Corey Rucker

Senior wide receiver for Arkansas State. 2025: 73 catches, 1,029 receiving yards, 4 TD.

WR · Arkansas State · Sr. · #7

6′0″ · 213 lb · Yazoo City, MS

CFB Index 80 · #33 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Arkansas State for 2026

The numbers

1,029

receiving yards · 2025

73 catches · 4 TD · 14.1 per catch

Best game: 10 rec, 90 yds, 2 TD, at App State

Career night9 rec · 310 yds · 4 TDvs UL Monroe (FBS) · W 48-15

Top 0.1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Arkansas State. 2025: 73 catches, 1,029 receiving yards, 4 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Arkansas State in 2020.
Transferred from South Carolina to Arkansas State in 2023.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Moves the chains on third down.

Yards / catch: 71st percentile.

The full scouting read

Corey Rucker

WR · Arkansas State · Sr · #7

Moves the chains on third down. Across six seasons and two programs, three head coaches: Blake Anderson, Butch Jones and Shane Beamer. All-Sun Belt in 2025 was the fourth honor of his career. The receipt: 166 rec yds, 6 receptions against Missouri State — Bowl, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Arkansas State4-7HC: Blake Anderson · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Arkansas State2-10HC: Butch Jones · Pass-heavy

2022South Carolina8-5HC: Shane Beamer · Balanced

2023Arkansas State6-7HC: Butch Jones · Run-leaning

2024Arkansas State8-5HC: Butch Jones · Balanced

2025Arkansas State7-6HC: Butch Jones · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

80All-Conference level #33 of 485?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (98th percentile). Strength: rec yards (97th percentile). Concern: catch rate (8th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#229 / 798 · 71st pct

13.5

Explosive rate#291 / 798 · 64th pct

12.2%

EPA / target#486 / 798 · 39th pct

0.35

TD rate#505 / 798 · 37th pct

0.8%

Catch rate#734 / 798 · 8th pct

53.4%

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#13 / 558 · 98th pct

Rec yards#16 / 558 · 97th pct

1029

Long catch#83 / 558 · 85th pct

Rec TDs#152 / 558 · 68th pct

Yards / catch#192 / 558 · 65th pct

14.1

Rush yards#128 / 287 · 55th pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

98th → 39th percentile

Explosive rate

67th → 64th percentile

Catch rate

91st → 8th percentile

TD rate

72nd → 37th percentile

Yards / catch

83rd → 71st 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).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

28%37 of his 131 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	5.3	96.1	20.6	0.3
Road6g	6.0	59.3	9.0	0.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.4	71.0	16.9	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	7.0	88.7	13.4	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Butch Jones

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

80 · #33 of 485 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #33 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #5 of 51 Sun Belt WRs

How the All-Sun Belt estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Arkansas State	73	1,029	14.1	4	--
2024	Arkansas State	69	1,053	15.3	7	--
2023	Arkansas State	36	705	19.6	2	--
2022	South Carolina	1	52	52.0	1	--
2021	Arkansas State	59	816	13.8	9	--
2020	Arkansas State	15	450	30.0	5	--
Career		253	4,105	16.2	28	--

Season	Team
2025	Arkansas State	4	16	--	--	--
2024	Arkansas State	--	--	--	--	--
2023	Arkansas State	1	6	--	--	--
2022	South Carolina	--	--	--	--	--
2021	Arkansas State	2	20	--	--	--
2020	Arkansas State	--	--	--	--	--
Career		7	42	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 42–24

