CFB Zeitgeist Score
60
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by yards / att at the 94th percentile.
Matthew Sluka
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
100 PASS YDS · 3 PASS TD · 239 RUSH YDS
2026 Outlook
Returning to James Madison for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Returning starter
Quarterback · James Madison
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
James Madison · Last season: 12-2 (AP #19) · Talent rank #127 · 2026 recruiting class #108
QB · JAMES MADISON · SUN BELT
CFB Zeitgeist Score
60
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by yards / att at the 94th percentile.
Heisman Heat
#95
<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 · StarterStarter. A locked-in starting role.
Development Trajectory · passing yards
2024–2025Sharp dropoff (-69%) — career inflection point.
Career Arc
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
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. | ||
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | UNLV -> James Madison | 3-star | 0.8800 | Immediate |
| 2024 | Holy Cross -> UNLV | 3-star | 0.8800 | Immediate |
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.
Selector Grid · 2025
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.
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
—
Awaiting per-cohort signal
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Rival Radar
Only 1 rival mention(s) — below the 4-mention floor for a defensible read.
Signature Story
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 passing totals stand
To hit 3,000-yard season (currently 100): needs 580/game over remaining 5.
To hit 4,000-yard season (currently 100): needs 780/game over remaining 5.
To hit 25 passing TDs (currently 3): needs 4.4/game over remaining 5.
To hit 30 passing TDs (currently 3): needs 5.4/game over remaining 5.
To hit 35 passing TDs (currently 3): needs 6.4/game over remaining 5.
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Matthew Sluka's story is about how role and output meet each other. For James Madison, 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.
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
2025 season snapshot | final
30-second read
Highly efficient | Vertical threat | Dual-threat against FBS QB peers. The quickest read is whether the profile wins on volume, efficiency, explosiveness, or rushing value.
2025 season snapshot | final
Passing Efficiency
Passing Production
Rushing
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | CMP/ATT | YDS | TD | INT | YPA | QBR | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 45-10vs Weber State | 3/4 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 3.8 | 7.6 | |
| Wk 2 | L 14-28@ Louisville | 3/5 | 35 | 0 | 1 | 7.0 | 52.6 | Season-high 35 yds |
| Wk 5 | W 35-10vs Georgia Southern | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 6 | W 14-7@ Georgia State | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 7 | W 24-14vs Louisiana | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 8 | W 63-27vs Old Dominion | 1/1 | 18 | 1 | 0 | 18.0 | 98.5 | |
| Wk 12 | W 58-10vs App State | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Wk 14 | W 59-10@ Coastal Carolina | 1/1 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 32.0 | 99.6 | |
| Total | 8/11 | 100 | 3 | 2 | 15.2 | 64.6 |
Traditional history
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
| Season | Team | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James Madison | 8 | 11 | 72.7% | 100 | 9.1 | 3 | 2 | 202.7 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | UNLV | 21 | 48 | 43.8% | 318 | 6.6 | 6 | 1 | 136.5 | -- | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 29 | 59 | 49.2% | 418 | 7.1 | 9 | 3 | 148.8 | -- | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James Madison | 42 | 239 | 5.7 | 3 | -- |
| 2024 | UNLV | 39 | 253 | 6.5 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 81 | 492 | 6.1 | 4 | -- |
Advanced metrics second
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
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.
How much of the offense runs through the quarterback once passing and rushing responsibility are blended together.
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.
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing | Passing yards | 100 | #271/382 | 29th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Pass TD | 3 | #178/407 | 57th 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 | 9.1 | #49/382 | 87th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 239 | #76/408 | 82nd pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Role share | 8.3% | #287/428 | 33rd pct | Share of team offensevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Attempts | 11 | #287/407 | 30th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Passing | Interceptions | 2 | #195/407 | 52nd pct | Turnoversvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Carries | 42 | #149/408 | 64th pct | Volumevs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 39 | #73/391 | 82nd pct | Metricvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 5.7 | #73/407 | 82nd pct | Efficiencyvs FBS QB |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 3 | #94/408 | 77th pct | Scoringvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Rush share | 10.5% | #151/428 | 65th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 9.5% | #314/428 | 27th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 9.2% | #280/428 | 35th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 8.6% | #274/428 | 36th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 7.8% | #327/428 | 24th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS QB |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 6.9% | #287/428 | 33rd pct | Early-down loadvs FBS QB |
| Usage | Pass share | 5.1% | #344/428 | 20th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS QB |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.28 | #51/140 | 64th pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 35 weighted playsvs FBS QB |
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 6.6 | 0.4 | 10.9 | 0.2 |
| Road3g | 22.3 | 0.3 | 19.5 | 0.3 |
Win vs Loss
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins7g | 9.3 | 0.4 | 17.9 | 0.1 |
| Losses1g | 35.0 | 0.0 | 7.0 | 1.0 |
First half vs Second half
| YDS/g | TD/g | YPA | INT/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 10.0 | 0.2 | 5.4 | 0.4 |
| Weeks 8+3g | 16.7 | 0.7 | 25.0 | 0.0 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort
Elite: completion % (99th). Strength: yards / att (94th). Concern: pass yards (0th).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · QB · 2024
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Bob Chesney
Pass share
39.7%
385 pass / 584 run
Plays / game
69.2
14 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.8%
269 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-heavy.
Coaching Lineage · 2024–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Bob Chesney.
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
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.
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. | ||||
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | UNLV | QB4 | #95 | #76 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Mountain West |
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | James Madison | Sun Belt | QB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-2 | 211 lb | Locust Valley, NY |
| 2024 | UNLV | Mountain West | QB | 4 | No. 9 | 6-2 | 211 lb | Locust Valley, NY |