cfb zeitgeistZeitgeist
OFFSEASON · SUMMER 2026 · COMMITMENT SEASON
Heisman / Players / Zion Washington /Boise State

Zion Washington

DB · Boise State · Sr · #21

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

66 TACKLES · 1 SACKS

2026 RETURNINGReturning to Boise State for 2026

2026 Outlook

Returning to Boise State for 2026

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Defensive back · Boise State

Returning around him

  • 58% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
  • 1 Boise State player drafted to NFL
  • Transfer portal: -8 net (11 in / 19 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Boise State · Last season: 9-5 (AP #25) · Talent rank #81 · 2026 recruiting class #62

DB · BOISE STATE · MOUNTAIN WEST

Zion Washington

  • 4
  • #21
  • 6-1 | 212 lb
  • Frisco, TX

CFB Zeitgeist Score

62

Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by sacks at the 63rd percentile.

Heisman Heat

#8224

<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 · Starter

R07 · Impact starter

Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.

Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career Arc

HS
Recruit
★★★
#1031 national
CFB
College
Boise State
2021–2025
NFL
NFL Draft
Not drafted (yet)

Identity & Role

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

PositionDB
Class4
Jersey21
Measurements6-1 | 212 lb
HometownFrisco, TX
Primary teamBoise State

Recruiting Pedigree

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

Top pedigree 3-star No. 1031 recruit
Composite rating 0.8556 HighSchool
Signed with -- 2021
Origin Reedy Frisco, TX, USA
Class Profile Context
2021 3-star | 0.8556 No. 1031 recruit | HighSchool

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#8224Latest modeled ballot order
Season forecast#7920Where 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 —

Composite

0.8556

#1031 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 Zion Washington

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 Zion Washington

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 12g
66Tackles
2.5Tackles for loss
1Sacks
Per game
6Tackles
0.2Tackles for loss
0.1Sacks
Projected (13g)
72Tackles
2.7Tackles for loss
1.1Sacks

To hit 80-tackle season (currently 66): needs 14/game over remaining 1.

To hit 100-tackle season (currently 66): needs 34/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.

Why this is a rare defensive case

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

Zion Washington is trying to climb the steepest award hill in college football: a defensive candidacy. The hook is the disruption profile on Boise State's defense, with 1.0 sacks, 2.5 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 #8224 0.0% win | 0.0% finalist
Role load -- Role share still loading
Profile quirk Defensive rarity 1.0 sacks | 2.5 TFL

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 66 41 solo | #316/4942 (94th pct)
TFL 2.5 Backfield disruption | #1236/4972 (75th pct)
Sacks 1.0 Pass-rush finish | #872/4972 (82nd pct)
Player identity What kind of player is this?

30-second read

What kind of player is this?

High-volume tackler against FBS defenders.

High-volume tackler

2025 Season · Final

2025 season snapshot | final

Tackling & Disruption

TOT
66 94th
SOLO
41 96th
TFL
2.5 75th
SACK
1.0 82nd
QBH
1 44th

Coverage & Takeaways

PD
2 64th
INT
1 65th

Game Log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD
WkOppTKLSOLOTFLSACKINTPDNote
Wk 1L 7-34@ South Florida750.00.00
Wk 2W 51-14vs Eastern Washington440.00.01
Wk 4W 49-37@ Air Force1051.00.00Season-high 10 tackles
Wk 5W 47-14vs App State430.00.00
Wk 6L 7-28@ Notre Dame530.50.00
Wk 7W 41-25vs New Mexico110.00.00
Wk 8W 56-31vs UNLV540.00.00
Wk 12L 7-17@ San Diego State610.00.00
Wk 13W 49-21vs Colorado State981.01.010
Wk 14W 25-24@ Utah State510.00.00
Wk 15W 38-21vs UNLV310.00.00
BowlL 10-38@ Washington750.00.01
Total66412.51.012
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

2021Boise State7-5HC: Andy Avalos · Balanced
2022Boise State10-4HC: Andy Avalos · Run-leaning
2023Boise State8-6HC: Spencer Danielson · Run-heavy
2025Boise State9-5HC: Spencer Danielson · Run-leaning
SeasonTeam
2025Boise State66412.51.021--
2023Boise State29172.51.0------
2022Boise State330.00.0------
2021Boise State1--0.00.0------
Career4 loaded seasons99615.02.021--
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 2 Coverage disruption | #792/2184 (64th pct)
QB pressures 1 Quarterback hurries | #1051/1878 (44th pct)
Open full stat explorer
0 metrics visible Showing all metrics
Group Metric Value Rank Pct Why it matters
Defense Total tackles 66 #316/4942 94th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense TFL 2.5 #1236/4972 75th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Sacks 1.0 #872/4972 82nd pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Interceptions 1 #308/869 65th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense Pass breakups 2 #792/2184 64th pct Coveragevs FBS DEF
Defense QB hurries 1 #1051/1878 44th pct Disruptionvs FBS DEF
Defense Solo tackles 41 #188/4584 96th pct Volumevs FBS DEF
Defense INT return avg 1.0 #543/578 6th pct Takeawaysvs FBS DEF
Defense INT return yards 1 #546/578 6th pct Takeawaysvs 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Win/Loss · Season halves

