Devonte Ross

#5 · WR · Sr. · Penn State5′10″ · 170 lb · Cartersville, GA

Devonte Ross is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Penn State.

Ross moves the chains on third down. The two seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Gerad Parker and Terry Smith. First career honor, 2024: All-Sun Belt. One game to point at: 115 receiving yards and 7 receptions against Northwestern — Week 7, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Luke FlorieaKent State · 2024 · 88% season match
DT SheffieldRutgers · 2025 · 83% season match
Tahj WashingtonMemphis · 2020 · 83% season match
Taylor MorinWake Forest · 2021 · 80% season match
Trebor PenaSyracuse · 2024 · 72% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Penn State	36	501	13.9	5	75
2024	Troy	76	1,044	13.7	11	98
Career		112	1,545	13.8	16	98

Season	Team
2025	Penn State	2	11	--	54	--
2024	Troy	9	35	214	154	1
Career		11	46	214	208	1

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 46-11vs Nevada	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 2	W 34-0vs Florida International	3	61	20.3	1	42
Wk 3	W 52-6vs Villanova	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 5	L 24-30vs No. 6 Oregon	4	48	12.0	2	35	2 TD catches
Wk 7	L 21-22vs Northwestern	7	115	16.4	0	67	Season-high 115 yds
Wk 8	L 24-25@ Iowa	2	15	7.5	0	11
Wk 10	L 14-38@ No. 1 Ohio State	5	26	5.2	0	9
Wk 12	W 28-10@ Michigan State	2	79	39.5	2	75	2 TD catches
Wk 13	W 37-10vs Nebraska	1	28	28.0	0	28
Wk 14	W 40-36@ Rutgers	2	29	14.5	0	19
Bowl	W 22-10vs Clemson	8	84	10.5	0	35
Total		36	501	13.9	5	75

Signature game

Week 5 · 2025

L 24-30

vs Oregon

4 rec · 48 yds · 2 TD

With G. Nwosu — 44.8 yards per punt · 5 punts · 1 inside the 20 · D. Allar — 137 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 68.6 · 42 rush yds (9 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 12 · Michigan State · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +6.08Grunkemeyer to Ross: a 75-yard touchdown pass.
Week 7 · Northwestern · 3rd and 5 · Q4 · EPA +4.52Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 67 yds to the NU 19 for a
Week 1 · Clemson · 3rd and 7 · Q4 · EPA +3.78Grunkemeyer to Ross: a 35-yard pass.
Week 2 · Florida International · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.29Allar to Ross: a 42-yard touchdown pass.
Week 7 · Northwestern · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +3.01Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 20 yds to the NU 46 for a
Week 5 · Oregon · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +2.97Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 35 yds for a TD (Ryan Barker KICK)

4 more plays

Week 5 · Oregon · 3rd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +2.94Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 14 yds to the ORE 46 for a
Week 12 · Michigan State · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +2.70Grunkemeyer to Ross: a 4-yard touchdown pass.
Week 2 · Florida International · 3rd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +2.28Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 13 yds to the PSU 42 for a
Week 5 · Oregon · 1st and 7 · Q4 · EPA +2.20Drew Allar pass complete to Devonte Ross for 7 yds for a TD (Ryan Barker KICK)

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

28%12 of his 43 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2024Troy4-8HC: Gerad Parker · Run-leaning

2025Penn State7-6HC: James Franklin and Terry Smith · Run-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 52 (#208 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

52Rotational starter #208 of 485 · 2025?

Fading13 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: catch rate (90th percentile). Strength: epa / target (90th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#79 / 798 · 90th pct

81.4%

EPA / target#81 / 798 · 90th pct

0.74

TD rate#178 / 798 · 78th pct

4.7%

Explosive rate#320 / 798 · 60th pct

11.6%

Yards / catch#422 / 798 · 47th pct

11.3

Box-score rates (8)

Long catch#43 / 558 · 91st pct

Rec TDs#96 / 558 · 78th pct

Yards / catch#209 / 558 · 62nd pct

13.9

Rec yards#223 / 558 · 60th pct

501

Receptions#218 / 558 · 60th pct

Rush yards#151 / 287 · 47th pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

83rd → 90th percentile

Explosive rate

66th → 60th percentile

Catch rate

91st → 90th percentile

TD rate

83rd → 78th percentile

Yards / catch

60th → 47th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2025. 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

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.8	44.7	15.5	0.5
Road4g	2.8	37.2	16.7	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.0	54.0	12.5	0.5
Weeks 8+5g	2.4	35.4	18.9	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Terry Smith

Pass share

42.0%

339 pass / 469 run

Plays / game

62.2

13 games

Team sack rate

5.3%

318 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

36 catches and 2 carries in 11 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

52 · #208 of 485 WRs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #208 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #31 of 61 Big Ten WRs

How the All-Big Ten base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).

Starter

The No. 1,157 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the Big Ten as a senior.