#87

Derrick Deese Jr.

Senior tight end for San José State. 2021: 47 catches, 730 receiving yards, 4 TD.

TE · San José State · Sr. · #87

6′4″ · 235 lb · La Palma, CA

CFB Index 76 · #8 of 119 TEsMedium-low confidenceSan José State 2021 alumnus

The story

Senior tight end for San José State. 2021: 47 catches, 730 receiving yards, 4 TD.

The record fills in as he plays.

The full story, with sources

How it ended

Three seasons at San José State, 1,149 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 130 yds vs New Mexico State.New Mexico State · W 37-312021

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

San José State

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

1 coach

2019–2021

Brent Brennan

San José State

Played his entire career under Brent Brennan.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Brent Brennan — 17-15 over that span.

2019San José State5-7HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-heavy

2020San José State7-1HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-leaning

2021San José State5-7HC: Brent Brennan · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

76All-Conference level #8 of 119?

Medium-low confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (98th percentile). Strength: epa / target (92nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#16 / 655 · 98th pct

29.8%

EPA / target#53 / 655 · 92nd pct

1.10

Catch rate#58 / 655 · 91st pct

89.4%

Yards / catch#122 / 655 · 81st pct

15.3

TD rate#303 / 655 · 54th pct

6.4%

Box-score rates (5)

Rec yards#6 / 146 · 96th pct

730

Receptions#13 / 146 · 91st pct

Yards / catch#13 / 146 · 91st pct

15.5

Rec TDs#28 / 146 · 76th pct

Long catch#53 / 146 · 63rd pct

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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 & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	4.3	74.8	16.2	0.3
Road6g	3.5	46.8	12.7	0.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.6	63.9	16.1	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	4.4	56.6	12.1	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Ken Niumatalolo

Pass share

51.0%

106 pass / 102 run

Plays / game

69.3

3 games

Team sack rate

1.8%

110 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

our read surprisingly productive for a tight end with no award recognition yet — top-9% yards per catch, top-4% reception volume.2021 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

76 · #8 of 119 TEs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	San José State	47	730	15.5	4	--
2020	San José State	20	240	12.0	5	--
2019	San José State	19	179	9.4	2	--
Career		86	1,149	13.4	11	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2021

W 45–14

vs Southern Utah

3 rec · 72 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 31-point win at home against Southern Utah.

With N. Starkel — 394 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 94.7 · 3 rush yds (2 car) · 1 TD · S. Olson — 1 rec · 70 yds · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · San Diego State · 3&12 · Q1 · EPA +3.63Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 21 yds to the SDSt 38 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · San Diego State · 3&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.39Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 19 yds to the SDSt 39 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · New Mexico State · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.97Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 27 yds to the NMxSt 47 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Nevada · 4&2 · Q4 · EPA +2.85Nick Starkel pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 2 yds for a TD, (Matt Mercurio KICK)
Week 6 · Colorado State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.59Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 18 yds for a TD, (Matt Mercurio KICK)
Week 5 · New Mexico State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.53Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 12 yds for a TD, (Matt Mercurio KICK)
Week 13 · Fresno State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.13Nick Starkel pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 31 yds to the SJSt 41 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · New Mexico State · 2&14 · Q3 · EPA +2.10Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 25 yds to the SJSt 36 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Colorado State · 3&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.02Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 12 yds to the SJSt 45 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Wyoming · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +2.00Nick Nash pass complete to Derrick Deese Jr. for 10 yds to the SJSt 37 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 45-14vs Southern Utah	3	72	24.0	1	38
Wk 1	L 7-30@ USC	3	63	21.0	0	29
Wk 3	W 17-13@ Hawai'i	1	7	7.0	0	7
Wk 4	L 3-23@ Western Michigan	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 5	W 37-31vs New Mexico State	7	130	18.6	1	27	Season-high 130 yds
Wk 6	L 14-32@ Colorado State	4	52	13.0	1	20
Wk 7	L 13-19vs San Diego State	6	113	18.8	0	37
Wk 8	W 27-20@ UNLV	6	106	17.7	0	32
Wk 9	W 27-21vs Wyoming	5	81	16.2	0	23
Wk 10	L 24-27@ Nevada	6	43	7.2	1	17
Wk 11	L 17-48vs Utah State	2	10	5.0	0	5
Wk 13	L 9-40vs Fresno State	3	43	14.3	0	31
Total		47	730	14.4	4	38

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

Derrick Deese Jr.

2021 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

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