#44

Dean Connors

Senior running back for Houston. 2025: 977 rushing yards, 6 rushing TD, 34 catches.

RB · Houston · Sr. · #44

6′0″ · 206 lb · Kamuela, HI

CFB Index 56 · #95 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to Houston for 2026

The numbers

254

receiving yards · 2025

34 catches · 3 TD · 7.5 per catch

Backed by 9 car · 113 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing TDs game.

The play that turned itSwung Houston from 34% to 65% to win.TCU at Houston · 17-14

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Houston. 2025: 977 rushing yards, 6 rushing TD, 34 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Rice in 2022.
Transferred from Rice to Houston in 2025.

The full story, with sources

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

Explosive rate: 45th percentile.

The full scouting read

Dean Connors

RB · Houston · Sr · #44

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Across four seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Mike Bloomgren and Willie Fritz. One game to point at: 132 rush yds, 3 rec yds against Rice — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Rice5-8HC: Mike Bloomgren · Run-leaning

2023Rice6-7HC: Mike Bloomgren · Balanced, slow tempo

2024Rice4-8HC: Mike Bloomgren · Pass-leaning

2025Houston10-3HC: Willie Fritz · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

56Quality starter #95 of 326?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (94th percentile). Strength: carries (93rd percentile). Concern: epa / carry (9th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#250 / 456 · 45th pct

5.7%

Yards / carry#250 / 456 · 45th pct

4.8

TD rate#313 / 456 · 31st pct

1.9%

Success rate#386 / 456 · 15th pct

35.9%

EPA / carry#415 / 456 · 9th pct

-0.09

Box-score rates (8)

Receptions#20 / 338 · 94th pct

Carries#26 / 349 · 93rd pct

200

Rec yards#26 / 338 · 92nd pct

254

Rush yards#41 / 349 · 88th pct

977

Rush TDs#83 / 349 · 72nd pct

Long run#122 / 349 · 64th pct

Yards / carry#171 / 349 · 49th pct

4.9

Fumbles lost#55 / 201 · 49th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

39th → 9th percentile

Success rate

21st → 15th percentile

Explosive rate

46th → 45th percentile

Yards / carry

39th → 45th percentile

TD rate

64th → 31st 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 · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

209 carries

18%

Stuffed (≤0)

39%

Grind (1–3)

32%

Chunk (4–9)

12%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home7g	77.4	4.9	0.3
Road6g	72.5	5.3	0.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	80.6	5.2	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	68.8	4.9	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Willie Fritz

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

56 · #95 of 326 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #95 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #13 of 35 Big 12 RBs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Houston	200	977	4.9	6	--
2024	Rice	159	780	4.9	9	--
2023	Rice	121	771	6.4	7	--
2022	Rice	27	128	4.7	0	--
Career		507	2,656	5.2	22	--

Season	Team
2025	Houston	34	254	7.5	3	--
2024	Rice	61	472	7.7	2	--
2023	Rice	43	403	9.4	3	--
2022	Rice	8	24	3.0	1	--
Career		146	1,153	7.9	9	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 8 · 2025

W 31–28

vs Arizona

100 rush yds (20 car)

Edged out Arizona at home in a shootout.

