#28

Dontae McMillan

Senior running back for Eastern Michigan. 2025: 1,014 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 33 catches.

RB · Eastern Michigan · Sr. · #28

5′10″ · 203 lb · Seattle, WA

CFB Index 78 · #23 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Eastern Michigan for 2026

The numbers

375

receiving yards · 2025

33 catches · 3 TD · 11.4 per catch

The play that turned itSwung Eastern Michigan from 5% to 44% to win.Long Island University at Eastern Michigan · 28-23

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Eastern Michigan. 2025: 1,014 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 33 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Weber State in 2019.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

Yards / carry: 71st percentile.

The full scouting read

Dontae McMillan

RB · Eastern Michigan · Sr · #28

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. He has spent three seasons in the Eastern Michigan backfield. His first career honor landed in 2025: All-MAC. One game to point at: 126 rush yds, 11 rec yds against Louisiana — Week 4, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
seasons on the roster
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Chris Creighton — 15-22 over that span.

2023Eastern Michigan6-7HC: Chris Creighton · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2024Eastern Michigan5-7HC: Chris Creighton · Run-leaning

2025Eastern Michigan4-8HC: Chris Creighton · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

78All-Conference level #23 of 326?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec yards (98th percentile). Strength: receptions (93rd percentile). Concern: td rate (19th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / carry#135 / 456 · 71st pct

5.6

Explosive rate#181 / 456 · 60th pct

7.3%

Success rate#187 / 456 · 59th pct

45.5%

EPA / carry#218 / 456 · 52nd pct

0.12

TD rate#372 / 456 · 19th pct

1.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#8 / 338 · 98th pct

375

Receptions#24 / 338 · 93rd pct

Rush yards#38 / 349 · 89th pct

1014

Carries#43 / 349 · 88th pct

177

Fumbles lost#1 / 201 · 87th pct

Yards / carry#68 / 349 · 79th pct

5.7

Long run#122 / 349 · 64th pct

Rush TDs#153 / 349 · 50th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— 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 · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

178 carries

16%

Stuffed (≤0)

35%

Grind (1–3)

31%

Chunk (4–9)

17%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	91.3	6.5	0.5
Road6g	77.7	5.6	0.2

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	91.0	6.4	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	75.4	5.5	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Chris Creighton

Pass share

58.2%

107 pass / 77 run

Plays / game

61.3

3 games

Team sack rate

5.1%

117 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

78 · #23 of 326 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #23 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-MAC

Based on 2025: #2 of 30 Mid-American RBs

How the All-MAC estimate is computed

49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. 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.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Eastern Michigan	177	1,014	5.7	4	--
2024	Eastern Michigan	23	87	3.8	0	--
2023	Eastern Michigan	11	32	2.9	1	--
Career		211	1,133	5.4	5	--

Season	Team
2025	Eastern Michigan	33	375	11.4	3	--
2024	Eastern Michigan	2	1	0.5	0	--
2023	Eastern Michigan	1	12	12.0	0	--
Career		36	388	10.8	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 4 · 2025

W 34–31

vs Louisiana

126 rush yds (19 car)

Edged out Louisiana at home in a shootout.

With N. Kim — 226 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 47.1 · 12 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · M. Tomasek — 49 AVG · 56 LONG · 3 NO

