Elijah Metcalf is a wide receiver at Southern Miss who has not played in Southern Miss's 8 games this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025.
The consensus depth chart of May 27 lists Metcalf at WR, No. 1.
Southern Miss lists 22 receivers this season.
Southern Miss is 3-5. Next: vs James Madison, Thu Nov 5.
Metcalf wins underneath on volume and route precision. Played for two head coaches across five seasons and three programs. The first one came in 2023: All-Conference USA. One game to point at: 143 receiving yards and 5 receptions against Arkansas State — Week 11, 2025.
Play style
Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.
Money down · 3rd-down role
Money down
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.
Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Southern Miss | 54 | 683 | 12.6 | 2 | 76 |
| 2024 | Marshall | 20 | 194 | 9.7 | 3 | 28 |
| 2023 | Middle Tennessee | 54 | 634 | 11.7 | 6 | 71 |
| 2022 | Middle Tennessee | 26 | 309 | 11.9 | 2 | 69 |
| 2021 | Middle Tennessee | 4 | 52 | 13.0 | 0 | 26 |
| Career | 158 | 1,872 | 11.8 | 13 | 76 |
| 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 |
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 13 games
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
| 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 | 12.6 | 2 | 76 |
Week 12 · 2025
L 14-41
vs Texas State
10 rec · 116 yds · 1 TD
With L. Lyddy — 267 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 31.2 · R. Harradine — 44 yards per punt · 4 punts · 2 inside the 20
The plays that mattered most
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
Targets
6918% of team targetsCatch rate
72%50 of 69 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
Short · 0–9 air yds
Middle · 10–19 air yds
Deep · 20+ air yds
72% catch rate on 69 targets · 18% of the team's targets · 56% catch rate on 9 deep targets (20+ air yds).
Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)
Third-down role
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 13 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home7g | 5.0 | 52.7 | 9.4 | 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
Head Coach
Charles Huff
Pass share
49.9%
454 pass / 456 run
Plays / game
70.0
13 games
Team sack rate
4.5%
445 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced.
Player standing · 2025
54 catches and 4 carries in 13 games, about as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.
Recognition
Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score
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
A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 22% of returning players who ranked #11–20 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 19–25%).
Returning starter at receiver for a 7-6 Southern Miss team that went +10 in the portal. The No. 1,654 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the Sun Belt as a senior.
Four or fewer games in the first season, then ten or more.
The role got bigger.
The snaps went the other way.
The role got bigger.
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 2ND TEAM
All-Conference USA 2nd team (2023)
Coaching lineage · 2021–2026
3 coachesPlayed for 3 head coaches at 3 schools: Rick Stockstill, Charles Huff and Blake Anderson.
