Senior tight end for Michigan State. 2022: 21 catches, 239 receiving yards, 2 TD.
6′4″ · 250 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
Recruiting
TE recruit
No. 1554 nationally · Signed with Illinois
No college snaps yet.
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
5 tight end for Michigan State. 2022: 21 catches, 239 receiving yards, 2 TD.
Daniel Barker
Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. Daniel Barker has played for four head coaches across five seasons and two programs. One game to point at: 69 rec yds, 7 receptions against Washington — Week 3, 2022.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
How it ended
Five seasons at Michigan State, 1,066 receiving yards — his college career is complete.
His career
He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
The role got bigger.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2018–2022
2 coachesCoaching transition mid-career: Mark Dantonio → Mel Tucker. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Concern: explosive rate (6th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
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 · Per-game
2022 season · 9 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.0 | 26.6 | 13.0 | 0.4 |
| Road4g | 2.8 | 26.5 | 9.5 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-75g | 2.4 | 26.0 | 12.0 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+4g | 2.2 | 27.2 | 11.2 | 0.2 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2022
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Three-star recruit. Now #82 at the position.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Michigan State | 21 | 239 | 11.4 | 2 | -- |
| 2021 | Illinois | 18 | 202 | 11.2 | 4 | -- |
| 2020 | Illinois | 19 | 268 | 14.1 | 2 | -- |
| 2019 | Illinois | 18 | 273 | 15.2 | 4 | -- |
| 2018 | Illinois | 9 | 84 | 9.3 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 85 | 1,066 | 12.5 | 13 | -- |
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Game log · Week-by-week
2022 season · 9 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 35-13vs Western Michigan | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | 1 | 13 | |
| Wk 3 | L 28-39@ Washington | 7 | 69 | 9.9 | 0 | 18 | Season-high 69 yds |
| Wk 4 | L 7-34vs Minnesota | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wk 5 | L 13-27@ Maryland | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 7 | W 34-28vs Wisconsin | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 9 | L 7-29@ Michigan | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 11 | W 27-21vs Rutgers | 4 | 64 | 16.0 | 1 | 26 | |
| Wk 12 | L 31-39vs Indiana | 3 | 30 | 10.0 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 13 | L 16-35@ Penn State | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Total | 21 | 239 | 11.7 | 2 | 26 |
Play style
No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.
CFB Index positional classification
Player DNA
No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.
His 2022 production profile sits closest to Thomaz Whitford’s 2021 season.
Matches Thomaz on
Differs from Thomaz on
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Trey McBride’s path through Colorado State.
Matches Trey on
Differs from Trey on
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Eni Falayi's graduate season at Wake Forest (2025).
Matches Eni on
Differs from Eni on
Player DNA