cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Quinton Urwiler /Northern Illinois

Quinton Urwiler

LB · Northern Illinois · Sr · #32

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

127 TACKLES · 1.5 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Northern Illinois for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Northern Illinois for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Linebacker · Northern Illinois

Returning around him

  • 53% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • Transfer portal: -17 net (5 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Northern Illinois · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #125 · 2026 recruiting class #84

LB · NORTHERN ILLINOIS · MID-AMERICAN

Quinton Urwiler

  • 4
  • #32
  • 6-0 | 226 lb
  • Mooseheart, IL

CFB Zeitgeist Score

71

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by tackles for loss at the 91st percentile.

Heisman Heat

#11436

<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

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career arc · Season-by-season Standing

3 seasons on the ladder

Peak: R09 All-Conference HM / 2nd team · 2025

2022

Northern Illinois · LB

2023

Northern Illinois · LB

2025

Northern Illinois · LB

R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team

Recognized

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#2280 national
CFB
College
Northern Illinois
2022–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionLB
Class4
Jersey32
Measurements6-0 | 226 lb
HometownMooseheart, IL
Primary teamNorthern Illinois

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 2280 recruit
Composite rating 0.8081 HighSchool
Signed with Northern Illinois 2021
Origin Batavia Batavia, IL, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8081 No. 2280 recruit | HighSchool | Northern Illinois

Transfer Arc

Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.

Portal moves 0 No portal entry on file
Latest destination -- --
Transfer stars -- CFBD transfer rating context
Eligibility -- Transfer date TBD
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 16
Current nowcast#11436Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#11373Where 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

NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft

Market value, pedigree & pro outcome

Recruit stars

★★★☆☆

to Northern Illinois

Composite

0.8081

#2280 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 Quinton Urwiler

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 Quinton Urwiler

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 11g
127Tackles
7.5Tackles for loss
1.5Sacks
Per game
12Tackles
0.7Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
150Tackles
8.9Tackles for loss
1.8Sacks

✓ Hit 80-tackle season · finished with 127.

✓ Hit 100-tackle season · finished with 127.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 2.2/game over remaining 2.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 1.5): needs 4.2/game over remaining 2.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Quinton Urwiler is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Northern Illinois's defense, with 1.5 sacks, 7.5 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 #11436 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Honors spine 1 honors loaded

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 127 65 solo | #10/4942 (100th pct)
TFL 7.5 Backfield disruption | #234/4972 (95th pct)
Sacks 1.5 Pass-rush finish | #724/4972 (85th 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
127 100th
SOLO
65 100th
TFL
7.5 95th
SACK
1.5 85th
QBH
2 66th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
1 43rd
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1W 19-17vs Holy Cross1051.00.50
Wk 2L 9-20@ Maryland1090.00.00
Wk 4L 10-38@ Mississippi State1430.00.00
Wk 5L 3-6vs San Diego State16102.50.00Season-high 16 tackles
Wk 6L 14-25vs Miami (OH)1491.51.00
Wk 7L 10-16@ Eastern Michigan600.00.00
Wk 8L 21-48@ Ohio1250.00.00
Wk 9W 21-7vs Ball State1491.00.00
Wk 12W 45-3@ Massachusetts831.00.00
Wk 13L 19-35vs Western Michigan1170.00.01
Wk 14L 31-35vs Kent State1250.50.010
Total127657.51.511
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

2022Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning
2023Northern Illinois7-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning
2025Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025Northern Illinois127657.51.511--
2023Northern Illinois740.00.0------
2022Northern Illinois751.00.0------
Career3 loaded seasons141748.51.511--
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 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 127 #10/4942 100th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 7.5 #234/4972 95th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.5 #724/4972 85th 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 QB hurries 2 #647/1878 66th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 65 #4/4584 100th pct Volumevs FBS DEF

Player Standing

Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.

ALL-CONF HM

On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex

ALL-CONF HM · Rung 9 of 16

Why he’s here

All-Conference honorable mention / 2nd team — the recognition has started.

What moves him up

A best-at-position run lifts to 1st team.

