CFB Zeitgeist Score
30
Below cohort in the position cohort. Carried by long run at the 68th percentile.
Malachi Thomas
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
243 RUSH YDS · 0 RUSH TD · 53 CARRIES
2026 Outlook
Returning to Purdue for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Running back · Purdue
Returning around him
- 54% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- Transfer portal: +5 net (29 in / 24 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Purdue · Last season: 2-10 · Talent rank #54 · 2026 recruiting class #99
RB · PURDUE · BIG TEN
Malachi Thomas
- 4
- #24
- 6-0 | 220 lb
- Hartwell, GA
Heisman Heat
#1959
<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 2 · StarterR05 · Part-time starter
Part-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · rushing yards
2021–2025-45%
Sharp dropoff (-45%) — career inflection point.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
—
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| 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.
| 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 16Heisman 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
PENDINGThe 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 Malachi Thomas
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 Malachi Thomas
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.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the rushing totals stand
Through 11g
243Rush yards
53Carries
0Rush TDs
Per game
22.1Rush yards
5Carries
0Rush TDs
Projected (13g)
287.2Rush yards
63Carries
0Rush TDs
To hit 750-yard season (currently 243): needs 253.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 1,000-yard season (currently 243): needs 378.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 1,500-yard season (currently 243): needs 628.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 10 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 15 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 7.5/game over remaining 2.
To hit 20 rushing TDs (currently 0): needs 10/game over remaining 2.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Malachi Thomas's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Purdue, 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.
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
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Backfield contributor against FBS RB peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Rushing
CAR
53 59th
YDS
243 58th
YPC
4.6 51st
TD
0 40th
Receiving
REC
11 65th
YDS
99 69th
YPR
9.0 71st
TD
2 97th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 11 games
| Wk | Opp | CAR | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 31-0vs Ball State | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Wk 2 | W 34-17vs Southern Illinois | 6 | 14 | 2.3 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 3 | L 17-33vs USC | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 6 | L 27-43vs Illinois | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 7 | L 20-27@ Minnesota | 4 | 21 | 5.3 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 8 | L 0-19@ Northwestern | 7 | 34 | 4.9 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 9 | L 24-27vs Rutgers | 3 | 62 | 20.7 | 0 | 57 | |
| Wk 10 | L 16-21@ Michigan | 15 | 68 | 4.5 | 0 | 14 | Season-high 68 yds |
| Wk 11 | L 10-34vs Ohio State | 4 | 15 | 3.8 | 0 | 12 | |
| Wk 12 | L 13-49@ Washington | 6 | 16 | 2.7 | 0 | 6 | |
| Wk 14 | L 3-56vs Indiana | 4 | 6 | 1.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| Total | 53 | 243 | 4.9 | 0 | 57 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2021Virginia Tech6-6HC: J.C. Price · Run-heavy
2022Virginia Tech3-8HC: Brent Pry · Balanced
2023Virginia Tech7-6HC: Brent Pry · Run-leaning
2025Purdue2-10HC: Barry Odom · Balanced
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Purdue | 53 | 243 | 4.6 | 0 | -- |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | 83 | 381 | 4.6 | 2 | -- |
| 2022 | Virginia Tech | 37 | 146 | 3.9 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Virginia Tech | 93 | 440 | 4.7 | 3 | -- |
| Career | 4 loaded seasons | 266 | 1,210 | 4.5 | 6 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Purdue | 11 | 99 | 9.0 | 2 | -- |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | 9 | 49 | 5.4 | 0 | -- |
| 2022 | Virginia Tech | 13 | 91 | 7.0 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | Virginia Tech | 2 | 33 | 16.5 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 4 loaded seasons | 35 | 272 | 7.8 | 3 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
Opponent-adjusted rushing value. It helps separate empty volume from carries that actually move the scoreboard.
How much of the team's offense flows through this back once rushing work and receiving work are combined.
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.
