Demarcus Lacey

Senior wide receiver for Marshall. 2025: 65 catches, 769 receiving yards, 5 TD.

WR · Marshall · Sr. · #4

6′0″ · 190 lb · Birmingham, AL

CFB Index 77 · #49 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Marshall for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 6:30 pm ETat Missouri StatePlaster Sports ComplexMarshall by 3.5

How he plays

Wins underneath on volume and route precision.

Catch rate: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

769

receiving yards · 2025

65 catches · 5 TD · 11.8 per catch

Backed by 10 rec · 146 yds · 2 TD -- top 1% catches game.

Swing playSwung Marshall from 30% to 51% to win.Marshall at Louisiana · 54-51

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Marshall. 2025: 65 catches, 769 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to North Alabama in 2022.
Transferred from Jacksonville State to Marshall in 2025.

His career, year by year

Demarcus Lacey

WR · Marshall · Sr · #4

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Across two seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Rich Rodriguez and Tony Gibson. His first career honor landed in 2025: All-Sun Belt. The receipt: 146 rec yds, 11 rush yds against Louisiana — Week 5, 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

2024Jacksonville State9-5HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy

2025Marshall5-7HC: Tony Gibson · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

77All-Conference level #49 of 485?

High confidenceBreakout13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: catch rate (97th percentile). Strength: epa / target (87th percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#24 / 798 · 97th pct

89.4%

EPA / target#105 / 798 · 87th pct

0.70

Explosive rate#374 / 798 · 53rd pct

10.6%

Yards / catch#481 / 798 · 40th pct

10.7

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#9 / 287 · 97th pct

157

Receptions#36 / 558 · 93rd pct

Rec yards#75 / 558 · 87th pct

769

Long catch#100 / 558 · 81st pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 218 · 81st pct

Rec TDs#96 / 558 · 78th pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Yards / catch#349 / 558 · 37th pct

11.8

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

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

23%15 of his 66 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	4.3	49.8	9.8	0.2
Road6g	6.5	78.3	11.2	0.7

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.7	66.0	11.5	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	6.2	62.2	9.8	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tony Gibson

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

77 · #49 of 485 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #49 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #6 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.

One of 52 players who were elite at two different things in 2025. See the others ›

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Marshall	65	769	11.8	5	--
2024	Jacksonville State	8	84	10.5	0	--
Career		73	853	11.7	5	--

Season	Team
2025	Marshall	19	157	--	218	--
2024	Jacksonville State	5	13	--	--	--
Career		24	170	--	218	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2025

W 48–24

vs Old Dominion

14 rush yds (1 car)

Dominant 24-point win at home against Old Dominion.

