cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Thaddeus Dixon /North Carolina

Thaddeus Dixon

DB · North Carolina · Sr · #1

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

20 TACKLES · 0 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to North Carolina for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to North Carolina for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · North Carolina

Returning around him

  • 16% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
  • Transfer portal: -11 net (20 in / 31 out)

2026 Award watch

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

North Carolina · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #31 · 2026 recruiting class #41

DB · NORTH CAROLINA · ACC

Thaddeus Dixon

  • 4
  • #1
  • 6-1 | 185 lb
  • Los Angeles, CA

CFB Zeitgeist Score

44

Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by passes defended at the 94th percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8170

<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 1 · 2-deep

R04 · Rotational

Rotational. Earning real snaps in the rotation.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#31 national
CFB
College
2 teams
2023–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey1
Measurements6-1 | 185 lb
HometownLos Angeles, CA
Primary teamNorth Carolina

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 31 recruit
Composite rating 0.8728 JUCO
Signed with Washington 2023
Origin Long Beach City College Paramount, CA, USA
Class Profile Context
2023 3-star | 0.8728 No. 31 recruit | JUCO | Washington

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#8170Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#8443Where 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 Washington

Composite

0.8728

#31 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 Thaddeus Dixon

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 Thaddeus Dixon

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 7g
20Tackles
2Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Per game
3Tackles
0.3Tackles for loss
0Sacks
Projected (13g)
37Tackles
3.7Tackles for loss
0Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 20): needs 10/game over remaining 6.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 20): needs 13.3/game over remaining 6.

To hit 6-sack season (currently 0): needs 1/game over remaining 6.

To hit 10-sack season (currently 0): needs 1.7/game over remaining 6.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Thaddeus Dixon is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on North Carolina's defense, with 0.0 sacks, 2.0 tackles for loss, and -- 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 #8170 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Transfer path 0 portal moves

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 20 14 solo | #1998/4942 (60th pct)
TFL 2.0 Backfield disruption | #1443/4972 (71st pct)
Sacks 0.0 Pass-rush finish | #1762/4972 (65th pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

Coverage splash against FBS defenders.

Coverage splash

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
20 60th
SOLO
14 67th
TFL
2.0 71st
SACK
0.0 65th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
6 93rd

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 7 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 14-48vs TCU420.00.01
Wk 2W 20-3@ Charlotte100.00.01
Wk 3W 41-6vs Richmond320.00.01
Wk 4L 9-34@ UCF431.00.00
Wk 6L 10-38vs Clemson221.00.00
Wk 13L 25-32vs Duke110.00.02
Wk 14L 19-42@ NC State540.00.01Season-high 5 tackles
Total20142.00.06
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

2023Washington14-1HC: Kalen DeBoer · Pass-leaning
2024Washington6-7HC: Jedd Fisch · Balanced
2025North Carolina4-8HC: Bill Belichick · Balanced, slow tempo
SeasonTeam
2025North Carolina20142.00.06----
2024Washington43262.00.0101--
2023Washington24191.00.061--
Career3 loaded seasons87595.00.0222--
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 -- -- pick-six TD
Pass breakups 6 Coverage disruption | #144/2184 (93rd 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 20 #1998/4942 60th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.0 #1443/4972 71st pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 0.0 #1762/4972 65th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 6 #144/2184 93rd pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 14 #1520/4584 67th pct Volumevs 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 · 7 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home4g2.50.20.01.0
Road3g3.30.30.00.7

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins2g2.00.00.01.0
Losses5g3.20.40.00.8

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-75g2.80.40.00.6
Weeks 8+2g3.00.00.01.5

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

44Mid-pack
6 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: passes defended (93rd). Concern: qb hurries (22nd).

Passes defended#144 / 2975 · 94th pct
6defe
Tackles for loss#1424 / 2975 · 47th pct
2.0defe
Solo tackles#1520 / 2975 · 47th pct
14defe
Tackles#1998 / 2975 · 32nd pct
20defe
Sacks#1575 / 2975 · 24th pct
0.0defe
QB hurries#1662 / 2975 · 22nd pct
0defe

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

Advanced Savant · DB · 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 · 6 metrics
Thaddeus DixonNorth CarolinaTyler MartinMassachusetts· 66% simTahj Ra-ElPurdue· 65% simDalton JohnsonArizona· 63% sim
Passes defended
94
Dixon
67
Martin
91
Ra-El
96
Johnson
Tackles for loss
47
Dixon
63
Martin
56
Ra-El
47
Johnson
Solo tackles
47
Dixon
87
Martin
100
Ra-El
97
Johnson
Tackles
32
Dixon
98
Martin
99
Ra-El
98
Johnson
Sacks
24
Dixon
24
Martin
24
Ra-El
63
Johnson
QB hurries
22
Dixon
22
Martin
22
Ra-El
22
Johnson

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

Player DNA

The Centerfielder

Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Eric Rogers’s 2023 season.

Eric Rogers

81%match

Rutgers · 2023

#2

Dwight McGlothern

Arkansas · 2023

79%
#3

Jahari Rogers

SMU · 2021

78%
#4

Jayden Bellamy

UCF · 2025

77%
#5

Josh Sanguinetti

Indiana · 2021

77%

Matches Eric on

Tackle volume
Weight
PD rate

Differs from Eric on

Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Anthony Richard Jr.'s junior season at Southern Miss (2025).

Anthony Richard Jr.

82%match

Southern Miss · 2025

#2

Brenden Deasfernandes

Central Michigan · 2025

81%
#3

Denzel Burke

Ohio State · 2023

All-Big TenNFL Rd 5
80%
#4

Eric Rogers

Rutgers · 2023

78%
#5

Tyreek Chappell

Texas A&M · 2023

75%

Matches Anthony on

Class year
PD rate
Weight

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Pass share

51.1%

355 pass / 340 run

Plays / game

57.9

12 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

8.4%

262 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025

3 coaches
2023
Mack Brown
North Carolina
2024
Freddie Kitchens
North Carolina
era →
2025
Bill Belichick
North Carolina
era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Mack Brown, Freddie Kitchens, and Bill Belichick. Multi-era developmental context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownLos Angeles, CA
Height6'1"
Weight185 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey1

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 Washington DB4 #8170 #8443 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Big Ten
2023 Washington DB4 #4139 #4078 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Pac-12

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 North Carolina ACC DB 4 No. 1 | 6-1 | 185 lb | Los Angeles, CA
2024 Washington Big Ten DB 4 No. 1 | 6-1 | 185 lb | Los Angeles, CA
2023 Washington Pac-12 DB 4 No. 1 | 6-1 | 185 lb | Los Angeles, CA