CFB Zeitgeist Score
65
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by rec yards at the 72nd percentile.
Desirrio Riles
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
362 REC YDS · 28 REC · 2 REC TD
2026 Outlook
Returning to East Carolina for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Tight end · East Carolina
Returning around him
- 51% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
- 1 East Carolina player drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -3 net (23 in / 26 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
East Carolina · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #78 · 2026 recruiting class #77
TE · EAST CAROLINA · AMERICAN ATHLETIC
Desirrio Riles
- 3
- #6
- 6-3 | 238 lb
- Jacksonville, FL
Heisman Heat
#4178
<1% win probability
Fan Belief
Awaiting
Player-specific FI not yet ingested. Falls back to team mood below.
Respect Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
Reality Gap
Awaiting
Coming online with player-level FI.
ACCOLADE PROBABILITY
Heisman
<1%
TOP TE AWARD
Mackey
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2023–2025+1107%
Up 1107% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★
CFB
College
East Carolina
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Identity & Role
The durable bio layer: position, size, hometown, and roster role.
Recruiting Pedigree
How big the prospect was before college, and whether the later career arc beat that expectation.
| Class | Profile | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 3-star | 0.8508 | No. 1373 recruit | HighSchool | East Carolina |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| No transfer portal moves on file for this player. | ||
Heisman Lens · 2024 Season · Final
Where the player landed at the end of the listed season — final nowcast rank, win/finalist/ballot probabilities, and the cleanest official Heisman placement on file.
HIGH CONFIDENCE· through week 16Heisman Futures
Not yet listed on major futures markets.
Achievements
- Program Benchmark 5.5% Program Benchmark Season leader for the program at the player's position across the headline volume metric (passing yards / rushing yards / receiving yards). Held by 5.5% of the 2025 pool. Team leader in receiving yards (362).
Selector Grid · 2025
AP—
FWAA—
AFCA—
WCFF—
SN—
SI—
Selector recognition fills in once the major honors lists (AP, FWAA, AFCA, Walter Camp, Sporting News, SI) are scraped and ingested.
NIL · Recruiting · NFL Draft
Market value, pedigree & pro outcome
Recruit stars
★★★☆☆
to East Carolina
Composite
0.8508
#1373 national
Today’s Hot-Take
The Hot-Take engine fires when this player’s percentile profile crosses a defensible threshold (top 10% in a cohort, 100+ snap sample). When it’s quiet, the model is honoring its “must be defensible” rule.
Anti-Take
PENDINGThe contrarian read fires when the rules-engine detects a stat that complicates the Hot-Take. Quiet here means the model hasn’t found a defensible counter yet — not that one doesn’t exist.
The Room on Desirrio Riles
Fan sentiment ·
Belief Meter
—
Awaiting per-cohort signal
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Rivals · n=3
- National · n=2
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Desirrio Riles
Only 3 rival mention(s) — below the 4-mention floor for a defensible read.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Yards per reception
12.9
yds
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #233 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 56th
Why it matters
#233 of 531 All FBS WRs at 12.9 yards per reception (28 catches).
Vs cohort
This player 12.9 (56th)
MODERATE · n=28 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Receiving yards (total)#340 / 531
- Receiving TDs#302 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 14 at Florida Atlantic — 87 ypr
Result W 42-3
The week the volume broke through — put up 87 yds at Florida Atlantic.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 10g
362Rec yards
28Receptions
2Rec TDs
Per game
36.2Rec yards
3Receptions
0Rec TDs
Projected (13g)
470.6Rec yards
36Receptions
3Rec TDs
To hit 700-yard receiver (currently 362): needs 112.7/game over remaining 3.
To hit 1,000-yard receiver (currently 362): needs 212.7/game over remaining 3.
To hit 60-catch season (currently 28): needs 10.7/game over remaining 3.
To hit 80-catch season (currently 28): needs 17.3/game over remaining 3.
To hit 8 receiving TDs (currently 2): needs 2/game over remaining 3.
