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OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kapena Gushiken /Ole Miss

Kapena Gushiken

S · Ole Miss · Sr · #14

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

55 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Ole Miss for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Ole Miss for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · Ole Miss

Returning around him

  • 18% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 2 Ole Miss players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: +3 net (28 in / 25 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Ole Miss · Last season: 13-2 (AP #6) · Talent rank #21 · 2026 recruiting class #16

S · OLE MISS · SEC

Kapena Gushiken

  • 4
  • #14
  • 6-0 | 185 lb
  • Pukalani, HI

CFB Zeitgeist Score

50

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 91st percentile.

Heisman Heat

#11478

<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 DB AWARD

Jim Thorpe

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
★★★
#101 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class4
Jersey14
Measurements6-0 | 185 lb
HometownPukalani, HI
Primary teamOle Miss

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 101 recruit
Composite rating 0.8467 JUCO
Signed with Washington State 2023
Origin Saddleback College Pukalani, HI, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 3-star | 0.8467 No. 101 recruit | JUCO | Washington State

Transfer Arc

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

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Ole Miss 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 14, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Washington State -> Ole Miss 3-star | 0.8600 | 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#11478Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#11413Where 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 Washington State

Composite

0.8467

#101 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 Kapena Gushiken

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 Kapena Gushiken

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 15g
55Tackles
0.5Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Final
55Tackles
0.5Tackles 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.

Kapena Gushiken is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Ole Miss's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 0.5 tackles for loss, and 1 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 #11478 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

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 55 38 solo | #484/4942 (90th pct)
TFL 0.5 Backfield disruption | #2658/4972 (47th 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?

Coverage splash | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

Coverage splashHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
55 90th
SOLO
38 94th
TFL
0.5 47th
SACK
0.0 65th
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
5 90th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 15 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 63-7vs Georgia State100.50.01
Wk 2W 30-23@ Kentucky550.00.01
Wk 3W 41-35vs Arkansas650.00.00
Wk 4W 45-10vs Tulane210.00.00
Wk 5W 24-19vs LSU210.00.00
Wk 7W 24-21vs Washington State320.00.00
Wk 8L 35-43@ Georgia640.00.00
Wk 9W 34-26@ Oklahoma650.00.01
Wk 10W 30-14vs South Carolina220.00.00
Wk 11W 49-0vs The Citadel220.00.01
Wk 12W 34-24vs Florida220.00.00
Wk 14W 38-19@ Mississippi State920.00.00Season-high 9 tackles
BowlW 41-10vs Tulane440.00.01
BowlW 39-34@ Georgia210.00.00
BowlL 27-31vs Miami320.00.010
Total55380.50.015
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

2023Washington State5-7HC: Jake Dickert · Pass-leaning
2025Ole Miss13-2HC: Lane Kiffin · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Ole Miss55380.50.051--
2023Washington State36161.51.051--
Career2 loaded seasons91542.01.0102--
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 1 0 pick-six TD | #308/869 (65th pct)
Pass breakups 5 Coverage disruption | #218/2184 (90th pct)
QB pressures 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 55 #484/4942 90th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 0.5 #2658/4972 47th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 5 #218/2184 90th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 38 #271/4584 94th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense Fumbles recovered 1 #103/736 86th 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 Thorpe 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 · 15 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home10g2.70.10.00.3
Road5g5.60.00.00.4

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins13g3.50.00.00.4
Losses2g4.50.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-79g3.10.10.00.3
Weeks 8+6g4.50.00.00.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

50Mid-pack
8 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (90th). Strength: solo tackles (90th). Concern: tackles for loss (18th).

Passes defended#218 / 2975 · 91st pct
5defe
Solo tackles#271 / 2975 · 90th pct
38defe
Tackles#484 / 2975 · 83rd pct
55defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th pct
1defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
Tackles for loss#2332 / 2975 · 18th pct
0.5defe

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

Advanced Savant · S · 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 · 8 metrics
Kapena GushikenOle MissBlake FletcherAir Force· 81% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 80% simTyler MartinMassachusetts· 78% sim
Passes defended
91
Gushiken
67
Fletcher
91
Ra-El
67
Martin
Solo tackles
90
Gushiken
91
Fletcher
100
Ra-El
87
Martin
Tackles
83
Gushiken
99
Fletcher
99
Ra-El
98
Martin
QB hurries
55
Gushiken
92
Fletcher
22
Ra-El
22
Martin
Forced fumbles
47
Gushiken
47
Ra-El
47
Martin
Interceptions
31
Gushiken
31
Martin
Sacks
24
Gushiken
24
Fletcher
24
Ra-El
24
Martin
Tackles for loss
18
Gushiken
28
Fletcher
56
Ra-El
63
Martin

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

Player DNA

The Hybrid Nickel

Moves between deep coverage and the slot — the modern positionless DB.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jalen Mcmurray’s 2025 season.

Jalen Mcmurray

95%match

Tennessee · 2025

#2

Abraham Camara

TCU · 2024

88%
#3

Jordan Huff

Georgia State · 2025

85%
#4

Renardo Green

Florida State · 2022

NFL Rd 2 · Pk 32
83%
#5

Elliott Davison

UTSA · 2024

82%

Matches Jalen on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Teagan Wilk's junior season at East Carolina (2022).

Teagan Wilk

92%match

East Carolina · 2022

#2

Renardo Green

Florida State · 2022

All-ACCNFL Rd 2 · Pk 32
91%
#3

Quinn Whitlock

North Texas · 2022

90%
#4

Christian Roland-Wallace

Arizona · 2022

88%
#5

Elijah Jackson

Washington · 2023

87%

Matches Teagan on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Lane Kiffin

Pass share

48.2%

521 pass / 560 run

Plays / game

72.1

15 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

4.5%

330 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

1 coach
2023
Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss
2025
Lane Kiffin
Ole Miss

Played his entire career under Lane Kiffin.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownPukalani, HI
Height6'0"
Weight185 lb
Class4
PositionS
Jersey14

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 Washington State S4 #11478 #11413 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Pac-12
2023 Washington State S4 #10445 #10636 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Ole Miss SEC S 4 No. 14 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Pukalani, HI
2024 Washington State Pac-12 S 4 No. 14 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Pukalani, HI
2023 Washington State Pac-12 S 4 No. 14 | 6-0 | 185 lb | Pukalani, HI