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.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 243 | #307/735 | 58th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #447/739 | 40th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 4.6 | #364/735 | 51st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receptions | 11 | #195/552 | 65th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 99 | #169/548 | 69th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.11 | #192/362 | 47th pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 47 weighted playsvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Role share | 9.2% | #342/738 | 54th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 57 | #118/733 | 84th pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Rushing | Carries | 53 | #302/739 | 59th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 44 | #57/540 | 90th pct | Metricvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 9.0 | #159/548 | 71st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 2 | #20/552 | 97th pct | Scoringvs FBS RB |
| Returns | Kick return yards | 40 | #110/200 | 46th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Returns | Kick return avg | 20.0 | #79/199 | 61st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS RB |
| Returns | Kick returns | 2 | #109/206 | 48th pct | Volumevs FBS RB |
| Usage | Rush share | 16.3% | #322/738 | 57th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 12.7% | #283/738 | 62nd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 10.6% | #332/738 | 55th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 7.6% | #445/738 | 40th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 6.0% | #401/738 | 46th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS RB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 5.9% | #402/738 | 46th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS RB |
| Usage | Pass share | 3.1% | #298/738 | 60th pct | Air-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
Status—Awaiting tracker
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 11 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 14.9 | 5.3 | 0.0 |
| Road4g | 34.8 | 4.3 | 0.0 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wins2g | 8.0 | 1.6 | 0.0 |
| Losses9g | 25.2 | 5.7 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | YPC | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 8.4 | 2.8 | 0.0 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 33.5 | 6.4 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort
30Below cohort
Concern: rush tds (3rd).
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
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
wepa_rushing0.11Low (p25–p50) (n=178)
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Malachi ThomasPurdueTae MeadowsTroy· 55% simBill DavisLouisiana· 54% simJevon JacksonUAB· 52% sim
Long run
Rec yards
Receptions
Yards / carry
Carries
Rush yards
Rush TDs
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Workhorse
Built to take 20+ carries per game. Volume is the value.
RB
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Omar Fattah’s 2021 season.
Omar Fattah
78%match
#2
Trey Cornist
74%
#3
Keyvone Lee
76%
#4
Ari Broussard
72%
#5
Marcus Major
74%
Matches Omar on
Total rush EPA (college ability)
Yards / carry
Weight
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Jalen Berger's graduate season at UCLA (2024).
Jalen Berger
79%match
#2
Oscar Adaway III
75%
#3
Kenny Tracy
75%
#4
Rashad Amos
All-MAC
70%
#5
Marcus Major
67%
Matches Jalen on
EPA / carry (adj)
Yards / carry
Weight
Differs from Jalen on
Yards / reception (higher)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Barry Odom
Pass share
52.0%
404 pass / 373 run
Plays / game
64.8
12 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
4.9%
348 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
3 coaches2021
Jeff Brohm
Purdue
2022
Jeff Brohm
Purdue
2023era →
Ryan Walters
Purdue
2025era →
Barry Odom
Purdue
Played under 3 different head coaches: Jeff Brohm, Ryan Walters, and Barry Odom. Multi-era developmental context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownHartwell, GA
Height6'0"
Weight220 lb
Class4
PositionRB
Jersey24
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamPurdue
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc5 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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 | Virginia Tech | RB4 | #1959 | #2014 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | ACC |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | RB4 | #657 | #709 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | ACC |
| 2022 | Virginia Tech | RB4 | #1470 | #1880 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
| 2021 | Virginia Tech | RB4 | #411 | #450 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | ACC |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Purdue | Big Ten | RB | 4 | No. 24 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Hartwell, GA |
| 2024 | Virginia Tech | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 24 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Hartwell, GA |
| 2023 | Virginia Tech | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 24 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Hartwell, GA |
| 2022 | Virginia Tech | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 24 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Hartwell, GA |
| 2021 | Virginia Tech | ACC | RB | 4 | No. 24 | 6-0 | 220 lb | Hartwell, GA |