CFB Zeitgeist Score
59
Solid starter in the position cohort. Carried by rec yards at the 72nd percentile.
Donaven McCulley
Below the discourse floor — the honest stats-only state.
588 REC YDS · 39 REC · 3 REC TD
2026 Outlook
Returning to Michigan for 2026
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Wide receiver · Michigan
Returning around him
- 40% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
- 6 Michigan players drafted to NFL
- Transfer portal: -16 net (17 in / 33 out)
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Michigan · Last season: 9-4 (AP #18) · Talent rank #11 · 2026 recruiting class #6
WR · MICHIGAN · BIG TEN
Donaven McCulley
- 4
- #1
- 6-5 | 215 lb
- Indianapolis, IN
Heisman Heat
#1038
<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 WR AWARD
Biletnikoff
—
CONSENSUS
All-American
—
Player Standing · 17 rungs
Tier 2 · StarterR07 · Impact starter
Impact starter. Producing measurable value above replacement.
Not on team2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
In Their Words
191 windows · 2025 fan posts
marsh×23.5set×24.6feet×40.0morgan×25.2need×16.0ball×13.9wrs×13.3good×7.1
Development Trajectory · receiving yards
2022–2025+248%
Up 248% from first season to most-recent.
Career Arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 4-star | 0.9167 | No. 223 recruit | HighSchool | Indiana |
Transfer Arc
Portal movement changes role, context, and perception. This keeps that path in one place.
| Season | Move | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Indiana -> Michigan | 3-star | 0.8700 | Immediate |
| 2024 | Indiana -> -- | 4-star | 0.9100 | Withdrawn |
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.
No achievements unlocked yet this season.
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 Indiana
Composite
0.9167
#223 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 Donaven McCulley
Fan sentiment · Season 2025 conversation window
Belief Meter
59
Quietly Bullish
Top Take
“”
Trajectory
Per-cohort trajectory lands when historical bucket data is aggregated.
Cohort divergence map
- Own fans · n=16
Rival Radar
How rival fanbases talk about Donaven McCulley
No rival-bucket mentions in the current season.
2025 Signature · 2025 season
Yards per reception
15.1
yds
All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions
National rank #101 of 531
Percentile vs All FBS WRs, min 20 receptions 81st
Why it matters
#101 of 531 All FBS WRs at 15.1 yards per reception (39 catches).
Vs cohort
This player 15.1 (81th)
HIGH · n=39 cohort 531
- Also strong
- Receiving yards (total)#153 / 531
- Receiving TDs#222 / 531
Signature Moment
Week 6 vs Wisconsin — 112 ypr
Result W 24-10
The week the volume broke through — put up 112 yds vs Wisconsin.
Season Pace · Projection
Where the receiving totals stand
Through 13g
588Rec yards
39Receptions
3Rec TDs
Per game
45.2Rec yards
3Receptions
0Rec TDs
Final
588Rec yards
39Receptions
3Rec TDs
What made this player interesting
The fast read on the thing that makes this player more than a generic stat line.
Donaven McCulley's story is about how role and output meet each other. For Michigan, 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
WR 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?
Receiving weapon against FBS receiving peers.
2025 Season · Final
2025 season snapshot | final
Receiving
REC
39 83rd
YDS
588 86th
YPR
15.1 77th
TD
3 82nd
Rushing
CAR
2 53rd
YDS
5 35th
YPC
2.5 31st
TD
0 81st
Game Log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 34-17vs New Mexico | 4 | 31 | 7.8 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 2 | L 13-24@ Oklahoma | 3 | 91 | 30.3 | 0 | 44 | |
| Wk 3 | W 63-3vs Central Michigan | 3 | 36 | 12.0 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 4 | W 30-27@ Nebraska | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 0 | 16 | |
| Wk 6 | W 24-10vs Wisconsin | 6 | 112 | 18.7 | 1 | 33 | Season-high 112 yds |
| Wk 7 | L 13-31@ USC | 3 | 39 | 13.0 | 1 | 19 | |
| Wk 8 | W 24-7vs Washington | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 15 | |
| Wk 9 | W 31-20@ Michigan State | 1 | 9 | 9.0 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 10 | W 21-16vs Purdue | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 | |
| Wk 12 | W 24-22@ Northwestern | 4 | 59 | 14.8 | 0 | 26 | |
| Wk 13 | W 45-20@ Maryland | 2 | 46 | 23.0 | 1 | 24 | |
| Wk 14 | L 9-27vs Ohio State | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 0 | 26 | |
| Bowl | L 27-41@ Texas | 4 | 54 | 13.5 | 0 | 19 | |
| Total | 39 | 588 | 14.3 | 3 | 44 |
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
2021Indiana2-10HC: Tom Allen · Pass-heavy, slow tempo
2022Indiana4-8HC: Tom Allen · Pass-leaning
2023Indiana3-9HC: Tom Allen · Run-leaning
2024Indiana11-2HC: Curt Cignetti · Run-leaning
2025Michigan9-4HC: Sherrone Moore · Run-leaning
Advanced layer Usage, value, and context
Advanced metrics second
Advanced Metrics
Usage, value, and opponent-adjusted context.
The player's share of a team's passing-game involvement. It is the fastest way to see whether the receiver is a true focal point or more of a complementary piece.
A blended workload view that accounts for catches, designed touches, and any return-game involvement that shapes the overall profile.