To hit 10 receiving TDs (currently 2): needs 2.7/game over remaining 3.
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Desirrio Riles's story is about how role and output meet each other. For East Carolina, the card already shows enough current-season production to explain why he is on the serious-player board, and the next layer is determining whether the profile is just very good or actually distinctive.
2025 Season · Final
Traditional stats first. Advanced context underneath.
Last season
TE season snapshot
2025 season snapshot | final
2025 season snapshot | finalData: CFBD player stats + local Heisman modelPeer context: same position + same level
Player identity What kind of player is this?
30-second read
What kind of player is this?
Target magnet | Big-play receiver against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
28 87th
YDS
362 90th
YPR
12.9 80th
TD
2 84th
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 10 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 17-24@ NC State | 6 | 49 | 8.2 | 0 | 18 | |
| Wk 2 | W 56-3vs Campbell | 1 | 18 | 18.0 | 1 | 18 | |
| Wk 3 | W 38-0@ Coastal Carolina | 1 | 7 | 7.0 | 0 | 7 | |
| Wk 5 | W 28-6vs Army | 1 | 19 | 19.0 | 0 | 19 | |
| Wk 8 | W 41-27vs Tulsa | 4 | 45 | 11.3 | 0 | 14 | |
| Wk 10 | W 45-14@ Temple | 2 | 50 | 25.0 | 0 | 31 | |
| Wk 11 | W 48-22vs Charlotte | 2 | 15 | 7.5 | 0 | 17 | |
| Wk 12 | W 31-27vs Memphis | 3 | 62 | 20.7 | 0 | 42 | |
| Wk 13 | L 24-58@ UTSA | 1 | 10 | 10.0 | 0 | 10 | |
| Wk 14 | W 42-3@ Florida Atlantic | 7 | 87 | 12.4 | 1 | 27 | Season-high 87 yds |
| Total | 28 | 362 | 13.9 | 2 | 42 |
Season-by-season tables Career rows + per-season box score
Traditional history
Traditional Stats
Season rows up top, career context at the bottom.
Season context · Team result + system
2023East Carolina2-10HC: Mike Houston · Balanced
2025East Carolina9-4HC: Blake Harrell · Run-leaning, fast tempo
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | East Carolina | 28 | 362 | 12.9 | 2 | -- |
| 2023 | East Carolina | 9 | 30 | 3.3 | 0 | -- |
| Career | 2 loaded seasons | 37 | 392 | 10.6 | 2 | -- |
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The tight end's share of the passing offense, which helps distinguish a featured receiving tight end from a secondary option.
A blended usage view that shows how often the offense flows through the tight end compared with other same-level peers.
Every percentile is compared against players at the same position and level, so an FBS quarterback is judged against FBS quarterbacks, not the whole sport.
The top tables stick to the stats fans already know from broadcasts and box scores. Advanced context is pushed underneath instead of replacing the basics.
Open full stat explorer
| Group | Metric | Value | Rank | Pct | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receptions | 28 | #63/475 | 87th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 362 | #49/475 | 90th pct | Volumevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 2 | #79/475 | 84th pct | Scoringvs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 12.9 | #94/475 | 80th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Pass share | 11.0% | #70/468 | 85th pct | Air-game usagevs FBS TE |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 42 | #63/475 | 87th pct | Metricvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 7.4% | #61/468 | 87th pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 5.1% | #147/468 | 69th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Role share | 4.9% | #87/468 | 82nd pct | Share of team offensevs FBS TE |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 4.8% | #125/468 | 74th pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 4.7% | #93/468 | 80th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS TE |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 4.0% | #120/468 | 75th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS TE |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.0% | #58/468 | 88th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS TE |
Player Standing
Universal 17-step ladder. Tier pills below; accolade streams nested.
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION
On-team2-deepStartingRecognizedEliteApex
AWAITING CLASSIFICATION · Rung None of 16
Why he’s here
Standing classification populates when honors, Heisman, and roster signals all align.
