cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kendal Daniels /Oklahoma

Kendal Daniels

LB · Oklahoma · Sr · #5

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

54 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 NFL DRAFTDrafted by Atlanta — Rd 4, Pick 34, #134 overall

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Atlanta2026 NFL rookie season

#134Rd 4 · Pick 34
Atlanta2026 NFL rookie season

LB · OKLAHOMA · SEC

Kendal Daniels

  • 4
  • #5
  • 6-5 | 242 lb
  • Beggs, OK

CFB Zeitgeist Score

74

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 96th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#13425

<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 LB AWARD

Butkus

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R05 · Part-time starter

Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

3 seasons on the ladder

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

2022

Oklahoma State · LB

2023

Oklahoma State · LB

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

2025

Oklahoma · LB

NFL Draft 2026 · Rd 4, Pick 34 · #134 overall · Atlanta

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★★
#101 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
R4 &middot; #134
Atlanta &middot; 2026

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey5
Measurements6-5 | 242 lb
HometownBeggs, OK
Primary teamOklahoma

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 4-star No. 101 recruit
Composite rating 0.9578 HighSchool
Signed with Oklahoma State 2021
Origin Beggs Beggs, OK, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 4-star | 0.9578 No. 101 recruit | HighSchool | Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma 2025
Transfer stars 4-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Jan 6, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Oklahoma State -> Oklahoma 4-star | 0.9100 | 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#13425Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#13377Where 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 Oklahoma State

Composite

0.9578

#101 national

NFL Draft

2026 · Rd 4, Pick 34

#134 overall · Atlanta

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 Kendal Daniels

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 Kendal Daniels

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
54Tackles
10Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
4Tackles
0.8Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Final
54Tackles
10Tackles for loss
1Sacks

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Kendal Daniels is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Oklahoma's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 10.0 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 #13425 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Blue-chip pedigree No. 101 recruit

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 54 29 solo | #500/4942 (90th pct)
TFL 10.0 Backfield disruption | #103/4972 (98th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-disruption defender | High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-disruption defenderHigh-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
54 90th
SOLO
29 88th
TFL
10.0 98th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
3 76th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 35-3vs Illinois State310.50.01
Wk 2W 24-13vs Michigan432.50.002.5 TFL
Wk 3W 42-3@ Temple110.00.00
Wk 4W 24-17vs Auburn520.50.00
Wk 6W 44-0vs Kent State100.00.00
Wk 7L 6-23@ Texas642.00.00
Wk 8W 26-7@ South Carolina652.01.00
Wk 9L 26-34vs Ole Miss622.50.012.5 TFL
Wk 10W 33-27@ Tennessee320.00.00
Wk 12W 23-21@ Alabama100.00.00
Wk 13W 17-6vs Missouri710.00.01Season-high 7 tackles
Wk 14W 17-13vs LSU750.00.00
BowlL 24-34vs Alabama430.00.00
Total542910.01.03
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

2022Oklahoma State7-6HC: Mike Gundy · Balanced, fast tempo
2023Oklahoma State10-4HC: Mike Gundy · Pass-leaning
2025Oklahoma10-3HC: Brent Venables · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Oklahoma542910.01.03----
2023Oklahoma State105625.52.012--
2022Oklahoma State69435.50.033--
Career3 loaded seasons22813421.03.075--
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 3 Coverage disruption | #521/2184 (76th 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 54 #500/4942 90th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 10.0 #103/4972 98th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 3 #521/2184 76th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 29 #559/4584 88th 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 Butkus 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
Home8g4.60.80.00.4
Road5g3.40.80.20.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins10g3.80.60.10.2
Losses3g5.31.50.00.3

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g3.40.80.00.1
Weeks 8+6g5.00.80.20.3

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

74Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: tackles for loss (96th). Strength: tackles (82nd).

Tackles for loss#103 / 2975 · 96th pct
10.0defe
Tackles#500 / 2975 · 83rd pct
54defe
Solo tackles#559 / 2975 · 80th pct
29defe
Passes defended#517 / 2975 · 78th pct
3defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Forced fumbles#36 / 687 · 47th pct
0fumb

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

Advanced Savant · LB · 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
Kendal DanielsOklahomaColton PharesApp State· 90% simGavin MoulDelaware· 89% simKeaton ThomasBaylor· 88% sim
Tackles for loss
96
Daniels
96
Phares
90
Moul
90
Thomas
Tackles
83
Daniels
98
Phares
99
Moul
98
Thomas
Solo tackles
80
Daniels
95
Phares
98
Moul
99
Thomas
Passes defended
78
Daniels
78
Phares
78
Moul
78
Thomas
QB hurries
72
Daniels
72
Phares
72
Moul
55
Thomas
Sacks
63
Daniels
80
Phares
80
Moul
63
Thomas
Forced fumbles
47
Daniels
47
Phares
47
Moul
47
Thomas

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

Player DNA

The Thumper

Downhill striker who fills the run lane and blitzes off the edge.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Deshawn Holt’s 2024 season.

Deshawn Holt

71%match

Toledo · 2024

#2

Javae Gilmore

Marshall · 2025

70%
#3

Matt Jones

Baylor · 2021

68%
#4

Jordan Wright

Kentucky · 2022

66%
#5

Caleb Bacon

Iowa State · 2025

66%

Matches Deshawn on

Tackle volume
Height
Class year

Differs from Deshawn on

PD rate (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Nyjalik Kelly's senior season at UCF (2025).

Nyjalik Kelly

81%match

UCF · 2025

#2

Keaten Wade

Colorado · 2025

78%
#3

Andre Carter

Indiana · 2023

All-MAC
74%
#4

C.J. Goetz

Wisconsin · 2023

71%
#5

Samuel Dankah

East Carolina · 2025

70%

Matches Nyjalik on

PD rate
Weight
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Brent Venables

Pass share

50.4%

429 pass / 423 run

Plays / game

65.5

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.0%

345 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Brent Venables
Oklahoma
2023
Brent Venables
Oklahoma
2025
Brent Venables
Oklahoma

Played his entire career under Brent Venables.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownBeggs, OK
Height6'5"
Weight242 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey5

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2023)

All-Big 12

Trophy Case · Detail

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

All-Conference

1 all-conference honor

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
2023 All-Big 12 all_conference Oklahoma State | Big 12 DB

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Oklahoma State LB4 #13425 #13377 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big 12
2023 Oklahoma State LB4 #7840 #8474 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Big 12
2022 Oklahoma State LB4 #7931 #8521 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Big 12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Oklahoma SEC LB 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 242 lb | Beggs, OK
2024 Oklahoma State Big 12 LB 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 242 lb | Beggs, OK
2023 Oklahoma State Big 12 LB 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 242 lb | Beggs, OK
2022 Oklahoma State Big 12 LB 4 No. 5 | 6-5 | 242 lb | Beggs, OK