Elijah Young

Former running back at Western Kentucky. 2024: 883 rushing yards, 3 rushing TD, 47 catches.

RB · Western Kentucky · Sr. · #3

5′10″ · 198 lb · Knoxville, TN

CFB Index 49 · #134 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceWestern Kentucky 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

APB recruit

No. 543 nationally · Signed with Missouri

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Western Kentucky. 2024: 883 rushing yards, 3 rushing TD, 47 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Missouri in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Western Kentucky, 1,706 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 84 yds vs New Mexico State.New Mexico State · L 29-382023

20205 games

Signed with Missouri3-star out of South-Doyle

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#543 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

1 coach

2020–2024

Tyson Helton

Western Kentucky

Played his entire career under Tyson Helton.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Missouri5-5HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Balanced

2021Missouri6-7HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Missouri6-7HC: Eli Drinkwitz · Run-leaning

2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning

2024Western Kentucky8-6HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

49Rotational starter #134 of 310?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec yards (98th percentile). Strength: receptions (98th percentile). Concern: td rate (11th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Success rate#301 / 442 · 32nd pct

41.4%

Yards / carry#346 / 442 · 22nd pct

4.4

Explosive rate#375 / 442 · 15th pct

3.5%

EPA / carry#382 / 442 · 14th pct

-0.00

TD rate#395 / 442 · 11th pct

1.5%

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#6 / 330 · 98th pct

384

Receptions#6 / 330 · 98th pct

Carries#31 / 335 · 91st pct

201

Rush yards#57 / 335 · 83rd pct

883

Fumbles lost#55 / 204 · 49th pct

Rush TDs#186 / 335 · 38th pct

Yards / carry#245 / 335 · 26th pct

4.4

Long run#247 / 335 · 26th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

30th → 14th percentile

Success rate

16th → 32nd percentile

Explosive rate

43rd → 15th percentile

Yards / carry

53rd → 22nd percentile

TD rate

30th → 11th 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 · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

199 carries

16%

Stuffed (≤0)

31%

Grind (1–3)

42%

Chunk (4–9)

11%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 14 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	62.8	4.4	0.5
Road8g	63.2	4.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	45.0	3.4	0.3
Weeks 8+7g	81.1	5.1	0.1

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tyson Helton

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

49 · #134 of 310 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #134 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Western Kentucky	201	883	4.4	3	--
2023	Western Kentucky	104	490	4.7	3	--
2022	Missouri	19	93	4.9	0	--
2021	Missouri	37	162	4.4	1	--
2020	Missouri	10	78	7.8	0	--
Career		371	1,706	4.6	7	--

Season	Team
2024	Western Kentucky	47	384	8.2	2	--
2023	Western Kentucky	20	231	11.6	3	--
2022	Missouri	8	39	4.9	0	--
2021	Missouri	11	64	5.8	1	--
2020	Missouri	--	--	--	--	--
Career		86	718	8.3	6	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2024

W 31–0

vs Eastern Kentucky

52 rush yds (13 car) · 2 TD

Dominant 31-point win at home against Eastern Kentucky.

With T. Finley — 351 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 50.4 · 13 rush yds (3 car) · K. Johnson — 14 rush yds (2 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · Sam Houston · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +3.44Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Elijah Young for 28 yds to the SHSU 42 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Middle Tennessee · 3&20 · Q1 · EPA +3.11TJ Finley pass complete to Elijah Young for 22 yds to the MTSU 12 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Toledo · 4&8 · Q4 · EPA +3.03Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Elijah Young for 25 yds to the TOL 12 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Jacksonville State · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.02Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Elijah Young for 21 yds for a TD (Lucas Carneiro KICK)
Week 1 · Alabama · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.89TJ Finley pass complete to Elijah Young for 12 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Sam Houston · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.52Elijah Young 11 Yd pass from Caden Veltkamp (Lucas Carneiro Kick)
Week 14 · Jacksonville State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.45Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Elijah Young for 29 yds to the WKU 41 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Eastern Kentucky · 1&9 · Q4 · EPA +2.42Elijah Young run for 9 yds for a TD (Lucas Carneiro KICK)
Week 13 · Liberty · 2&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.38Elijah Young run for 30 yds to the LIB 38 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Middle Tennessee · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.37Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Elijah Young for 23 yds to the MTSU 36 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 14 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 0-63@ Alabama	10	18	1.8	0	10
Wk 2	W 31-0vs Eastern Kentucky	13	52	4.0	2	10
Wk 3	W 49-21@ Middle Tennessee	10	27	2.7	0	7
Wk 4	W 26-21vs Toledo	9	36	4.0	0	8
Wk 5	L 20-21@ Boston College	21	85	4.0	0	16
Wk 7	W 44-17vs UTEP	16	60	3.8	0	10
Wk 8	W 31-14@ Sam Houston	23	97	4.2	0	9
Wk 10	W 31-14vs Kennesaw State	15	114	7.6	0	20	Season-high 114 yds
Wk 11	W 41-28@ New Mexico State	16	74	4.6	0	18
Wk 12	L 7-12vs Louisiana Tech	10	24	2.4	1	7
Wk 13	L 21-38@ Liberty	9	60	6.7	0	30
Wk 14	W 19-17vs Jacksonville State	19	91	4.8	0	13
Wk 15	L 12-52@ Jacksonville State	19	108	5.7	0	20
Bowl	L 17-27@ James Madison	11	37	3.4	0	17
Total		201	883	4.3	3	30

How he plays

Play style

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

199Carries

884Yards

11.9%Top-5 share

16.1%Stuffed rate

Just 11.9% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 16.1% of his carries. 10 carries for 18 yds vs Alabama; 15 for 114 vs Kennesaw State.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

Not actually a closer

checked · no story

49.4%Carry share

38.5%Q4-lead share

52.0%In competitive games

49.4% of carries overall (198/401) → 38.5% of Q4-with-lead carries (25/65) — 52.0% 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