cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Kennedy Urlacher /USC

Kennedy Urlacher

S · USC · So · #28

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

27 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to USC for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to USC for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Safety · USC

Returning around him

  • 37% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
  • 3 USC players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -13 net (9 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

USC · Last season: 9-4 (AP #16) · Talent rank #17 · 2026 recruiting class #14

S · USC · BIG TEN

Kennedy Urlacher

  • 2
  • #28
  • 5-11 | 195 lb
  • Chandler, AZ

CFB Zeitgeist Score

44

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#4685

<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

R06 · Starter

Starter. A locked-in starting role.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#641 national
CFB
College
USC
2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionS
Class2
Jersey28
Measurements5-11 | 195 lb
HometownChandler, AZ
Primary teamUSC

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 641 recruit
Composite rating 0.8808 HighSchool
Signed with Notre Dame 2024
Origin Chandler Chandler, AZ, USA
Class Profile Context
2024 3-star | 0.8808 No. 641 recruit | HighSchool | Notre Dame

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 USC 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Apr 19, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Notre Dame -> USC 3-star | 0.8700 | 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#4685Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#4350Where 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 Notre Dame

Composite

0.8808

#641 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 Kennedy Urlacher

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 Kennedy Urlacher

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

projecting to 13-game
Through 8g
27Tackles
1Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.1Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
44Tackles
1.6Tackles for loss
1.6Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 27): needs 10.6/game over remaining 5.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 27): needs 14.6/game over remaining 5.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 1/game over remaining 5.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 1.8/game over remaining 5.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Kennedy Urlacher is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on USC's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 1.0 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 #4685 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 27 23 solo | #1543/4942 (69th pct)
TFL 1.0 Backfield disruption | #2051/4972 (59th 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?

Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.

Balanced profile

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
27 69th
SOLO
23 82nd
TFL
1.0 59th
SACK
1.0 82nd

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 73-13vs Missouri State221.01.00
Wk 2W 59-20vs Georgia Southern110.00.00
Wk 5L 32-34@ Illinois220.00.00
Wk 10W 21-17@ Nebraska110.00.00
Wk 12W 26-21vs Iowa540.00.01
Wk 13L 27-42@ Oregon980.00.010Season-high 9 tackles
Wk 14W 29-10vs UCLA550.00.00
BowlL 27-30@ TCU200.00.00
Total27231.01.011
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

2025USC9-4HC: Lincoln Riley · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025USC27231.01.011--
Career1 loaded season27231.01.011--
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 1 Coverage disruption | #1241/2184 (43rd pct)
QB pressures 0 Quarterback hurries
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 27 #1543/4942 69th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 1.0 #2051/4972 59th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 1 #1241/2184 43rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 23 #839/4584 82nd pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 10.0 #361/578 38th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 10 #411/578 29th pct Takeawaysvs 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 · 8 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g3.20.20.20.2
Road4g3.50.00.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins5g2.80.20.20.2
Losses3g4.30.00.00.0

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-74g1.80.20.20.0
Weeks 8+4g5.00.00.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the S cohort

44Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Solo tackles#839 / 2975 · 71st pct
23defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Tackles#1543 / 2975 · 47th pct
27defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte
Tackles for loss#1936 / 2975 · 28th pct
1.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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 · 7 metrics
Kennedy UrlacherUSCTyler MartinMassachusetts· 71% simBrevin HamblinUtah State· 69% simJonJon VaughnsUCLA· 67% sim
Solo tackles
71
Urlacher
87
Martin
99
Hamblin
96
Vaughns
Sacks
63
Urlacher
24
Martin
74
Hamblin
63
Vaughns
Passes defended
48
Urlacher
67
Martin
98
Hamblin
48
Vaughns
Tackles
47
Urlacher
98
Martin
99
Hamblin
99
Vaughns
Interceptions
31
Urlacher
31
Martin
31
Hamblin
Tackles for loss
28
Urlacher
63
Martin
56
Hamblin
85
Vaughns
QB hurries
22
Urlacher
22
Martin
22
Hamblin
22
Vaughns

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 Israel Boyce’s 2025 season.

Israel Boyce

89%match

West Virginia · 2025

#2

Mumu Bin-Wahad

UNLV · 2025

86%
#3

Jeremiah McGill

Massachusetts · 2025

86%
#4

AJ Brown

UAB · 2024

84%
#5

Colby McCalister

Kansas State · 2023

82%

Matches Israel on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Israel Boyce's sophomore season at West Virginia (2025).

Israel Boyce

95%match

West Virginia · 2025

#2

Deuce Walker

Georgia State · 2025

88%
#3

Reggie Powers III

Oklahoma · 2025

87%
#4

Rydarrius Morgan

Alabama · 2025

86%
#5

Cole Searight

Army · 2025

86%

Matches Israel on

Class year
Height
PD rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Lincoln Riley

Pass share

50.4%

420 pass / 414 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

3.8%

313 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2025

1 coach
2025
Lincoln Riley
USC

Played his entire career under Lincoln Riley.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownChandler, AZ
Height5'11"
Weight195 lb
Class2
PositionS
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 Notre Dame S2 #4685 #4350 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | FBS Independents

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 USC Big Ten S 2 No. 28 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Chandler, AZ
2024 Notre Dame FBS Independents S 2 No. 28 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Chandler, AZ