort
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / carry (94th). Concern: carries (0th).

Yards / carry#19 / 349 · 94th pct
6.7rush
Receptions#240 / 338 · 27th pct
7rece
Rec yards#272 / 338 · 19th pct
34rece
Long run#305 / 349 · 12th pct
21rush
Rush TDs#326 / 349 · 3rd pct
0rush
Rush yards#350 / 349 · 0th pct
40rush
Carries#350 / 349 · 0th pct
6rush

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
Jaylen PoeNorthern IllinoisKamari MoultonIowa· 44% simJeremiah CobbAuburn· 44% simJordan BrunsonMiami (OH)· 43% sim
Yards / carry
94
Poe
62
Moulton
71
Cobb
41
Brunson
Receptions
27
Poe
63
Moulton
45
Cobb
2
Brunson
Rec yards
19
Poe
53
Moulton
47
Cobb
3
Brunson
Long run
12
Poe
33
Moulton
51
Cobb
73
Brunson
Rush TDs
3
Poe
62
Moulton
62
Cobb
50
Brunson
Rush yards
0
Poe
84
Moulton
88
Cobb
80
Brunson
Carries
0
Poe
86
Moulton
88
Cobb
85
Brunson

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

Thomas Hammock

Pass share

33.0%

244 pass / 495 run

Plays / game

61.6

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.3%

234 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Thomas Hammock
Northern Illinois
2025
Thomas Hammock
Northern Illinois

Played his entire career under Thomas Hammock.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownDallas, GA
Height5'10"
Weight212 lb
Class2
PositionRB
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 Northern Illinois RB2 #3594 #3675 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Northern Illinois RB2 #2648 #2871 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Northern Illinois Mid-American RB 2 No. 28 | 5-10 | 212 lb | Dallas, GA
2024 Northern Illinois Mid-American RB 2 No. 28 | 5-10 | 212 lb | Dallas, GA
2023 Northern Illinois Mid-American RB 2 No. 28 | 5-10 | 212 lb | Dallas, GA