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 | 39 | #192/1110 | 83rd pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving yards | 588 | #158/1107 | 86th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving TD | 3 | #206/1111 | 82nd pct | Scoringvs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Yards / catch | 15.1 | #258/1106 | 77th pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Pass share | 19.9% | #90/1137 | 92nd pct | Air-game usagevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rushing LONG | 11 | #156/346 | 55th pct | Metricvs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rushing yards | 5 | #259/397 | 35th pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Yards / carry | 2.5 | #271/393 | 31st pct | Efficiencyvs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Carries | 2 | #194/407 | 53rd pct | Volumevs FBS WR |
| Rushing | Rush TD | 0 | #81/411 | 81st pct | Scoringvs FBS WR |
| Receiving | Receiving LONG | 44 | #368/1105 | 67th pct | Metricvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Passing-down usage | 13.7% | #79/1137 | 93rd pct | Known-passing sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 3rd-down usage | 11.1% | #166/1137 | 85th pct | Money-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | 2nd-down usage | 10.3% | #100/1137 | 91st pct | Middle-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Role share | 8.9% | #149/1137 | 87th pct | Share of team offensevs FBS WR |
| Usage | 1st-down usage | 7.1% | #229/1137 | 80th pct | Early-down loadvs FBS WR |
| Usage | Standard-down usage | 6.9% | #226/1137 | 80th pct | Base-situation sharevs FBS WR |
| Usage | Rush share | 0.5% | #284/1137 | 75th pct | Ground-game usagevs FBS WR |
| Value | Rushing WEPA | +0.18 | #3/8 | 75th pct | Opponent-adjusted rushing value | 56 weighted playsvs FBS WR |
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
Heisman model tracks the top FBS contenders weekly; this player hasn't entered the watch list yet.
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home6g | 3.2 | 41.8 | 11.5 | 0.2 |
| Road7g | 2.9 | 48.1 | 16.7 | 0.3 |
Win vs Loss
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wins9g | 2.9 | 39.8 | 12.6 | 0.2 |
| Losses4g | 3.2 | 57.5 | 18.0 | 0.2 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-77g | 3.7 | 57.4 | 15.5 | 0.3 |
| Weeks 8+6g | 2.2 | 31.0 | 12.9 | 0.2 |
Pocket and defense-quality (clean vs. pressure) splits are coming soon.
Savant · Box-rate percentiles
Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort
59Solid starter
Production sits in the middle of the position cohort across the board.
Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.
Advanced Savant · WR · 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
Donaven McCulleyMichiganHarrison Wallace IIIOle Miss· 83% simNik McMillanBuffalo· 81% simSean WilsonDelaware· 79% sim
Yards / catch
Rec yards
Receptions
Rec TDs
Long catch
Rush TDs
Rush yards
Closest peers by overall box-score percentile profile at the same position.
Player DNA
The Deep Threat
Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.
WR
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Tyrell Shavers’s 2022 season.
Tyrell Shavers
81%match
All-Mountain West
#2
Leland Smith
80%
#3
Dalevon Campbell
80%
#4
Jerand Bradley
77%
#5
Chase Roberts
75%
Matches Tyrell on
Yards / reception
Height
Weight
Differs from Tyrell on
Recruiting rating (lower)
Class year (higher)
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jacob Harris’s path through UCF.
Jacob Harris
99%match
#2
Lujuan Winningham
98%
#3
Devaughn Vele
NFL Rd 7
96%
#4
Jalen Kelsey
96%
#5
Kyndon Fuselier
94%
Matches Jacob on
Yards per reception
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Jahmal Banks's graduate season at Nebraska (2024).
Jahmal Banks
70%match
#2
Michael Trigg
All-Big 12
69%
#3
Joseph Manjack
68%
#4
Malachi Fields
All-ACCNFL Rd 3 · Pk 10
67%
#5
J.Michael Sturdivant
66%
Matches Jahmal on
Total EPA (college ability)
Height
Differs from Jahmal on
Recruiting rating (higher)
Yards / reception (higher)
EPA / play (adj) (lower)
Supporting Cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Sherrone Moore
Pass share
40.9%
340 pass / 492 run
Plays / game
64.0
13 games
OL sack rate (allowed)
7.4%
256 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Run-leaning.
Coaching Lineage · 2021–2025
2 coaches2021
Jim Harbaugh
Michigan
2022
Jim Harbaugh
Michigan
2023
Jim Harbaugh
Michigan
2024era →
Sherrone Moore
Michigan
2025
Sherrone Moore
Michigan
Coaching transition mid-career: Jim Harbaugh → Sherrone Moore. 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.
HometownIndianapolis, IN
Height6'5"
Weight215 lb
Class4
PositionWR
Jersey1
No fields populated yet.
No fields populated yet.
Current teamMichigan
ConferenceBig Ten
Joined2025
Career arc5 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 | Indiana | WR4 | #1038 | #850 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W16 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2023 | Indiana | WR4 | #740 | #1082 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W19 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2022 | Indiana | WR4 | #2288 | #2868 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
| 2021 | Indiana | WR4 | #3015 | #3359 | 0.0% | 0.0% | -- | -- | W20 snapshot | Big Ten |
Roster Timeline
Team, conference, and class by season.
| Season | Team | Conference | Pos | Class | Bio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Michigan | Big Ten | WR | 4 | No. 1 | 6-5 | 215 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2024 | Indiana | Big Ten | WR | 4 | No. 1 | 6-5 | 215 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2023 | Indiana | Big Ten | WR | 4 | No. 1 | 6-5 | 215 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2022 | Indiana | Big Ten | WR | 4 | No. 1 | 6-5 | 215 lb | Indianapolis, IN |
| 2021 | Indiana | Big Ten | WR | 4 | No. 1 | 6-5 | 215 lb | Indianapolis, IN |