Elijah Metcalf

Senior wide receiver for Southern Miss. 2025: 54 catches, 683 receiving yards, 2 TD.

WR · Southern Miss · Sr. · #9

5′9″ · 170 lb · Charlotte, NC

CFB Index 62 · #116 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to Southern Miss for 2026

Next upSat Sep 19 · 7 pm ETvs UConnM. M. Roberts StadiumUConn by 3

The numbers

683

receiving yards · 2025

54 catches · 2 TD · 12.6 per catch

Backed by 10 rec · 116 yds · 1 TD -- top 1% catches game.

Swing playSwung Southern Miss from 56% to 79% to win.Southern Miss at Arkansas State · 27-21

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Southern Miss. 2025: 54 catches, 683 receiving yards, 2 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Middle Tennessee in 2021.
Transferred from Marshall to Southern Miss in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins underneath on volume and route precision.

Explosive rate: 82nd percentile.

The full scouting read

Elijah Metcalf

WR · Southern Miss · Sr · #9

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Elijah Metcalf has played for two head coaches across five seasons and three programs. 2023 brought the first one: All-Conference USA. One game to point at: 143 rec yds, 5 receptions against Arkansas State — Week 11, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Middle Tennessee7-6HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Middle Tennessee8-5HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2023Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2024Marshall10-3HC: Charles Huff · Run-leaning

2025Southern Miss7-6HC: Charles Huff · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

62Quality starter #116 of 485?

High confidenceBounce-Back13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (82nd percentile). Strength: long catch (93rd percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#147 / 798 · 82nd pct

15.6%

Yards / catch#327 / 798 · 59th pct

12.3

Catch rate#376 / 798 · 53rd pct

68.8%

EPA / target#445 / 798 · 44th pct

0.38

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Long catch#40 / 558 · 93rd pct

Receptions#94 / 558 · 83rd pct

Rec yards#109 / 558 · 81st pct

683

Fumbles lost#1 / 218 · 81st pct

Rush yards#93 / 287 · 68th pct

Yards / catch#297 / 558 · 46th pct

12.6

Rec TDs#276 / 558 · 42nd pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

59th → 44th percentile

Explosive rate

27th → 82nd percentile

Catch rate

71st → 53rd percentile

TD rate

96th → 18th percentile

Yards / catch

24th → 59th percentile

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 · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

22%17 of his 77 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	4.6	46.9	8.6	0.1
Road5g	3.4	61.6	17.7	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.9	30.3	9.4	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	5.7	78.5	14.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Blake Anderson

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

62 · #116 of 485 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #116 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #12 of 51 Sun Belt WRs

How the All-Sun Belt estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. 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	Southern Miss	54	683	12.6	2	--
2024	Marshall	20	194	9.7	3	--
2023	Middle Tennessee	54	634	11.7	6	--
2022	Middle Tennessee	26	309	11.9	2	--
2021	Middle Tennessee	4	52	13.0	0	--
Career		158	1,872	11.8	13	--

Season	Team
2025	Southern Miss	4	26	--	93	--
2024	Marshall	2	-3	--	92	--
2023	Middle Tennessee	1	5	--	--	--
2022	Middle Tennessee	--	--	--	--	--
2021	Middle Tennessee	--	--	--	--	--
Career		7	28	--	185	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 38–20

