Chigoziem Okonkwo

Former tight end at Maryland. 2021: 52 catches, 447 receiving yards, 5 TD.

TE · Maryland · Jr. · #9

6′2″ · 244 lb · Powder Springs, GA

CFB Index 64 · #20 of 119 TEsMedium-low confidenceTennessee — drafted 2022, Rd 4, Pick 38, #143 overall

Recruiting

3★

TE recruit

No. 530 nationally · Signed with Maryland

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former tight end at Maryland. 2021: 52 catches, 447 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Maryland in 2018.
Drafted round 4 by the Tennessee in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Maryland, 717 receiving yards — drafted at #143 overall by Tennessee.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20188 games

Signed with Maryland3-star out of Hillgrove

2022

Drafted by Tennesseeround 4, pick 143

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#530 national

CFB

College

Maryland

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #143

Tennessee · 2022

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

2 coaches

2018

Matt Canada

Maryland

2019

Mike Locksley

Maryland

era →

2021

Mike Locksley

Maryland

Coaching transition mid-career: Matt Canada → Mike Locksley. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

TennesseeEntering 5th NFL season

#143Rd 4 · Pick 38

TennesseeEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Maryland5-7HC: Matt Canada · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2019Maryland3-9HC: Mike Locksley · Run-leaning

2021Maryland7-6HC: Mike Locksley · Balanced, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

64Quality starter #20 of 119?

Medium-low confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (94th percentile). Strength: rec tds (85th percentile). Concern: yards / catch (14th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#198 / 655 · 69th pct

81.0%

TD rate#226 / 655 · 66th pct

7.9%

EPA / target#359 / 655 · 45th pct

0.61

Explosive rate#509 / 655 · 22nd pct

7.9%

Yards / catch#564 / 655 · 14th pct

8.8

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#9 / 146 · 94th pct

Rec TDs#19 / 146 · 85th pct

Rec yards#27 / 146 · 82nd pct

447

Long catch#80 / 146 · 44th pct

Yards / catch#126 / 146 · 14th pct

8.6

Season trend

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

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

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

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

Yards / catch— 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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	4.3	30.3	6.1	0.4
Road4g	4.8	55.2	11.5	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.2	29.0	7.7	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	5.5	48.0	8.3	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Locksley

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

64 · #20 of 119 TEs

Three-star recruit. Now #20 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Maryland	52	447	8.6	5	--
2019	Maryland	19	201	10.6	2	--
2018	Maryland	6	69	11.5	1	--
Career		77	717	9.3	8	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 11 · Michigan State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.87Chigoziem Okonkwo 32 Yd pass from Taulia Tagovailoa (Joseph Petrino Kick)
Week 11 · Michigan State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.87Chigoziem Okonkwo 32 Yd pass from Taulia Tagovailoa (Joseph Petrino Kick)
Week 1 · West Virginia · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.82Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 18 yds for a TD, (Joseph Petrino KICK)
Week 6 · Ohio State · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.77Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 11 yds to the Mary 48 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Minnesota · 2&11 · Q1 · EPA +2.60Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 21 yds to the Mary 45 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Iowa · 1&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.42Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 9 yds for a TD (Joseph Petrino KICK)
Week 4 · Kent State · 1&15 · Q1 · EPA +2.39Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 24 yds to the Mary 43 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Penn State · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +1.65Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 15 yds to the PnSt 37 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Ohio State · 2&6 · Q4 · EPA +1.44Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 11 yds to the Mary 40 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Michigan · 2&5 · Q1 · EPA +1.41Taulia Tagovailoa pass complete to Chigoziem Okonkwo for 11 yds to the Mary 48 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 30-24vs West Virginia	3	20	6.7	1	18
Wk 2	W 62-0vs Howard	1	2	2.0	1	2
Wk 4	W 37-16vs Kent State	4	44	11.0	0	24
Wk 5	L 14-51vs Iowa	3	23	7.7	1	9
Wk 6	L 17-66@ Ohio State	5	56	11.2	0	15
Wk 8	L 16-34@ Minnesota	2	30	15.0	0	21
Wk 9	W 38-35vs Indiana	2	2	1.0	0	5
Wk 10	L 14-31vs Penn State	12	85	7.1	0	15
Wk 11	L 21-40@ Michigan State	8	112	14.0	2	32	Season-high 112 yds
Wk 12	L 18-59vs Michigan	5	36	7.2	0	11
Wk 13	W 40-16@ Rutgers	4	23	5.8	0	7
Total		49	433	8.1	5	32

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

Chigoziem Okonkwo

20188 games

2022

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Complete TE

Players who play like Chigoziem Okonkwo