With C. Del Rio-Wilson — 219 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 82.1 · 95 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD · N. Totten — 38 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 54 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 5 · Louisiana · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.97Demarcus Lacey 32 Yd pass from Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (Lorcan Quinn Kick)
Week 7 · Old Dominion · 2&11 · Q3 · EPA +3.87Carlos Del Rio-Wilson pass complete to Demarcus Lacey for 52 yds to the ODU 14 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Middle Tennessee · 3&9 · Q4 · EPA +3.36Carlos Del Rio-Wilson pass complete to Demarcus Lacey for 21 yds to the MTSU 45 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Georgia Southern · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +3.25(13:42) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 C.Del Rio-Wilson pass complete deep right to #4 D.Lacey caught at GS 25, for 34 yards to the GS 22, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 5 · Louisiana · 2&9 · Q4 · EPA +3.15Demarcus Lacey 27 Yd pass from Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (Lorcan Quinn Kick)
Week 7 · Old Dominion · 2&11 · Q3 · EPA +2.93Demarcus Lacey 15 Yd pass from Carlos Del Rio-Wilson (Lorcan Quinn Kick)
Week 12 · Georgia State · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.76(05:30) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 C.Del Rio-Wilson pass complete short middle to #4 D.Lacey caught at GSU00, for 5 yards to the GSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 05:30, 1ST DOWN #90 L.Quinn kick attempt good (H: #93 N.Totten, LS: #46 G.Magorien)
Week 4 · Middle Tennessee · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.73Demarcus Lacey run for 32 yds to the MTSU 43 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · James Madison · 2&11 · Q1 · EPA +2.68(05:34) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 C.Del Rio-Wilson pass complete short right to #4 D.Lacey caught at MAR44, for 17 yards to the JMU47 (#32 D.Barksdale), 1ST DOWN
Week 5 · Louisiana · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.60Carlos Del Rio-Wilson pass complete to Demarcus Lacey for 11 yds to the UL 34 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 7-45@ Georgia	3	11	3.7	0	7
Wk 2	L 20-21vs Missouri State	2	2	1.0	0	2
Wk 3	W 38-7vs Eastern Kentucky	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 4	W 42-28@ Middle Tennessee	5	116	23.2	1	68
Wk 5	L 51-54@ Louisiana	10	146	14.6	2	35	Season-high 146 yds
Wk 7	W 48-24vs Old Dominion	8	121	15.1	1	52
Wk 8	W 40-37vs Texas State	7	88	12.6	0	30
Wk 10	L 27-44@ Coastal Carolina	5	24	4.8	0	10
Wk 11	L 23-35vs James Madison	5	35	7.0	0	17
Wk 12	W 30-18@ Georgia State	4	39	9.8	1	14
Wk 13	L 24-26@ App State	12	134	11.2	0	38	134-yard receiving day
Wk 14	L 19-24vs Georgia Southern	4	53	13.3	0	34
Total		65	769	10.6	5	68

How he plays

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

CFB Index positional classification

Money down · 3rd-down role

Money down

fact

9/163rd-down conversions

1.203rd-down EPA/target

0.58Other-downs EPA/target

12 of 16 caught on third down (75.0%) — EPA/target 1.20 vs 0.58 elsewhere (9 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

Marshall

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Marshall

Returning around him

99% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
Transfer portal: +6 net (28 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Marshall · Last season: 5-7 · Talent rank #97 · 2026 recruiting class #123

DNA match

Player DNA

Slot Technician

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Hank Beatty’s 2025 season.

Hank Beatty

78%match

Illinois · 2025

All-Big Ten

Chase Hendricks

Ohio · 2025

All-MAC

74%

Khalil Shakir

Boise State · 2021

All-Mountain WestNFL Rd 5

72%

Josh Kelly

Texas Tech · 2024

All-Big 12

71%

Jarrin Pierce

Middle Tennessee · 2020

All-Conference USA

70%

Matches Hank on

Yards / reception

Weight

Height

Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Anthony Schwartz’s path through Auburn.

Anthony Schwartz

100%match

Auburn · 2020

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 28

Latrell Caples

Boise State · 2025

All-Mountain West

99%

Ma'jon Wright

Arizona · 2020

99%

Ezrah Archie

Georgia Southern · 2022

99%

Jeremiah Miller

Stephen F. Austin · 2021

98%

Matches Anthony on

Yards per reception

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Hank Beatty's senior season at Illinois (2025).

Hank Beatty

81%match

Illinois · 2025

All-Big Ten

Logan Loya

UCLA · 2023

81%

Joey Hobert

Texas State · 2023

All-Sun Belt

80%

Xavier Weaver

Colorado · 2023

All-AAC

79%

Derwin Burgess Jr.

Georgia Southern · 2024

79%

Matches Hank on

Weight

Yards / reception

EPA / play (adj)

Player DNA

Players who play like Demarcus Lacey

Hank Beatty

Illinois · 2025

78%

Lewis Bond

Boston College · 2025

70%

The receiver room · Marshall

#4Demarcus LaceyWR · Sr.769 receiving yards · 2025
De'Andre TamarezWR · Sr.395 receiving yards · 2025
#2Adrian NortonWR · Sr.383 receiving yards · 2025
#5Xayvion Turner-BradshawWR · Sr.109 receiving yards · 2025
#3Chris CulliverWR · Jr.100 receiving yards · 2025

19 more on the roster · Marshall team page

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

Demarcus Lacey

2022

20245 games

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Slot Technician

Players who play like Demarcus Lacey

The receiver room · Marshall