vs Jackson State

5 rec · 45 yds

With B. Braxton — 214 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 43.5 · 20 rush yds (10 car) · J. Murley — 39 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 42 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 11 · Arkansas State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +6.15Elijah Metcalf 76 Yd pass from Landry Lyddy (Creighton Wilbanks Kick)
Week 3 · App State · 3&12 · Q2 · EPA +4.27Braylon Braxton pass complete to Elijah Metcalf for 48 yds to the APP 36 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Arkansas State · 3&13 · Q2 · EPA +3.68(01:17) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 B.Braxton pass complete deep right to #9 E.Metcalf caught at ASU32, for 23 yards to the ASU31 (#9 A.Dickerson; #38 J.Drew), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Texas State · 3&3 · Q3 · EPA +3.20(11:07) No Huddle-Shotgun #18 L.Lyddy pass complete short left to #9 E.Metcalf caught at USM40, for 28 yards to the TXST35 (#7 R.Nolan; #10 J.Mynatt), 1ST DOWN. #7 R.Nolan injured on the play
Week 12 · Texas State · 3&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.09(06:43) No Huddle-Shotgun #18 L.Lyddy pass complete short right to #9 E.Metcalf caught at TXST37, for 16 yards to the TXST35 (#18 C.Royal Jr.), 1ST DOWN
Week 13 · South Alabama · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +2.88(09:51) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 B.Braxton pass complete short middle to #9 E.Metcalf caught at USA35, for 32 yards to the USA16 (#2 J.Henderson; #0 C.Wallace, Jr.), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Texas State · 3&4 · Q3 · EPA +2.70Elijah Metcalf 4 Yd pass from Landry Lyddy (Creighton Wilbanks Kick)
Week 4 · Louisiana Tech · 3&8 · Q3 · EPA +2.65Braylon Braxton pass complete to Elijah Metcalf for 24 yds to the LT 1 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Arkansas State · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.50(01:38) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 B.Braxton pass complete short left to #9 E.Metcalf caught at USM44, for 11 yards to the USM49 (#20 K.Taylor; #9 A.Dickerson), 1ST DOWN
Week 13 · South Alabama · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.22(09:12) No Huddle-Shotgun #1 B.Braxton pass complete short right to #9 E.Metcalf caught at USM42, for 17 yards to the USM42 (#6 N.Chandler), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 17-34vs Mississippi State	2	13	6.5	0	12
Wk 2	W 38-20vs Jackson State	5	45	9.0	0	11
Wk 3	W 38-22vs App State	3	66	22.0	0	48
Wk 4	L 20-30@ Louisiana Tech	2	29	14.5	0	24
Wk 5	W 42-25vs Jacksonville State	2	-9	-4.5	0	0
Wk 7	W 38-35@ Georgia Southern	4	62	15.5	0	30
Wk 8	W 22-10@ Louisiana	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 9	W 49-21vs UL Monroe	7	76	10.9	0	30
Wk 11	W 27-21@ Arkansas State	5	143	28.6	1	76	Season-high 143 yds
Wk 12	L 14-41vs Texas State	10	116	11.6	1	34
Wk 13	L 35-42@ South Alabama	6	74	12.3	0	32
Wk 14	L 18-28vs Troy	6	62	10.3	0	26
Bowl	L 16-27vs Western Kentucky	2	6	3.0	0	7
Total		54	683	11.6	2	76

How he plays

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

CFB Index positional classification

Money down · 3rd-down role

Money down

fact

9/173rd-down conversions

1.203rd-down EPA/target

0.15Other-downs EPA/target

12 of 17 caught on third down (70.6%) — EPA/target 1.20 vs 0.15 elsewhere (9 conversions).

Catch rate is disclosed context only, never the gate — conversions and EPA/target are. Interception targets carry no attribution row at any source, so EPA/target here is unfixably, slightly inflated.

2026 Outlook

Southern Miss

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Wide receiver · Southern Miss

Returning around him

90% of 2024 offensive production back (Strong continuity)
Transfer portal: +10 net (38 in / 28 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Southern Miss · Last season: 7-6 · Talent rank #94 · 2026 recruiting class #108

DNA match

Player DNA

Slot Technician

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Stephon Robinson’s 2021 season.

Stephon Robinson

80%match

Northwestern · 2021

Dante Wright

Colorado State · 2021

79%

Malik Rutherford

Georgia Tech · 2024

78%

Dalen Cobb

Georgia Southern · 2023

78%

Derius Davis

TCU · 2021

NFL Rd 4

77%

Matches Stephon on

Height

Reception volume

Weight

Differs from Stephon on

Class year (higher)

Through 5 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Ryan Flournoy’s path through Southeast Missouri State.

Ryan Flournoy

99%match

Southeast Missouri State · 2023

NFL Rd 6

Ma'jon Wright

Arizona · 2020

97%

Tailique Williams

Western Michigan · 2025

96%

Ian Duarte

Idaho State · 2025

96%

Max Tomczak

Youngstown State · 2025

94%

Matches Ryan on

Yards per reception

As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Malik Rutherford's graduate season at Georgia Tech (2025).

Malik Rutherford

80%match

Georgia Tech · 2025

Ashtyn Hawkins

Baylor · 2025

79%

Bryce Bohanon

Tulane · 2025

73%

Cam Ross

Virginia · 2025

All-Sun Belt

73%

Deion Burks

Oklahoma · 2025

All-Big TenNFL Rd 7

71%

Matches Malik on

Total EPA (college ability)

Yards / reception

TD rate

Differs from Malik on

Recruiting rating (lower)

EPA / play (adj) (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Elijah Metcalf

Tailique Williams

Georgia State · 2023

88%

Cam'Ron Lacy

Middle Tennessee · 2026

86%

Malik Rutherford

Georgia Tech · 2023

82%

Raylen Sharpe

Fresno State · 2024

79%

Jaden Barnes

App State · 2025

78%

The receiver room · Southern Miss

#9Elijah MetcalfWR · Sr.683 receiving yards · 2025
#7Carl ChesterWR · Sr.550 receiving yards · 2025
#6Micah DavisWR · Sr.429 receiving yards · 2025
#8Bralon BrownWR · Sr.353 receiving yards · 2025
#11Davis DaltonWR · Sr.82 receiving yards · 2025

17 more on the roster · Southern Miss team page

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

Elijah Metcalf

2021

202312 games

20245 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Part-time starter

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Slot Technician

Players who play like Elijah Metcalf

The receiver room · Southern Miss