With C. Weigman — 164 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 94.5 · 98 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD · L. Dougherty — 45 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 47 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Rice · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +4.29Dean Connors run for 42 yds for a TD (Ethan Sanchez KICK)
Week 13 · TCU · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +4.21(04:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #44 D.Connors rush middle for 54 yards gain to the TCU37 (#4 N.Obiazor), 1ST DOWN
Week 3 · Colorado · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA -3.79Dean Connors run for no gain to the COLO 17
Week 3 · Colorado · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA -3.79Dean Connors run for no gain to the COLO 17
Week 8 · Arizona · 4&3 · Q2 · EPA +3.00Conner Weigman pass complete to Dean Connors for 33 yds to the ARIZ 10 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · LSU · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.62Dean Connors 20 Yd Run (Ethan Sanchez Kick)
Week 7 · Oklahoma State · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.53Conner Weigman pass complete to Dean Connors for 6 yds for a TD (Ethan Sanchez KICK) (Ethan Sanchez KICK)
Week 13 · TCU · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.45(01:43) Shotgun #1 C.Weigman pass complete deep left to #44 D.Connors caught at TCU41, for 29 yards to the TCU41, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 11 · UCF · 1&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.42(07:44) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 C.Weigman pass complete short right to #44 D.Connors caught at UCF10, for 9 yards to the UCF00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 07:38 #92 E.Sanchez kick attempt good (H: #15 J.Sock, LS: #56 J.Garza)
Week 8 · Arizona · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.36Conner Weigman pass complete to Dean Connors for 1 yd to the ARIZ 40 for a 1ST down Arizona Penalty, unsportsmanlike conduct (Deshawn McKnight) to the ARIZ 45 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 27-0vs Stephen F. Austin	15	50	3.3	0	15
Wk 2	W 35-9@ Rice	13	132	10.2	2	54	Season-high 132 yds
Wk 3	W 36-20vs Colorado	22	89	4.0	1	18
Wk 5	W 27-24@ Oregon State	17	53	3.1	0	8
Wk 6	L 11-35vs Texas Tech	13	31	2.4	0	11
Wk 7	W 39-17@ Oklahoma State	15	83	5.5	1	19
Wk 8	W 31-28vs Arizona	20	100	5.0	0	13
Wk 9	W 24-16@ Arizona State	20	48	2.4	0	12
Wk 10	L 35-45vs West Virginia	13	71	5.5	0	23
Wk 11	W 30-27@ UCF	10	68	6.8	0	25
Wk 13	L 14-17vs TCU	12	75	6.3	0	54
Wk 14	W 31-24@ Baylor	14	51	3.6	1	13
Bowl	W 38-35vs LSU	16	126	7.9	1	35
Total		200	977	5.1	6	54

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

~ our read

38.6%Carry share

29.6%Q4-lead share

58.3%In competitive games

38.6% of carries overall (209/541) → 29.6% of Q4-with-lead carries (24/81) — 58.3% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

7/113rd/4th & short

8/21Inside-5 share

7 of 11 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (63.6%). 8 of the team's 21 inside-the-5 carries (38.1%).

2026 Outlook

Houston

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Running back · Houston

Returning around him

81% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
1 Houston player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +1 net (18 in / 17 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Houston · Last season: 10-3 (AP #25) · Talent rank #57 · 2026 recruiting class #38

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Back

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Emari Demercado’s 2021 season.

Emari Demercado

79%match

TCU · 2021

Deion Smith

Colorado · 2022

78%

Jalen Berger

Michigan State · 2022

77%

Jordan Mcdonald

Boston College · 2025

74%

Lopini Katoa

BYU · 2022

72%

Matches Emari on

Yards / carry

Receiving share

Rush TD rate

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Jordan Mcdonald's senior season at Boston College (2025).

Jordan Mcdonald

80%match

Boston College · 2025

Jo'quavious Marks

Mississippi State · 2023

76%

Donovan Edwards

Michigan · 2024

75%

Matt Jones

Southern Miss · 2025

73%

Myles Montgomery

UCF · 2025

72%

Matches Jordan on

Receiving share

Weight

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Player DNA

Players who play like Dean Connors

Jordan Mcdonald

Boston College · 2025

74%

Lequint Allen

Syracuse · 2024

66%

Gregory DeRosiers

Memphis · 2025

60%

Heisman trajectory

Heisman Trajectory · 2025

Peak #60

Final rank

#126

Avg #94.0

Finalist prob 4%

Peaked at #60 this season.

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

Dean Connors

Fans hotter than the country

202211 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back

Players who play like Dean Connors

Heisman trajectory

Peak #60