#12

Carson Strong

Sophomore quarterback for Nevada. 2021: 4,186 passing yards, 36 TD, 8 INT.

QB · Nevada · So. · #12

6′4″ · 215 lb · Vacaville, CA

CFB Index 69 · #26 of 126 QBsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamNevada 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

PRO recruit

No. 2171 nationally · Signed with Nevada

Statement game377 yds · 6 TDvs New Mexico State (FBS) · W 55-28

Top 0.1% passing TDs game since 2021.

6 TD game for Strong. Now for 6'9 Nate Coxr/CFB game thread · ▲ 3His career numbers, season by season

The story

2 quarterback for Nevada. 2021: 4,186 passing yards, 36 TD, 8 INT.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Nevada in 2018.
Named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2020.
Named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Nevada, 9,356 passing yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2018

Signed with Nevada3-star out of Will C. Wood

20208 games

The role got bigger.

All-Mountain Westfirst
Mountain West Offensive Player of the Yearwinner

202112 games

All-Mountain Westfirst
Mountain West Offensive Player of the Yearwinner

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2171 national

CFB

College

Nevada

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

10 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM

All-Mountain West 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

2 coaches

2018–2020

Jay Norvell

Nevada

2021

Vai Taua

Nevada

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Jay Norvell → Vai Taua. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Nevada8-5HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2019Nevada7-6HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2020Nevada7-2HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2021Nevada8-5HC: Vai Taua · Pass-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

69Quality starter #26 of 126?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: success rate (90th percentile). Strength: pass yards (96th percentile). Concern: rush yards (1st percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Success rate#18 / 167 · 90th pct

52.2%

EPA / dropback#40 / 167 · 76th pct

0.38

Interception rate#51 / 167 · 70th pct

1.6%

Explosive rate#66 / 167 · 61st pct

10.6%

Sack rate#73 / 167 · 57th pct

5.8%

Box-score rates (8)

Pass yards#8 / 169 · 96th pct

4186

Pass TDs#7 / 169 · 96th pct

Completion %#9 / 169 · 94th pct

70.0%

Yards / att#51 / 169 · 68th pct

8.0

Fumbles lost#23 / 159 · 68th pct

Interceptions#110 / 169 · 31st pct

Rush TDs#133 / 169 · 11th pct

Rush yards#168 / 169 · 1st pct

-208

Season trend

EPA / dropback— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Success rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Sack rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Interception rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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).

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

359/511 (70.3%) · 36 TD · 8 INT

511 of 524 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

7.9244 of 204 QBs

Sack rate

5.8%95 of 204 QBs

Rarely sacked (95 of 204 QBs) and still 44 of 204 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

56%of completions

201 comp4.9 yds avg7 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

28%of completions

100 comp13.4 yds avg8 TD

Deep

20+ yds

16%of completions

58 comp31.1 yds avg16 TD

Overall 70.3% completion on 511 attempts · 58 deep completions averaging 31.1 yds.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home6g	372	3.5	8.4	0.8
Road6g	325	2.5	8.3	0.5

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-76g	332	2.7	8.2	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	366	3.3	8.4	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Choate

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

69 · #26 of 126 QBs

Three-star recruit. Now #26 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Nevada	367	524	70.0%	4,186	8.0	36	8	156.8	67	--	--
2020	Nevada	247	353	70.0%	2,843	8.1	26	4	159.7	75	--	--
2019	Nevada	236	373	63.3%	2,327	6.2	11	7	121.7	--	--	--
2018	Nevada	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
Career		850	1,250	68.0%	9,356	7.5	73	19	147.1	70	--	--

Season	Team
2021	Nevada	51	-208	-4.1	--
2020	Nevada	33	-95	-2.9	--
2019	Nevada	54	-6	-0.1	--
2018	Nevada	1	4	4.0	--
Career		139	-305	-2.2	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2021

W 41–31

at Boise State

263 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 76.8 · -20 rush yds (5 car)

Edged out Boise State on the road in a shootout.

With J. Diaz — 51 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 58 LONG · T. Taua — 124 rush yds (12 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 13 · Colorado State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +5.34Carson Strong pass complete to Romeo Doubs for 66 yds for a TD (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 6 · New Mexico State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +5.24Carson Strong pass complete to Melquan Stovall for 65 yds for a TD, (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 9 · UNLV · 3&23 · Q3 · EPA +4.92Carson Strong pass complete to Cole Turner for 23 yds for a TD, (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 12 · Air Force · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +4.86Carson Strong pass complete to Romeo Doubs for 61 yds for a TD, (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 11 · San Diego State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +4.18Carson Strong pass complete to Romeo Doubs for 54 yds for a TD (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 13 · Colorado State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.18Carson Strong pass complete to Tory Horton for 54 yds for a TD (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 9 · UNLV · 2&20 · Q2 · EPA +4.11Carson Strong pass complete to Romeo Doubs for 28 yds for a TD, (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 1 · California · 3&9 · Q3 · EPA +4.10Carson Strong pass complete to Tory Horton for 46 yds to the Cal 16 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Hawai'i · 3&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.98Carson Strong pass complete to Romeo Doubs for 28 yds for a TD, (Brandon Talton KICK)
Week 12 · Air Force · 3&14 · Q1 · EPA +3.97Carson Strong pass complete to Cole Turner for 27 yds to the AFA 33 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	W 22-17@ California	22/39	312	2	1	8.0	64.3
Wk 2	W 49-10vs Idaho State	34/43	381	4	0	8.9	64.5	4 TD passes
Wk 3	L 17-38@ Kansas State	27/40	262	1	1	6.6	53.8
Wk 5	W 41-31@ Boise State	25/38	263	1	0	6.9	76.8
Wk 6	W 55-28vs New Mexico State	25/32	377	6	1	11.8	43.6	6 TD passes
Wk 7	W 34-17vs Hawai'i	34/54	395	2	0	7.3	74.6	Clean 2-TD game
Wk 8	L 32-34@ Fresno State	49/61	476	4	1	7.8	75.9	Season-high 476 yds
Wk 9	W 51-20vs UNLV	37/49	417	4	1	8.5	80.6	4 TD passes
Wk 10	W 27-24vs San José State	36/54	314	1	2	5.8	25.9
Wk 11	L 21-23@ San Diego State	34/48	350	3	0	7.3	72.9	3 TD passes
Wk 12	L 39-41vs Air Force	27/44	351	4	1	8.0	50.9	4 TD passes
Wk 13	W 52-10@ Colorado State	17/22	288	4	0	13.1	92.8	4 TD passes
Total		367/524	4186	36	8	8.3	64.7

How he plays

Play style

High-percentage passer who protects the ball. Loses the matchup on improvisation.

CFB Index positional classification

Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long

Where the completions actually land

fact

70.4%Completion %

37.9%Conversion/dropback

42.1%Land short of sticks

1INTs

70.4% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 37.9% conversion-per-dropback — 42.1% of completions land short of the sticks.

Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. ~ our read: checkdown by design