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 14 · Western Michigan · 3&18 · Q1 · EPA +4.65(00:59) No Huddle-Shotgun #28 D.McMillan rush middle for 54 yards gain to the WMU22 (#58 T.Lee), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Western Michigan · 3&2 · Q2 · EPA +3.69(05:53) Shotgun #1 N.Kim pass complete short left to #28 D.McMillan caught at EMU33, for 48 yards to the WMU19 (#12 D.Moore), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Western Michigan · 2&9 · Q1 · EPA +3.57(10:40) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 N.Kim pass complete short left to #28 D.McMillan caught at EMU09, for 50 yards to the WMU47 (#3 T.Hallock), 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Western Michigan · 2&15 · Q1 · EPA +3.31(06:42) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 N.Kim pass complete short right to #28 D.McMillan caught at WMU26, for 21 yards to the WMU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:35, 1ST DOWN #46 R.Kessinger kick attempt good (H: #30 M.Tomasek, LS: #51 M.Dietzel)
Week 2 · Long Island University · 2&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.24Noah Kim pass complete to Dontae McMillan for 33 yds for a TD (Rudy Kessinger KICK)
Week 2 · Long Island University · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.19Dontae McMillan run for 40 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Week 6 · Buffalo · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.09Noah Kim pass complete to Dontae McMillan for 38 yds for a TD
Week 14 · Western Michigan · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.99(02:31) Shotgun #28 D.McMillan rush middle for 20 yards gain to the WMU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:28, 1ST DOWN #87 J.Long pass attempt Successful
Week 11 · Bowling Green · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA +2.68(10:21) No Huddle-Shotgun #28 D.McMillan rush middle for 8 yards gain to the BGSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:18, 1ST DOWN #46 R.Kessinger kick attempt good (H: #30 M.Tomasek, LS: #51 M.Dietzel)
Week 1 · Texas State · 3&13 · Q1 · EPA +2.53Noah Kim pass complete to Dontae McMillan for 23 yds to the EMU 40 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 27-52@ Texas State	9	78	8.7	0	35
Wk 2	L 23-28vs Long Island University	8	58	7.3	1	40
Wk 3	L 23-48@ Kentucky	13	83	6.4	0	16
Wk 4	W 34-31vs Louisiana	19	126	6.6	0	21	Season-high 126 yds
Wk 5	L 13-24@ Central Michigan	13	71	5.5	0	14
Wk 6	L 30-31@ Buffalo	20	117	5.9	1	17
Wk 7	W 16-10vs Northern Illinois	23	104	4.5	0	20
Wk 8	L 30-44@ Miami (OH)	11	37	3.4	0	9
Wk 9	L 21-28vs Ohio	10	49	4.9	0	19
Wk 11	W 27-21vs Bowling Green	19	100	5.3	1	33
Wk 12	W 24-9@ Ball State	21	80	3.8	0	11
Wk 14	L 21-31vs Western Michigan	11	111	10.1	1	54
Total		177	1014	6.0	4	54

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

178Carries

990Yards

18.5%Top-5 share

15.7%Stuffed rate

Just 18.5% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 15.7% of his carries. 11 carries for 37 yds vs Miami (OH); 19 for 126 vs Louisiana.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

fact

46.7%Carry share

57.1%Q4-lead share

100.0%In competitive games

46.7% of carries overall (179/383) → 57.1% of Q4-with-lead carries (28/49) — 100.0% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

7/113rd/4th & short

4/17Inside-5 share

7 of 11 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (63.6%). 4 of the team's 17 inside-the-5 carries (23.5%).

2026 Outlook

Eastern Michigan

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · Eastern Michigan

Returning around him

72% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
Transfer portal: -14 net (12 in / 26 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Eastern Michigan · Last season: 4-8 · Talent rank #103 · 2026 recruiting class #106

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Back

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Trestan Ebner’s 2021 season.

Trestan Ebner

76%match

Baylor · 2021

All-Big 12NFL Rd 6

Jordan Simmons

Akron · 2024

73%

Noah Whittington

Oregon · 2022

72%

Lincoln Pare

Arkansas State · 2020

68%

George Holani

Boise State · 2023

67%

Matches Trestan on

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Rush TD rate

Yards / reception

Differs from Trestan on

Recruiting rating (lower)

Height (lower)

Not enough data yet for this comparison.

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Jordan Simmons's graduate season at Akron (2024).

Jordan Simmons

82%match

Akron · 2024

Gavin Williams

Northern Illinois · 2024

69%

Eli Sanders

USC · 2025

All-Mountain West

65%

Jordan Houston

Marshall · 2024

62%

Noah Whittington

Oregon · 2024

62%

Matches Jordan on

Yards / carry

Weight

Height

Differs from Jordan on

Yards / reception (higher)

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

Dontae McMillan

2019

20236 games

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back