cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Matthew Caldwell /Texas

Matthew Caldwell

QB · Texas · Sr · #18

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

85 PASS YDS · 1 PASS TD · 64 RUSH YDS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Texas for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Texas for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Quarterback · Texas

Returning around him

  • 28% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • 6 Texas players drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -6 net (22 in / 28 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Texas · Last season: 10-3 (AP #14) · Talent rank #4 · 2026 recruiting class #1

QB · TEXAS · SEC

Matthew Caldwell

  • 4
  • #18
  • 6-4 | 212 lb
  • Auburn, AL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

50

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by completion % at the 99th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#224

<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 QB AWARD

Davey O'Brien

CONSENSUS

All-American

Player Standing · 17 rungs

Tier 2 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Development Trajectory · passing yards

2024–2025
1,6082024
85.02025

-95%

Sharp dropoff (-95%) — career inflection point.

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
No recruit profile
CFB
College
2 teams
2024–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionQB
Class4
Jersey18
Measurements6-4 | 212 lb
HometownAuburn, AL
Primary teamTexas

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree Not on file No matched recruiting profile in the loaded archive
Composite rating -- Composite rating unavailable for this player
Signed with -- Commitment history unavailable
Origin -- Hometown and high school unavailable
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.

Portal moves 1 Programs changed on file
Latest destination Texas 2025
Transfer stars 3-star CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility Immediate Apr 22, 2025
Season Move Context
2025 Troy -> Texas 3-star | 0.8400 | 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#224Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#390Where 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.

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 Matthew Caldwell

Fan sentiment ·

Belief Meter

62

Mixed Sentiment

Sample 4 mentions
Confidence LOW

Top Take

Trajectory

Cohort divergence mapbearishbullishheatedcalmOwn fans: 4 mentions · belief +25 · "Texas Longhorns surge in recruiting momentum as Briceson Thrower Jr. edges close"Own fans
  • Own fans · n=4

Rival Radar

How rival fanbases talk about Matthew Caldwell

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 passing totals stand

projecting to 13-game
Through 5g
85Pass yards
1Pass TDs
0INT
Per game
17Pass yards
0Pass TDs
0INT
Projected (13g)
221Pass yards
3Pass TDs
0INT

To hit 3,000-yard season (currently 85): needs 364.4/game over remaining 8.

To hit 4,000-yard season (currently 85): needs 489.4/game over remaining 8.

To hit 25 passing TDs (currently 1): needs 3/game over remaining 8.

To hit 30 passing TDs (currently 1): needs 3.6/game over remaining 8.

To hit 35 passing TDs (currently 1): needs 4.2/game over remaining 8.

What made this player interesting

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

Matthew Caldwell's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Texas, 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.

Current place #224 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load 3.2% Overall usage share
Profile quirk Transfer path 1 portal move

2025 Season · Final

Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.

Last season

QB season snapshot

2025 season snapshot | final

2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Pass yards 85 1 TD | 0 INT | #279/382 (27th pct)
Completion rate 72.7% 8/11 completions | #47/383 (88th pct)
Yards/attempt 7.7 Explosiveness through the air | #111/382 (71st pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Highly efficient against FBS QB peers. The quickest read is whether the profile wins on volume, efficiency, explosiveness, or rushing value.

Highly efficient

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Passing Efficiency

CMP
8 28th
ATT
11 30th
CMP%
72.7% 88th
Y/A
7.7 71st

Passing Production

YDS
85 27th
TD
1 44th
INT
0 100th

Rushing

CAR
2 14th
YDS
64 57th
YPC
32.0 100th
TD
0 44th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 5 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppCMP/ATTYDSTDINTYPAQBRNote
Wk 2W 38-7vs San José State2/322007.390.8
Wk 3W 27-10vs UTEP
Wk 4W 55-0vs Sam Houston4/627004.589.7Season-high 27 yds
Wk 6L 21-29@ Florida1/1260026.0100.0
Wk 9W 45-38@ Mississippi State1/1101010.0100.0
Total8/11851011.995.1
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

2024Troy4-8HC: Gerad Parker · Run-leaning
2025Texas10-3HC: Steve Sarkisian · Balanced
SeasonTeam
2025Texas81172.7%857.710167.6----
2024Troy14122462.9%1,6087.2138135.3----
Career2 loaded seasons14923563.4%1,6937.2148136.8----
SeasonTeam
2025Texas26432.00--
2024Troy48471.05--
Career2 loaded seasons501112.25--
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context

Advanced metrics second

Advanced Metrics

Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.

Usage Value Context
Passing WEPA

Opponent-adjusted passing value. Positive numbers mean the quarterback is adding more value through the air than a neutral peer would in the same environment.