Home vs Road

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Home6g4.30.20.20.2
Road6g6.70.20.00.2

Win vs Loss

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Wins8g5.10.20.10.1
Losses4g6.20.10.00.2

First half vs Second half

TKL/gTFL/gSACK/gPD/g
Weeks 1-77g5.40.20.00.3
Weeks 8+5g5.60.20.20.0

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

Savant · Box-rate percentiles

Where this profile ranks vs the DB cohort

62Solid starter
7 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: solo tackles (93rd). Strength: tackles (89th).

Solo tackles#188 / 2975 · 93rd pct
41defe
Tackles#316 / 2975 · 89th pct
66defe
Passes defended#777 / 2975 · 67th pct
2defe
Sacks#847 / 2975 · 63rd pct
1.0defe
Tackles for loss#1222 / 2975 · 56th pct
2.5defe
QB hurries#1007 / 2975 · 55th 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 · 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 · 7 metrics
Zion WashingtonBoise StateTJ DotteryOle Miss· 87% simKeaton ThomasBaylor· 86% simDaniel WingateMaryland· 83% sim
Solo tackles
93
Washington
97
Dottery
99
Thomas
99
Wingate
Tackles
89
Washington
98
Dottery
98
Thomas
98
Wingate
Passes defended
67
Washington
67
Dottery
78
Thomas
48
Wingate
Sacks
63
Washington
74
Dottery
63
Thomas
74
Wingate
Tackles for loss
56
Washington
83
Dottery
90
Thomas
87
Wingate
QB hurries
55
Washington
55
Dottery
55
Thomas
72
Wingate
Interceptions
31
Washington
31
Thomas
31
Wingate

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

Player DNA

The Box Safety

Lives near the line of scrimmage as a de facto extra linebacker.

S

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Demani Richardson’s 2021 season.

Demani Richardson

88%match

Texas A&M · 2021

#2

Jonas Sanker

Virginia · 2022

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 29
86%
#3

Lathan Ransom

Ohio State · 2022

NFL Rd 4
85%
#4

DQ Smith

South Carolina · 2025

85%
#5

Quinn Perry

TCU · 2022

83%

Matches Demani on

Height
Tackle volume
Interceptions

Differs from Demani on

Class year (higher)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Kerion Martin's graduate season at Marshall (2025).

Kerion Martin

89%match

Marshall · 2025

#2

Isaac Gifford

Nebraska · 2024

84%
#3

Shammond Cooper

Akron · 2025

84%
#4

Jackson Barrow

Toledo · 2024

84%
#5

Ruben Hyppolite II

Maryland · 2024

All-Big TenNFL Rd 4
85%

Matches Kerion on

Class year
Height
Tackle volume

Supporting Cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Spencer Danielson

Pass share

46.6%

472 pass / 540 run

Plays / game

72.3

14 games

OL sack rate (allowed)

6.4%

358 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025

2 coaches
2021
Andy Avalos
Boise State
2022
Andy Avalos
Boise State
2023
Spencer Danielson
Boise State
era →
2025
Spencer Danielson
Boise State

Coaching transition mid-career: Andy Avalos → Spencer Danielson. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster

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

HometownFrisco, TX
Height6'1"
Weight212 lb
Class4
PositionDB
Jersey21

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 Boise State DB4 #8224 #7920 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W16 snapshot | Mountain West
2023 Boise State DB4 #11154 #11004 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W19 snapshot | Mountain West
2022 Boise State DB4 #9824 #9380 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West
2021 Boise State DB4 #10062 #9841 0.0% 0.0% -- -- W20 snapshot | Mountain West

Roster Timeline

Team, conference, and class by season.

Season Team Conference Pos Class Bio
2025 Boise State Mountain West DB 4 No. 21 | 6-1 | 212 lb | Frisco, TX
2024 Boise State Mountain West DB 4 No. 21 | 6-1 | 212 lb | Frisco, TX
2023 Boise State Mountain West DB 4 No. 21 | 6-1 | 212 lb | Frisco, TX
2022 Boise State Mountain West DB 4 No. 21 | 6-1 | 212 lb | Frisco, TX
2021 Boise State Mountain West DB 4 No. 21 | 6-1 | 212 lb | Frisco, TX