cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Julian Peterson /Troy

Julian Peterson

DT · Troy · Sr · #99

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

36 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Troy for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Troy for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive tackle · Troy

Returning around him

  • 33% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -13 net (14 in / 27 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Troy · Last season: 8-6 · Talent rank #99 · 2026 recruiting class #82

DT · TROY · SUN BELT

Julian Peterson

  • 4
  • #99
  • 6-3 | 305 lb
  • Pinson, AL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

64

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 74th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#10779

<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
★★★
#2036 national
CFB
College
Troy
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDT
Class4
Jersey99
Measurements6-3 | 305 lb
HometownPinson, AL
Primary teamTroy

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 603 recruit
Composite rating 0.8833 HighSchool
Signed with North Carolina 2026
Origin Winslow Township Atco, NJ, USA
Class Profile Context
2026 3-star | 0.8833 No. 603 recruit | HighSchool | North Carolina
2021 3-star | 0.8189 No. 2036 recruit | HighSchool | Hudson Valley

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#10779Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#11279Where 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 North Carolina

Composite

0.8833

#603 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 Julian Peterson

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 Julian Peterson

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
36Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Final
36Tackles
4.5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Julian Peterson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Troy's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 4.5 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 #10779 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.5 sacks | 4.5 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 36 11 solo | #1060/4942 (79th pct)
TFL 4.5 Backfield disruption | #648/4972 (87th pct)
Sacks 1.5 Pass-rush finish | #724/4972 (85th 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
36 79th
SOLO
11 60th
TFL
4.5 87th
SACK
1.5 85th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 38-20vs Nicholls300.50.00
Wk 3L 7-28vs Memphis841.50.50Season-high 8 tackles
Wk 4W 21-17@ Buffalo110.00.00
Wk 6W 31-24vs South Alabama110.00.00
Wk 7W 48-41@ Texas State410.00.00
Wk 8W 37-14@ UL Monroe210.50.00
Wk 9W 35-23vs Louisiana400.50.51
Wk 10L 10-23vs Arkansas State321.00.00
Wk 12L 0-33@ Old Dominion100.00.00
Wk 13W 31-19vs Georgia State200.00.00
Wk 14W 28-18@ Southern Miss210.00.00
Wk 15L 14-31@ James Madison100.50.50
BowlL 13-17@ Jacksonville State400.00.00
Total36114.51.51
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

2022Troy12-2HC: Jon Sumrall · Run-leaning
2023Troy11-3HC: Jon Sumrall · Balanced
2024Troy4-8HC: Gerad Parker · Run-leaning
2025Troy8-6HC: Gerad Parker · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Troy36114.51.51----
2024Troy25115.02.5------
2023Troy421.01.0------
2022Troy----0.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons652410.55.01----
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
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 36 #1060/4942 79th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 4.5 #648/4972 87th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.5 #724/4972 85th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 11 #1855/4584 60th 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 · 13 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g3.50.60.20.2
Road7g2.10.10.10.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins8g2.40.20.10.1
Losses5g3.40.60.20.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g3.50.30.10.0
Weeks 8+7g2.10.40.10.1

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DT cohort

64Solid starter
6 metrics · season cumulative

Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.

Tackles for loss#648 / 2975 · 77th pct
4.5defe
Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct
1.5defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Tackles#1060 / 2975 · 64th pct
36defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Solo tackles#1855 / 2975 · 35th pct
11defe

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

Advanced Savant · DT · 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
Julian PetersonTroyTreylin PayneTexas State· 70% simDaniel WingateMaryland· 70% simRay ConeyTulsa· 70% sim
Tackles for loss
77
Peterson
87
Payne
87
Wingate
90
Coney
Sacks
74
Peterson
80
Payne
74
Wingate
80
Coney
QB hurries
72
Peterson
82
Payne
72
Wingate
88
Coney
Tackles
64
Peterson
98
Payne
98
Wingate
100
Coney
Passes defended
48
Peterson
67
Payne
48
Wingate
67
Coney
Solo tackles
35
Peterson
95
Payne
99
Wingate
93
Coney

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

Player DNA

The Nose Anchor

Two-gap space-eater who occupies blockers and frees the linebackers.

IDL

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Gio Paez’s 2024 season.

Gio Paez

93%match

LSU · 2024

#2

Caleb Sampson

Kansas · 2021

92%
#3

Junior Tafuna

Utah · 2022

92%
#4

Johnny Hudson Jr.

Fresno State · 2022

91%
#5

Johnny Hudson Jr.

Fresno State · 2023

89%

Matches Gio on

TFL rate
Weight
Height

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Gio Paez's senior season at LSU (2024).

Gio Paez

93%match

LSU · 2024

#2

Josh Ellison

Memphis · 2023

93%
#3

Cavon Butler

Toledo · 2024

92%
#4

Rayshaun Benny

Michigan · 2024

All-Big TenNFL Rd 7
90%
#5

DeWayne Carter

Duke · 2023

All-ACCNFL Rd 3 · Pk 32
89%

Matches Gio on

Class year
Height
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Gerad Parker

Pass share

47.1%

431 pass / 484 run

Plays / game

65.4

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

17.0%

342 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

2 coaches
2022
Jon Sumrall
Troy
2023
Jon Sumrall
Troy
2024
Gerad Parker
Troy
era →
2025
Gerad Parker
Troy

Coaching transition mid-career: Jon Sumrall → Gerad Parker. 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.

HometownPinson, AL
Height6'3"
Weight305 lb
Class4
PositionDT
Jersey99

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 Troy DT4 #10779 #11279 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Sun Belt
2023 Troy DT4 #8187 #7962 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Sun Belt
2022 Troy DT4 #9433 #8878 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Sun Belt
2021 Troy DT4 #11735 #11636 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Sun Belt

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Troy Sun Belt DT 4 No. 99 | 6-3 | 305 lb | Pinson, AL
2024 Troy Sun Belt DT 4 No. 99 | 6-3 | 305 lb | Pinson, AL
2023 Troy Sun Belt DT 4 No. 99 | 6-3 | 305 lb | Pinson, AL
2022 Troy Sun Belt DT 4 No. 99 | 6-3 | 305 lb | Pinson, AL
2021 Troy Sun Belt DT 4 No. 99 | 6-3 | 305 lb | Pinson, AL