Role share

How much of the offense runs through the quarterback once passing and rushing responsibility are blended together.

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.

Rush impact 64 0 rush TD | #175/408 (57th pct)
Usage 3.2% 5.9% pass share | 0.8% rush share | #376/428 (12th pct)
Passing WEPA +0.43 Opponent-adjusted passing value | #19/200 (91st pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Passing Passing yards 85 #279/382 27th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Pass TD 1 #228/407 44th pct Scoringvs FBS QB
Passing Completions 8 #276/383 28th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Completion % 72.7% #47/383 88th pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Passing Yards / attempt 7.7 #111/382 71st pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Rushing Rushing yards 64 #175/408 57th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Value Passing WEPA +0.43 #19/200 91st pct Opponent-adjusted passing value | 244 weighted playsvs FBS QB
Usage Role share 3.2% #376/428 12th pct Share of team offensevs FBS QB
Passing Attempts 11 #287/407 30th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Passing Interceptions 0 #1/407 100th pct Turnoversvs FBS QB
Rushing Rushing LONG 50 #47/391 88th pct Metricvs FBS QB
Rushing Yards / carry 32.0 #1/407 100th pct Efficiencyvs FBS QB
Rushing Carries 2 #350/408 14th pct Volumevs FBS QB
Rushing Rush TD 0 #230/408 44th pct Scoringvs FBS QB
Usage Pass share 5.9% #337/428 21st pct Air-game usagevs FBS QB
Usage Passing-down usage 4.8% #355/428 17th pct Known-passing sharevs FBS QB
Usage 3rd-down usage 4.4% #379/428 12th pct Money-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage 1st-down usage 2.6% #377/428 12th pct Early-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage 2nd-down usage 2.4% #380/428 11th pct Middle-down loadvs FBS QB
Usage Standard-down usage 2.4% #380/428 11th pct Base-situation sharevs FBS QB
Usage Rush share 0.8% #387/428 10th pct Ground-game usagevs FBS QB
Value Rushing WEPA +0.23 #80/140 44th pct Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 49 weighted playsvs FBS QB

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

Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 5 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

YDS/gTD/gYPAINT/g
Home3g16.30.05.90.0
Road2g18.00.518.00.0

Win vs Loss

YDS/gTD/gYPAINT/g
Wins4g14.80.27.30.0
Losses1g26.00.026.00.0

First half vs Second half

YDS/gTD/gYPAINT/g
Weeks 1-74g18.80.012.60.0
Weeks 8+1g10.01.010.00.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

50Mid-pack
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: completion % (99th). Strength: interceptions (99th). Concern: pass yards (0th).

Completion %#2 / 183 · 99th pct
72.7%pass
Interceptions#1 / 183 · 99th pct
0pass
Yards / att#54 / 183 · 70th pct
7.7pass
Rush yards#119 / 183 · 36th pct
64rush
Rush TDs#150 / 183 · 9th pct
0rush
Pass TDs#180 / 183 · 1st pct
1pass
Pass yards#184 / 183 · 0th pct
85pass

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

Advanced Savant · QB · 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
Matthew CaldwellTexasCade KlubnikClemson· 54% simJalen KitnaUAB· 52% simNick VattiatoMiddle Tennessee· 49% sim
Completion %
99
Caldwell
73
Klubnik
79
Kitna
41
Vattiato
Interceptions
99
Caldwell
56
Klubnik
10
Kitna
44
Vattiato
Yards / att
70
Caldwell
63
Klubnik
57
Kitna
13
Vattiato
Rush yards
36
Caldwell
42
Klubnik
8
Kitna
27
Vattiato
Rush TDs
9
Caldwell
59
Klubnik
9
Kitna
39
Vattiato
Pass TDs
1
Caldwell
64
Klubnik
55
Kitna
64
Vattiato
Pass yards
0
Caldwell
78
Klubnik
64
Kitna
57
Vattiato

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

DNA Match awaiting data — similarity scores compute once season stats clear the volume gate for this position cohort.

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Steve Sarkisian

Pass share

50.2%

419 pass / 415 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.6%

288 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025

1 coach
2024
Steve Sarkisian
Texas
2025
Steve Sarkisian
Texas

Played his entire career under Steve Sarkisian.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownAuburn, AL
Height6'4"
Weight212 lb
Class4
PositionQB
Jersey18

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 QB4 #224 #390 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Sun Belt

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Texas SEC QB 4 No. 18 | 6-4 | 212 lb | Auburn, AL
2024 Troy Sun Belt QB 4 No. 18 | 6-4 | 212 lb | Auburn, AL