#15

Cade McDonald

Former wide receiver at Miami (OH). 2024: 52 catches, 631 receiving yards, 3 TD.

WR · Miami (OH) · Sr. · #15

5′11″ · 195 lb · Naperville, IL

CFB Index 56 · #157 of 466 WRsHigh confidenceMiami (OH) 2024 — college career complete

The story

Former wide receiver at Miami (OH). 2024: 52 catches, 631 receiving yards, 3 TD.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Miami (OH), 1,032 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 78 yds at Western Michigan.Western Michigan · W 34-212023

202313 games

All-MACsecond

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-MAC · 2ND TEAM

All-MAC 2nd team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

1 coach

2020–2024

Chuck Martin

Miami (OH)

Played his entire career under Chuck Martin.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Michigan State2-5HC: Mel Tucker · Balanced

2021Michigan State11-2HC: Mel Tucker · Run-leaning

2022Michigan State5-7HC: Mel Tucker · Balanced

2023Miami (OH)11-3HC: Chuck Martin · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Miami (OH)9-5HC: Chuck Martin · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

56Quality starter #157 of 466?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (81st percentile). Concern: td rate (28th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#254 / 610 · 58th pct

12.5

Explosive rate#270 / 610 · 56th pct

15.5%

EPA / target#403 / 610 · 34th pct

0.73

Catch rate#409 / 610 · 33rd pct

86.2%

TD rate#438 / 610 · 28th pct

3.4%

Box-score rates (8)

Receptions#101 / 541 · 81st pct

Rec yards#143 / 541 · 74th pct

631

Rec TDs#193 / 541 · 57th pct

Long catch#244 / 541 · 54th pct

Rush TDs#55 / 299 · 41st pct

Yards / catch#334 / 541 · 38th pct

12.1

Rush yards#184 / 299 · 37th pct

Fumbles lost#197 / 221 · 7th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

21st → 34th percentile

Explosive rate

42nd → 56th percentile

Catch rate

8th → 33rd percentile

TD rate

22nd → 28th percentile

Yards / catch

60th → 58th 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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	4.4	62.6	13.0	0.4
Road6g	5.0	53.0	9.0	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.7	58.1	10.2	0.1
Weeks 8+4g	4.8	56.0	12.0	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Chuck Martin

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

56 · #157 of 466 WRs

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Miami (OH)	52	631	12.1	3	--
2023	Miami (OH)	28	355	12.7	3	--
2022	Michigan State	3	31	10.3	0	--
2021	Michigan State	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Michigan State	2	15	7.5	0	--
Career		85	1,032	12.1	6	--

Season	Team
2024	Miami (OH)	1	7	--	82	--
2023	Miami (OH)	2	8	--	229	--
2022	Michigan State	--	--	--	44	--
2021	Michigan State	--	--	--	-1	--
2020	Michigan State	--	--	--	--	--
Career		3	15	--	354	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2024

W 30–20

vs Ohio

5 rec · 84 yds · 1 TD

With A. Bevelhimer — 38 AVG · 5 IN 20 · 53 LONG · B. Gabbert — 178 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 67.9 · 5 rush yds (1 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Northwestern · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.59Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 23 yds to the NU 38 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Northwestern · 3&9 · Q3 · EPA +3.19Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 18 yds to the NU 47 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Cincinnati · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.02Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 51 yds to the CIN 18 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Bowling Green · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.81Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 30 yds for a TD (Dom Dzioban KICK)
Week 8 · Ohio · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.76Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 28 yds for a TD (Dom Dzioban KICK)
Week 9 · Central Michigan · 2&13 · Q2 · EPA +2.73Henry Hesson pass complete to Cade McDonald for 15 yds to the CMU 47 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Cincinnati · 2&7 · Q4 · EPA +2.61Cade McDonald 7 Yd pass from Brett Gabbert (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)
Week 6 · Toledo · 3&6 · Q4 · EPA +2.41Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 9 yds to the TOL 48 for a 1ST down
Week 15 · Ohio · 2&11 · Q4 · EPA +2.19Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 14 yds to the OHIO 38 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Ohio · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.14Brett Gabbert pass complete to Cade McDonald for 32 yds to the OHIO 30 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 6-13@ Northwestern	8	105	13.1	0	24
Wk 3	L 16-27vs Cincinnati	8	135	16.9	1	51	Season-high 135 yds
Wk 4	L 3-28@ Notre Dame	4	52	13.0	0	21
Wk 5	W 23-20vs Massachusetts	4	36	9.0	0	17
Wk 6	L 20-30@ Toledo	5	54	10.8	0	16
Wk 7	W 38-14@ Eastern Michigan	1	0	0.0	0	0
Wk 8	W 30-20vs Ohio	5	84	16.8	1	32
Wk 9	W 46-7vs Central Michigan	3	41	13.7	0	20
Wk 14	W 28-12@ Bowling Green	9	82	9.1	1	30
Wk 15	L 3-38vs Ohio	2	17	8.5	0	14
Bowl	W 43-17@ Colorado State	3	25	8.3	0	14
Total		52	631	10.8	3	51

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