What moves him down

A back-end conference finish drops out of the honor list.

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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g12.81.10.20.2
Road5g10.00.20.00.0

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins3g10.71.00.20.0
Losses8g11.90.60.10.1

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-76g11.70.80.20.0
Weeks 8+5g11.40.50.00.2

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the LB cohort

71Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (99th). Strength: tackles (99th).

Solo tackles#4 / 2975 · 100th pct
65defe
Tackles#10 / 2975 · 100th pct
127defe
Tackles for loss#234 / 2975 · 91st pct
7.5defe
Sacks#707 / 2975 · 74th pct
1.5defe
QB hurries#634 / 2975 · 72nd pct
2defe
Passes defended#1191 / 2975 · 48th pct
1defe
Interceptions#304 / 817 · 31st pct
1inte

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
Quinton UrwilerNorthern IllinoisDaniel WingateMaryland· 98% simMaverick BaranowskiMinnesota· 93% simJordan CrookArizona State· 92% sim
Solo tackles
100
Urwiler
99
Wingate
98
Baranowski
98
Crook
Tackles
100
Urwiler
98
Wingate
98
Baranowski
98
Crook
Tackles for loss
91
Urwiler
87
Wingate
95
Baranowski
93
Crook
Sacks
74
Urwiler
74
Wingate
89
Baranowski
80
Crook
QB hurries
72
Urwiler
72
Wingate
82
Baranowski
72
Crook
Passes defended
48
Urwiler
48
Wingate
48
Baranowski
67
Crook
Interceptions
31
Urwiler
31
Wingate
31
Crook

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

Player DNA

The Every-Down Linebacker

Leads the team in tackles and rarely leaves the field.

LB

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kyle Harmon’s 2021 season.

Kyle Harmon

86%match

San José State · 2021

All-Mountain West
#2

Darren Anders

Bowling Green · 2021

All-MAC
83%
#3

JJ Russell

Memphis · 2021

All-AAC
79%
#4

Jayden McDonald

UConn · 2024

77%
#5

KD Davis

North Texas · 2022

All-Conference USA
77%

Matches Kyle on

TFL rate
Tackle volume
Weight

Differs from Kyle on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Jayden McDonald's graduate season at UConn (2024).

Jayden McDonald

87%match

UConn · 2024

#2

Jacob Rodriguez

Texas Tech · 2025

NagurskiBednarikButkusNFL Rd 2 · Pk 11
79%
#3

Caden Fordham

NC State · 2025

All-ACC
75%
#4

Jordan Stringer

Troy · 2025

73%
#5

John Miller

Utah State · 2025

72%

Matches Jayden on

Tackle volume
Weight
TFL rate

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Thomas Hammock

Pass share

33.0%

244 pass / 495 run

Plays / game

61.6

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

7.3%

234 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025

1 coach
2022
Thomas Hammock
Northern Illinois
2023
Thomas Hammock
Northern Illinois
2025
Thomas Hammock
Northern Illinois

Played his entire career under Thomas Hammock.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownMooseheart, IL
Height6'0"
Weight226 lb
Class4
PositionLB
Jersey32

Trophy Case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 entries
🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE

All-Conf mention (2025)

All-MAC

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
2025 All-MAC all_conference Northern Illinois | MAC LB

Heisman By Year

Modeled rank and official finish by season.

Season Team Role Latest Model Forecast Win Finalist Official Finish Points Context
2024 Northern Illinois LB4 #11436 #11373 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mid-American
2023 Northern Illinois LB4 #12659 #12464 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mid-American
2022 Northern Illinois LB4 #14515 #14693 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mid-American

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Northern Illinois Mid-American LB 4 No. 32 | 6-0 | 226 lb | Mooseheart, IL
2024 Northern Illinois Mid-American LB 4 No. 32 | 6-0 | 226 lb | Mooseheart, IL
2023 Northern Illinois Mid-American LB 4 No. 32 | 6-0 | 226 lb | Mooseheart, IL
2022 Northern Illinois Mid-American LB 4 No. 32 | 6-0 | 226 lb | Mooseheart, IL