Corey Crooms

#4 · WR · Sr. · Minnesota6′0″ · 180 lb · Country Club Hills, IL · Hillcrest

Corey Crooms: WR · Minnesota · #4.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Dino TomlinBoston College · 2023 · 86% season match
Kyle WilliamsWashington State · 2023 · 85% season match
Nico RagainiIowa · 2022 · 82% season match
Brian CasteelArizona · 2021 · 79% season match
Antoine RobinsonSouthern Miss · 2020 · 78% season match

Corey Crooms

WR · Minnesota · Sr · #4

Moves the chains on third down. The five seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Tim Lester and P.J. Fleck. The first one came in 2022: All-MAC. One game to point at: 63 receiving yards and 7 receptions against Nebraska — Week 1, 2023.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Minnesota in the news

Hastings RB Zack Shatek commits to MinnesotaThe Daily Gopher Oct 29
Bob Uecker diesOct 29
Minnesota beats North Dakota for first win of seasonOct 23
Ferentz names Minnesota's starting QBKCCI Oct 20

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2023	Minnesota	28	376	13.4	0	32
2022	Western Michigan	57	814	14.3	5	75
2021	Western Michigan	44	768	17.5	6	74
2020	Western Michigan	2	36	18.0	0	28
2019	Western Michigan	12	148	12.3	1	38
Career		143	2,142	15.0	12	75

Season	Team
2023	Minnesota	--	--	13
2022	Western Michigan	2	−5	--
2021	Western Michigan	1	6	--
2020	Western Michigan	--	--	--
2019	Western Michigan	--	--	--
Career		3	1	13

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 13-10vs Nebraska	7	63	9.0	20	Season-high 63 yds
Wk 2	W 25-6vs Eastern Michigan	3	45	15.0	22
Wk 3	L 13-31@ No. 20 North Carolina	4	46	11.5	17
Wk 4	L 34-37@ Northwestern	2	42	21.0	27
Wk 5	W 35-24vs Louisiana	3	31	10.3	16
Wk 9	W 27-12vs Michigan State	2	42	21.0	30
Wk 10	L 26-27vs Illinois	3	23	7.7	11
Wk 11	L 30-49@ Purdue	2	42	21.0	22
Wk 12	L 3-37@ No. 3 Ohio State	2	42	21.0	32
Total		28	376	13.4	32

Signature game

Week 1 · 2023

W 13-10

vs Nebraska

7 rec · 63 yds

A close one, won by 3 at home.

With M. Crawford — 45 yards per punt · 4 punts · 1 inside the 20 · A. Kaliakmanis — 196 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 54.2

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 4 · Northwestern · 3rd and 12 · Q5 · EPA +4.37Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 53 yds to the NU 10 for a
Week 12 · Ohio State · 3rd and 14 · Q2 · EPA +3.66Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 32 yds to the OSU 47 for a
Week 1 · Nebraska · 2nd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +1.99Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 20 yds to the MINN 39 for a
Week 1 · Nebraska · 3rd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +1.99Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 10 yds to the NEB 34 for a
Week 3 · North Carolina · 2nd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +1.99Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 17 yds to the UNC 44 for a
Week 10 · Illinois · 4th and 3 · Q1 · EPA +1.94Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 3 yds to the ILL 33 for a

4 more plays

Week 11 · Purdue · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +1.71Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 22 yds to the PUR 39 for a
Week 2 · Eastern Michigan · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +1.60Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 10 yds to the MINN 35 for a
Week 11 · Purdue · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.48Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 20 yds to the MINN 37 for a
Week 1 · Nebraska · 3rd and 2 · Q1 · EPA +1.45Athan Kaliakmanis pass complete to Corey Crooms Jr. for 9 yds to the MINN 36 for a

Teams and coaches

2019Western Michigan7-6HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2020Western Michigan4-2HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2021Western Michigan8-5HC: Tim Lester · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Western Michigan5-7HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2023Minnesota6-7HC: P.J. Fleck · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 39 (#312 of 497). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2023 season

39Below cohort / limited sample #312 of 497 · 2023?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2023 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: explosive rate (96th percentile). Concern: td rate (8th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#28 / 639 · 96th pct

29.0%

Yards / catch#152 / 639 · 76th pct

14.8

Catch rate#162 / 639 · 75th pct

90.3%

EPA / target#211 / 639 · 67th pct

0.90

TD rate#532 / 639 · 8th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#242 / 566 · 56th pct

13.4

Rec yards#301 / 566 · 47th pct

376

Receptions#299 / 566 · 46th pct

Long catch#476 / 566 · 15th pct

Rec TDs#503 / 566 · 6th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

30th → 67th percentile

Explosive rate

41st → 96th percentile

Catch rate

4th → 75th percentile

TD rate

43rd → 8th percentile

Yards / catch

77th → 76th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2023. 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

2023 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	3.6	40.8	12.6	0.0
Road4g	2.5	43.0	18.6	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.8	45.4	13.4	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	2.2	37.2	17.7	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2023 season

Head Coach

P.J. Fleck

Pass share

38.6%

311 pass / 494 run

Plays / game

61.9

13 games

Team sack rate

6.4%

330 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

28 catches in 9 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

39 · #312 of 497 WRs · 2023

Three-star recruit. Now #312 at the position.

Corey Crooms

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Minnesota in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

28 catches in 9 games

Five seasons, two schools

Moves

2019 8 games

2022 12 games

2023 9 games