#17

Bryce Kirtz

Former wide receiver at Northwestern. 2024: 39 catches, 598 receiving yards.

WR · Northwestern · Sr. · #17

6′0″ · 195 lb · Brownsburg, IN

CFB Index 52 · #184 of 466 WRsHigh confidenceNorthwestern 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 498 nationally · Signed with Brownsburg

Statement game10 rec · 215 yds · 2 TDvs Minnesota (FBS) · W 37-34

Top 0.1% receiving yards game since 2021.

Apparently Kirtz is the only guy Bryant can accurately pass to.r/CFB game thread · ▲ 3His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Northwestern. 2024: 39 catches, 598 receiving yards.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Brownsburg in 2019.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Northwestern, 1,781 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 215 yds vs Minnesota.Minnesota · W 37-342023

2019

Recruited3-star out of Brownsburg

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#498 national

CFB

College

Northwestern

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

2 coaches

2020–2022

Pat Fitzgerald

Northwestern

2023–2024

David Braun

Northwestern

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Pat Fitzgerald → David Braun. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Northwestern7-2HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Northwestern3-9HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Run-leaning

2022Northwestern1-11HC: Pat Fitzgerald · Balanced

2023Northwestern8-5HC: David Braun · Run-leaning

2024Northwestern4-8HC: David Braun · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

52Rotational starter #184 of 466?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (94th percentile). Strength: yards / catch (82nd percentile). Concern: td rate (7th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#36 / 610 · 94th pct

29.5%

Yards / catch#109 / 610 · 82nd pct

15.3

EPA / target#234 / 610 · 62nd pct

0.96

Catch rate#345 / 610 · 44th pct

88.6%

TD rate#522 / 610 · 7th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#146 / 541 · 73rd pct

15.3

Rec yards#158 / 541 · 71st pct

598

Receptions#183 / 541 · 65th pct

Long catch#201 / 541 · 62nd pct

Rec TDs#469 / 541 · 7th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

72nd → 62nd percentile

Explosive rate

84th → 94th percentile

Catch rate

62nd → 44th percentile

TD rate

65th → 7th percentile

Yards / catch

74th → 82nd percentile

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 & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	4.6	58.0	12.2	0.0
Road3g	2.3	64.0	21.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	65.2	15.2	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	3.5	51.8	14.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

David Braun

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 1 game in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

52 · #184 of 466 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #184 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Northwestern	39	598	15.3	0	--
2023	Northwestern	49	701	14.3	5	--
2022	Northwestern	19	212	11.2	0	--
2021	Northwestern	19	203	10.7	0	--
2020	Northwestern	6	67	11.2	0	--
Career		132	1,781	13.5	5	--

Season	Team
2024	Northwestern	--	--	--	36	--
2023	Northwestern	--	--	17	1	--
2022	Northwestern	1	3	--	--	--
2021	Northwestern	1	4	--	26	--
2020	Northwestern	--	--	--	--	--
Career		2	7	17	63	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2024

W 31–7

vs Eastern Illinois

3 rec · 18 yds

Dominant 24-point win at home against Eastern Illinois.

With J. Lausch — 227 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 35.9 · 62 rush yds (7 car) · J. Himon II — 49 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 12 · Ohio State · 4&8 · Q4 · EPA +3.79Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 20 yds to the OSU 32 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Maryland · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.72Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 55 yds to the MD 26 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Maryland · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.12Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 40 yds to the MD 10 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.80Mike Wright pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 33 yds to the M-OH 45 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Illinois · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.64Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 17 yds to the NU 47 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Indiana · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.38Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 47 yds to the IU 3 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.30Mike Wright pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 9 yds to the NU 44 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Ohio State · 3&1 · Q1 · EPA +2.28Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 20 yds to the OSU 36 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Michigan · 3&17 · Q3 · EPA +2.10Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 20 yds to the NU 35 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Maryland · 2&13 · Q1 · EPA +1.84Jack Lausch pass complete to Bryce Kirtz for 28 yds to the NU 33 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 13-6vs Miami (OH)	6	91	15.2	33
Wk 2	L 20-26vs Duke	2	29	14.5	25
Wk 3	W 31-7vs Eastern Illinois	3	18	6.0	8
Wk 4	L 5-24@ Washington	1	2	2.0	2
Wk 6	L 24-41vs Indiana	10	128	12.8	47	Season-high 128 yds
Wk 7	W 37-10@ Maryland	3	123	41.0	55
Wk 8	L 3-23vs Wisconsin	2	23	11.5	15
Wk 12	L 7-31vs Ohio State	7	92	13.1	21
Wk 13	L 6-50@ Michigan	3	67	22.3	39
Wk 14	L 28-38vs Illinois	2	25	12.5	17
Total		39	598	15.1	55

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

Bryce Kirtz

2019

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Deep Threat

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