CFB Zeitgeist Score
47
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.
Theran Johnson
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
19 TACKLES · 1 SACKS
2026 Outlook
Returning to Oregon for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Defensive back · Oregon
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Oregon · Last season: 13-2 (AP #5) · Talent rank #5 · 2026 recruiting class #5
DB · OREGON · BIG TEN
CFB Zeitgeist Score
47
Mid-pack in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.
Heisman Heat
#8438
<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 2 · StarterPart-time starter. Splitting first-team reps.
Career arc · Season-by-season Standing
4 seasons on the ladder
2022
Northwestern · DB
—
2023
Northwestern · DB
—
2024
Northwestern · DB
R09 · All-Conference HM / 2nd team
Recognized
2025
Oregon · DB
—
Career Arc
Heisman futures · live sportsbook odds
#29 in market ▼ from #23 · 5 books
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3-star | 0.8674 | No. 732 recruit | HighSchool |
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. | ||
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.
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to —
Composite
0.8674
#732 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
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 · 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 reads how different fanbases talk about this player. Returns once weekly mentions clear the publish floor.
Rival Radar
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
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 defensive totals stand
To hit 80-tackle season (currently 19): needs 61/game over remaining 1.
To hit 100-tackle season (currently 19): needs 81/game over remaining 1.
To hit 6-sack season (currently 1): needs 5/game over remaining 1.
To hit 10-sack season (currently 1): needs 9/game over remaining 1.
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Theran Johnson is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Oregon's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 1.0 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.
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
2025 season snapshot | final
30-second read
Defensive contributor against FBS defenders.
2025 season snapshot | final
Tackling & Disruption
Coverage & Takeaways
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 12 games
| Wk | Opp | TKL | SOLO | TFL | SACK | INT | PD | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 | W 34-14@ Northwestern | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 5 | W 30-24@ Penn State | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | Season-high 3 tackles |
| Wk 7 | L 20-30vs Indiana | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 1 | |
| Wk 8 | W 56-10@ Rutgers | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 2 | |
| Wk 9 | W 21-7vs Wisconsin | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 11 | W 18-16@ Iowa | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 12 | W 42-13vs Minnesota | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 13 | W 42-27vs USC | 2 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Wk 14 | W 26-14@ Washington | 3 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 51-34vs James Madison | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | W 23-0@ Texas Tech | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Bowl | L 22-56@ Indiana | 2 | 2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | — | 0 | |
| Total | 19 | 15 | 1.0 | 1.0 | — | 3 |
Traditional history
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
| Season | Team | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Oregon | 19 | 15 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Northwestern | 53 | 40 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 10 | 2 | -- |
| 2023 | Northwestern | 35 | 21 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 5 | 1 | -- |
| 2022 | Northwestern | 13 | 11 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3 | -- | -- |
| Career | 4 loaded seasons | 120 | 87 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 21 | 3 | -- |
Advanced metrics second
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
TFL, sacks, and QB hurries are grouped together because defensive Heisman cases are usually built on visible havoc, not on tackle counts alone.
Pass breakups, interceptions, and forced fumbles matter because national awards voters respond to plays that change possessions and highlight reels.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defense | Total tackles | 19 | #2072/4942 | 58th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | TFL | 1.0 | #2051/4972 | 59th pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Sacks | 1.0 | #872/4972 | 82nd pct | Disruptionvs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Pass breakups | 3 | #521/2184 | 76th pct | Coveragevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Solo tackles | 15 | #1434/4584 | 69th pct | Volumevs FBS DEF |
| Defense | Fumbles recovered | 1 | #103/736 | 86th pct | Takeawaysvs FBS DEF |
| Ball Security | Fumbles lost | 0 | #1/773 | 100th pct | Turnoversvs FBS DEF |
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
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 · 12 games
Home vs Road
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Road7g | 1.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
Win vs Loss
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins10g | 1.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Losses2g | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
First half vs Second half
| TKL/g | TFL/g | SACK/g | PD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 1.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 1.7 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort
Concern: qb hurries (22nd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · DB · 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.
Player DNA
Single-high range who erases the deep middle of the field.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Avarion Cole’s 2025 season.
Avarion Cole
Jer'Marius Lewis
Jahdae Barron
Jacobie Henderson
Juawan Treadwell
Matches Avarion on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to DeVonta Smith's senior season at Notre Dame (2025).
DeVonta Smith
Avarion Cole
Jer'Marius Lewis
Toriano Pride
Kamo'i Latu
Matches DeVonta on
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Dan Lanning
Pass share
44.9%
436 pass / 534 run
Plays / game
64.7
15 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
4.8%
250 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2022–2025
1 coachPlayed his entire career under Dan Lanning.
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Trophy Case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE
All-Conf mention (2024)
All-Big Ten
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
Conference-level recognition helps anchor whether a player is merely statistically loud or actually viewed as elite within his competitive lane.
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | All-Big Ten | all_conference | Northwestern | Big Ten | DB |
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Northwestern | DB4 | #8438 | #9161 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2023 | Northwestern | DB4 | #10340 | #10385 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2022 | Northwestern | DB4 | #12257 | #12478 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2021 | Northwestern | DB4 | #12180 | #12130 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Oregon | Big Ten | DB | 4 | No. 5 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2024 | Northwestern | Big Ten | DB | 4 | No. 5 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2023 | Northwestern | Big Ten | DB | 4 | No. 5 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2022 | Northwestern | Big Ten | DB | 4 | No. 5 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2021 | Northwestern | Big Ten | DB | 4 | No. 5 | 5-11 | 195 lb | Indianapolis, IN |