vs Southeast Missouri State

2 rec · 59 yds · 1 TD

With J. Raynor — 345 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 80.0 · 17 rush yds (4 car) · J. Waller — 47 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 52 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Missouri State · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +7.04(03:02) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete deep left to #7 C.Rucker caught at MOST31, for 71 yards to the MOST00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:51, 1ST DOWN #34 C.Van Andel kick attempt good (H: #29 J.Waller, LS: #41 D.Nicolson)
Week 10 · Troy · 3&15 · Q4 · EPA +3.56(09:47) Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete short middle to #7 C.Rucker caught at Troy38, for 18 yards to the Troy32 (#4 T.Thompson; #0 J.Williams), 1ST DOWN
Week 11 · Southern Miss · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.46(13:14) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete deep left to #7 C.Rucker caught at USM35, for 55 yards to the USM20 (#1 J.Moten; #22 C.Myrick), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 10 · Troy · 2&24 · Q1 · EPA +3.36(04:58) Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete deep left to #7 C.Rucker caught at Troy19, for 27 yards to the Troy16 (#6 J.Powe), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 9 · Georgia Southern · 3&14 · Q1 · EPA +3.36No Huddle-Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete short middle to #7 C.Rucker caught at GS27, for 31 yards to the GS13 (#14 P.Green), 1ST DOWN
Week 8 · South Alabama · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +3.05Jaylen Raynor pass complete to Corey Rucker for 6 yds to the USA 40 for a 1ST down South Alabama Penalty, roughing passer (Tre'Mon Henry) to the USA 25 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Iowa State · 3&2 · Q1 · EPA +2.95Jaylen Raynor pass complete to Corey Rucker for 26 yds to the ISU 48 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · South Alabama · 4&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.66Jaylen Raynor pass complete to Corey Rucker for 8 yds to the USA 29 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Missouri State · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.64(11:49) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 J.Raynor pass complete short middle to #7 C.Rucker caught at MOST48, for 26 yards to the MOST36 (#14 T.Anderson), 1ST DOWN. #26 D.Taylor injured on the play
Week 1 · Southeast Missouri State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.60Jaylen Raynor pass complete to Corey Rucker for 50 yds to the SEMO 14 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 42-24vs Southeast Missouri State	2	59	29.5	1	50	Season-high 166 yds
Wk 2	L 14-56@ Arkansas	3	20	6.7	0	10
Wk 3	L 16-24vs Iowa State	1	26	26.0	0	26
Wk 4	L 21-28@ Kennesaw State	2	4	2.0	0	4
Wk 5	L 16-28@ UL Monroe	9	120	13.3	0	30
Wk 6	W 31-30vs Texas State	8	102	12.8	0	27
Wk 8	W 15-14@ South Alabama	8	58	7.3	0	9
Wk 9	W 34-24vs Georgia Southern	5	77	15.4	0	31
Wk 10	W 23-10@ Troy	4	64	16.0	0	27
Wk 11	L 21-27vs Southern Miss	7	123	17.6	0	55
Wk 13	L 30-34vs Louisiana	8	120	15.0	0	28
Wk 14	W 30-29@ App State	10	90	9.0	2	34	2 TD catches
Bowl	W 34-28vs Missouri State	6	166	27.7	1	71
Total		73	1029	15.3	4	71

How he plays

Play style

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

CFB Index positional classification

Money down · 3rd-down role

Catch rate says one thing, EPA says another

checked · no story

10/383rd-down conversions

0.493rd-down EPA/target

0.40Other-downs EPA/target

17 of 38 caught on third down (44.7%) — EPA/target 0.49 vs 0.40 elsewhere (10 conversions).

Catch rate is disclosed context only, never the gate — conversions and EPA/target are. Interception targets carry no attribution row at any source, so EPA/target here is unfixably, slightly inflated.

2026 Outlook

Arkansas State

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Wide receiver · Arkansas State

Returning around him

30% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
Transfer portal: -12 net (25 in / 37 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Arkansas State · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #91 · 2026 recruiting class #85

DNA match

Player DNA

Possession Receiver

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Kisean Johnson’s 2024 season.

Kisean Johnson

78%match

Western Kentucky · 2024

All-Conference USA

Keagan Johnson

New Mexico · 2025

All-Mountain West

77%

Javon Baker

UCF · 2022

NFL Rd 4

70%

Jalen Royals

Utah State · 2024

All-Mountain WestNFL Rd 4

69%

Velus Jones Jr.

Tennessee · 2021

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 7

68%

Matches Kisean on

Yards / reception

Class year

Height

Differs from Kisean on

TD rate (lower)

Through 5 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Cary Angeline’s path through NC State.

Cary Angeline

93%match

NC State · 2020

Cam Thompson

Northern Illinois · 2024

93%

Joshua Derry

Monmouth · 2025

91%

Blayne Taylor

Abilene Christian · 2024

90%

Damon Ward Jr.

North Texas · 2024

89%

Matches Cary on

Yards per reception

Player DNA

Players who play like Corey Rucker

Velus Jones Jr.

Tennessee · 2021

79%

Miles Cross

Ohio · 2023

79%

Chase Hendricks

Ohio · 2025

76%

Amare Thomas

UAB · 2024

73%

Eli Heidenreich

Navy · 2024

72%

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

Corey Rucker

20205 games

202112 games

2022

202312 games

202413 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

Players who play like Corey Rucker