EJ Horton Jr.

#13 · WR · Sr. · Purdue6′1″ · 190 lb · Louisville, KY · Palmetto Academy

EJ Horton Jr. is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Purdue.

Horton moves the chains on third down. The four seasons span three programs and three head coaches: Charles Huff, Neal Brown and Barry Odom. On tape: 70 receiving yards and 5 receptions against USC, Week 3, 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.

Marcus Sanders Jr.Georgia Southern · 2022 · 88% season match
Anthony SambucciWestern Michigan · 2022 · 87% season match
Messiah HamptonOregon · 2026 · 84% season match
Jonah PanokeHawai'i · 2022 · 82% season match
Senika McKieUNLV · 2023 · 81% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Purdue	27	289	10.7	1	28
2023	West Virginia	10	201	20.1	1	45
2022	Marshall	12	186	15.5	1	65
2021	Marshall	4	59	14.8	1	30
Career		53	735	13.9	4	65

Season	Team
2025	Purdue	2	22
2023	West Virginia	2	8
2022	Marshall	2	15
2021	Marshall	--	--
Career		6	45

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 31-0vs Ball State	3	38	12.7	0	14
Wk 2	W 34-17vs Southern Illinois	2	17	8.5	0	13
Wk 3	L 17-33vs USC	5	70	14.0	0	21	Season-high 70 yds
Wk 7	L 20-27@ Minnesota	1	0	0.0	0	0
Wk 8	L 0-19@ Northwestern	2	32	16.0	0	21
Wk 9	L 24-27vs Rutgers	1	17	17.0	0	17
Wk 10	L 16-21@ No. 21 Michigan	5	34	6.8	0	10
Wk 11	L 10-34vs No. 1 Ohio State	1	6	6.0	0	6
Wk 12	L 13-49@ Washington	3	34	11.3	1	17
Wk 14	L 3-56vs No. 2 Indiana	4	41	10.3	0	28
Total		27	289	10.7	1	28

Signature game

Week 12 · 2025

L 13-49

at Washington

3 rec · 34 yds · 1 TD · 31 rush yds (1 car)

With J. McCallister — 43.5 yards per punt · 4 punts · 3 inside the 20 · M. Singleton — 150 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 71.7 · 22 rush yds (11 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 14 · Indiana · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +3.63Browne to Horton: a 28-yard pass.
Week 12 · Washington · 3rd and 7 · Q4 · EPA +2.92Singleton to Horton: a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Week 12 · Washington · 3rd and 11 · Q2 · EPA +2.89Browne to Horton: a 17-yard pass.
Week 14 · Indiana · 4th and 3 · Q4 · EPA +2.46Browne to Horton: a 4-yard pass.
Week 3 · USC · 3rd and 3 · Q4 · EPA +2.07Ryan Browne pass complete to EJ Horton Jr. for 13 yds to the USC 38 for a
Week 9 · Rutgers · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +1.56Browne to Horton: a 17-yard pass.

4 more plays

Week 12 · Washington · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +1.52E.Horton rush left for 31 yards gain (E.Prysock)
Week 3 · USC · 2nd and 5 · Q3 · EPA +1.32Ryan Browne pass complete to EJ Horton Jr. for 11 yds to the PUR 41 for a
Week 2 · Southern Illinois · 2nd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +1.31Ryan Browne pass complete to EJ Horton Jr. for 13 yds to the SIU 41 for a
Week 14 · Indiana · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA −1.14E.Horton rush left for 9 yards loss (S.Daley)

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

27 rec · 289 yds · 1 TD

26 of 27 receptions matched to play-by-play

22 of 46 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

4612% of team targets

Catch rate

57%26 of 46 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

14% of targets (3)

100%catch rate

Air -2.0 · YAC 6.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

32% of targets (7)

100%catch rate

Air 4.0 · YAC 3.0 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

36% of targets (8)

25%catch rate

Air 14.0 · YAC 2.5 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

18% of targets (4)

25%catch rate

Air 33.2 · YAC 3.0 avg

57% catch rate on 46 targets · 12% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

18%8 of his 45 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2021Marshall7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Marshall9-4HC: Charles Huff · Run-heavy

2023West Virginia9-4HC: Neal Brown · Run-heavy

2025Purdue2-10HC: Barry Odom · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 35 (#356 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

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

35Below cohort / limited sample #356 of 485 · 2025?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Concern: catch rate (17th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#474 / 798 · 41st pct

10.8

Explosive rate#556 / 798 · 30th pct

6.7%

EPA / target#615 / 798 · 23rd pct

0.21

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Catch rate#659 / 798 · 17th pct

57.8%

Box-score rates (7)

Rush yards#103 / 287 · 64th pct

Receptions#320 / 558 · 41st pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Rec yards#365 / 558 · 35th pct

289

Rec TDs#373 / 558 · 24th pct

Yards / catch#431 / 558 · 23rd pct

10.7

Long catch#490 / 558 · 12th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.7	31.5	11.4	0.0
Road4g	2.8	25.0	8.5	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	2.8	31.2	8.8	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.7	27.3	11.2	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Barry Odom

Pass share

52.0%

404 pass / 373 run

Plays / game

64.8

12 games

Team sack rate

3.9%

441 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

27 catches and 2 carries in 10 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

35 · #356 of 485 WRs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #356 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #49 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. 2,793 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the Big Ten as a senior.