Brandon Phelps

#18 · WR · Jr. · Arizona6′3″ · 207 lb · Gilbert, AZ · American Leadership Academy Gilbert North

Receiving yards280255th of 467 receivers Last gameL 26–34at Texas Tech · Oct 31

Nextvs TCUFri Nov 6 · 10:15 pm ET

via arizonawildcats.com ↗

His most important play this season

Q4, 11:35 · Arizona up 7Noah Fifita finds Brandon Phelps for a 42-yard touchdownArizona at West Virginia, week 6Q4, 11:35 · Arizona 45, West Virginia 31▲9%Arizona’s chance to win, 85% to 94%▲9%Arizona’s chance to win, 85% to 94%N.Fifita pass complete deep right to B.Phelps caught at WVU22, for 42 yards to the WVU00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play Big 12 Conference

All 3 of his plays on video

Brandon Phelps

WR · Arizona · #18

Second year in the same receiving corps at Arizona. On tape: 88 receiving yards and 4 receptions against West Virginia, Week 6, 2026.

280 receiving yards · 21 catches · 3 receiving TD

Style of play

Play style

Wins the 50-50 ball at the goal line.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Ben IjahTexas State · 2014 · 86% season match
Malik StanleySouth Alabama · 2017 · 86% season match
Richard MullaneyAlabama · 2015 · 86% season match
Nate BrownMissouri · 2015 · 85% season match
Coy EakinTexas Tech · 2026 · 84% season match

The latest game

Against Texas Tech on Oct. 31: 4 catches for 21 yards, 0 of 2 on third and fourth down. In the 8 games drawn here: 21 catches for 280 yards. Arizona has thrown to him 27 times in 282 passes.

First quarterSecond quarterThird quarterFourth quarter

L 26-34 at Texas Tech4 catches, 21 yds
W 39-3 vs Iowa State5 catches, 33 yds
W 52-31 at West Virginia4 catches, 88 yds, 1 TD
W 34-7 vs Cincinnati2 catches, 36 yds, 1 TD
W 34-24 at Washington State1 catch, 6 yds
W 42-17 vs Northern Illinois3 catches, 45 yds
L 17-28 at BYU1 catch, 30 yds
W 35-7 vs Northern Arizona1 catch, 21 yds, 1 TD

a catch, by its yardsa touchdownthrown to him, incomplete

Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Arizona	21	280	13.3	3	42
2025	Arizona	6	82	13.7	1	42
Career		27	362	13.4	4	42

Last game (Wk 9): 21 receiving yards, 4 catches.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 35-7vs Northern Arizona	1	21	21.0	1	21
Wk 2	L 17-28@ No. 15 BYU	1	30	30.0	0	30
Wk 3	W 42-17vs Northern Illinois	3	45	15.0	0	24
Wk 4	W 34-24@ Washington State	1	6	6.0	0	6
Wk 5	W 34-7vs Cincinnati	2	36	18.0	1	24
Wk 6	W 52-31@ West Virginia	4	88	22.0	1	42	Season-high 88 yds
Wk 8	W 39-3vs Iowa State	5	33	6.6	0	9
Wk 9	L 26-34@ No. 13 Texas Tech	4	21	5.3	0	9
Total		21	280	13.3	3	42

Signature game

Week 6 · 2026

W 52-31

at West Virginia

4 rec · 88 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 21-point win on the road against West Virginia.

With N. Fifita — 341 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 90.6 · I. Mizell — 6 rec · 183 yds · 2 TD

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 2 · BYU · 2nd and 21 · Q3 · EPA +4.00Fifita to Phelps: a 30-yard pass.
Week 9 · Texas Tech · 4th and 3 · Q1 · EPA −3.82Fifita to Phelps: a 2-yard pass.
Week 6 · West Virginia · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +3.29Fifita to Phelps: a 42-yard touchdown pass.
Week 5 · Cincinnati · 1st and 17 · Q3 · EPA +3.11Fifita to Phelps: a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Week 6 · West Virginia · 1st and 15 · Q1 · EPA +2.67Fifita to Phelps: a 24-yard pass.
Week 1 · Northern Arizona · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.63Fifita to Phelps: a 21-yard touchdown pass.

4 more plays

Week 3 · Northern Illinois · 2nd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +2.15Fifita to Phelps: a 24-yard pass.
Week 5 · Cincinnati · 3rd and 9 · Q4 · EPA +1.58Fifita to Phelps: a 12-yard pass.
Week 8 · Iowa State · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.12Fifita to Phelps: a 9-yard pass.
Week 9 · Texas Tech · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA +0.61Fifita to Phelps: a 9-yard pass.

Where he ranks

Rec yards280255thAmong 468 receivers with 12 or more catches

Receptions21tied for 251stAmong 468 receivers with 12 or more catches

Yards / catch13.3tied for 223rdAmong 468 receivers with 12 or more catches

Rec TDs3tied for 108thAmong 468 receivers with 12 or more catches

Long catch42tied for 256thAmong 468 receivers with 12 or more catches

284th in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -25 to +18 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

21 rec · 280 yds · 3 TD

21 of 21 receptions matched to play-by-play

27 of 27 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

2710% of team targets

Catch rate

78%21 of 27 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

4% of targets (1)

100%catch rate

Air -4.0 · YAC 11.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

63% of targets (17)

88%catch rate

Air 4.7 · YAC 3.8 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

15% of targets (4)

25%catch rate

Air 13.5 · YAC 14.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

19% of targets (5)

80%catch rate

Air 24.2 · YAC 6.0 avg

78% catch rate on 27 targets · 10% of the team's targets · 80% catch rate on 5 deep targets (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Brent Brennan, all balanced offenses — 15-6 over that span.

2025Arizona9-4HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced

2026Arizona6-2HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 45 (#236 of 465). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

45Rotational starter #236 of 465?

10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (93rd percentile). Strength: catch rate (88th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#42 / 569 · 93rd pct

22.2%

Catch rate#70 / 569 · 88th pct

77.8%

TD rate#142 / 569 · 75th pct

7.4%

EPA / target#195 / 569 · 66th pct

0.54

Yards / catch#238 / 569 · 58th pct

13.3

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#108 / 468 · 70th pct

Yards / catch#223 / 468 · 52nd pct

13.3

Rec yards#255 / 468 · 46th pct

280

Receptions#251 / 468 · 45th pct

Long catch#256 / 468 · 44th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	2.8	33.8	15.2	0.5
Road4g	2.5	36.2	15.8	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.0	37.7	18.7	0.5
Weeks 8+2g	4.5	27.0	5.9	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Brent Brennan

Pass share

52.5%

284 pass / 257 run

Plays / game

67.6

8 games

Team sack rate

7.1%

326 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

21 catches in 8 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

45 · #236 of 465 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #236 at the position.

Starter

The No. 1,281 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the Big 12 as a junior.

Brandon Phelps

This week

His most important play this season

Style of play

Similar players

What fans said

Named in

Where to follow

The latest game

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Where he ranks

Receiving profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

21 catches in 8 games

Starter

Three seasons at Arizona

2024