What moves him up
What moves him down
Accolade streams
Status—Awaiting tracker
The Mackey award tracker integrates per-week probability once a dedicated scraper for this award lands. Confirmed past winners and finalists for this player will surface here.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 10 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 2.2 | 31.8 | 15.3 | 0.2 |
| Road5g | 3.4 | 40.6 | 12.5 | 0.2 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins8g | 2.6 | 37.9 | 15.1 | 0.2 |
| Losses2g | 3.5 | 29.5 | 9.1 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-74g | 2.2 | 23.2 | 13.1 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 3.2 | 44.8 | 14.5 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort
65Solid starter
Elite: yards / catch (82nd).
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · TE · 2024
Percentile Card
Advanced opponent-adjusted percentile bars are coming soon for this player.
P4G5All FBS
Advanced Savant
Opponent-adjusted advanced metrics with a cohort filter.
Advanced opponent-adjusted metrics are coming soon for this player. Selected cohort: P4.
Peer Comparator · Fingerprint match
Three closest profiles by box-rate percentile
Desirrio RilesEast CarolinaRiley NowakowskiIndiana· 93% simEthan ConnerTroy· 88% simJyrin JohnsonBowling Green· 87% sim
Yards / catch
Rec yards
Long catch
Receptions
Rec TDs
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Complete TE
Dual-threat: blocks when needed, catches when needed. Coveted on both sides.
TE
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Christian Trahan’s 2021 season.
Christian Trahan
77%match
#2
Jjay Mcafee
77%
#3
John Langan
75%
#4
Ryan Jones
73%
#5
Lance Mason
All-Big Ten
68%
Matches Christian on
Total EPA (college ability)
Yards / reception
TD rate
Differs from Christian on
Reception volume (lower)
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Luke Lindenmeyer's junior season at Nebraska (2025).
Luke Lindenmeyer
86%match
#2
Toby Payne
All-Sun Belt
83%
#3
Jaheim Bell
All-ACCNFL Rd 7
81%
#4
Bryce Damous
77%
#5
Bru McCoy
76%
Matches Luke on
TD rate
Total EPA (college ability)
EPA / play (adj)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Blake Harrell
Pass share
44.5%
440 pass / 548 run
Plays / game
76.0
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
4.7%
343 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning, fast tempo.
Coaching Lineage · 2023–2025
2 coaches2023
Mike Houston
East Carolina
2025era →
Blake Harrell
East Carolina
Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Houston → Blake Harrell. Worth noting in scheme + development context.
Bio · Recruiting · Transfer · Roster
Off-field context — switch tabs to drill into recruit profile, transfer arc, or roster timeline.
HometownJacksonville, FL
Height6'3"
Weight238 lb
Class3
PositionTE
Jersey6
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamEast Carolina
ConferenceAmerican Athletic
Joined2025
Career arc3 season(s)
Trophy Case · Detail
Every honor on the ledger, broken out by stream and selector.
No formal honors on the ledger yet
All-America, all-conference, player-of-the-week, watch-list, and postseason awards land here when they're earned. The absence is the signal: most players never collect formal honors, and that's its own kind of context.
Honors Timeline
Season-end distinction and week-by-week recognition on one timeline.
| Season | Honor | Scope | Team / Selector | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No formal honors on the ledger yet. All-America, all-conference, weekly awards, watch lists, and postseason trophies land here when they’re earned. | ||||
Heisman By Year
Modeled rank and official finish by season.
| Season | Team | Role | Latest Model | Forecast | Win | Finalist | Official Finish | Points | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | East Carolina | TE3 | #4178 | #4056 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | American Athletic |
| 2023 | East Carolina | TE3 | #4769 | #5153 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | American Athletic |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | East Carolina | American Athletic | TE | 3 | No. 6 | 6-3 | 238 lb | Jacksonville, FL |
| 2024 | East Carolina | American Athletic | TE | 3 | No. 6 | 6-3 | 238 lb | Jacksonville, FL |
| 2023 | East Carolina | American Athletic | TE | 3 | No. 6 | 6-3 | 238 lb | Jacksonville, FL |