#22

Gemari Sands

Junior running back for Florida State. 2025: 465 rushing yards, 40 catches.

RB · Florida State · Jr. · #22

5′11″ · 208 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL · St. Thomas Aquinas

CFB Index 43 · #186 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceTransferred Florida Atlantic → Florida State for 2026

via seminoles.com ↗

Next upSat Sep 19 · 3:30 pm ETat AlabamaBryant-Denny StadiumAlabama by 19.5

The numbers

465

rushing yards · 2025

4.4 per carry · 40 catches

Best game: 83 rush yds, 28 rec yds, vs Florida A&M

His career numbers, season by season

The story

3 running back for Florida State. 2025: 465 rushing yards, 40 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Florida Atlantic in 2023.
Transferred from Florida Atlantic to Florida State in 2026.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins in space out of the backfield.

Explosive rate: 46th percentile.

The full scouting read

Gemari Sands

RB · Florida State · Jr · #22

Wins in space out of the backfield. Two seasons at Florida State, two different head coaches: Chad Lunsford and Zach Kittley. One game to point at: 105 rush yds, 13 rec yds against Florida International — Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2024Florida Atlantic3-9HC: Chad Lunsford · Run-leaning

2025Florida Atlantic4-8HC: Zach Kittley · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

43Rotational starter #186 of 326?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (98th percentile). Strength: rec yards (88th percentile). Concern: td rate (6th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#247 / 456 · 46th pct

5.8%

EPA / carry#333 / 456 · 27th pct

0.01

Yards / carry#334 / 456 · 27th pct

4.4

Success rate#417 / 456 · 9th pct

34.0%

TD rate#400 / 456 · 6th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#5 / 338 · 98th pct

Rec yards#40 / 338 · 88th pct

217

Carries#150 / 349 · 57th pct

105

Rush yards#181 / 349 · 48th pct

465

Long run#219 / 349 · 37th pct

Yards / carry#241 / 349 · 29th pct

4.4

Rush TDs#326 / 349 · 3rd 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

103 carries

14%

Stuffed (≤0)

43%

Grind (1–3)

32%

Chunk (4–9)

12%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	38.0	4.0	0.0
Road6g	39.5	3.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	50.2	5.1	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	27.3	2.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Mike Norvell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

43 · #186 of 326 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #186 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Florida Atlantic	105	465	4.4	0	--
2024	Florida Atlantic	31	117	3.8	2	--
Career		136	582	4.3	2	--

Season	Team
2025	Florida Atlantic	40	217	5.4	--
2024	Florida Atlantic	3	60	20.0	--
Career		43	277	6.4	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Maryland · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +3.61Gemari Sands run for 23 yds to the MD 42 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Maryland · 3&17 · Q1 · EPA +3.51Caden Veltkamp pass complete to Gemari Sands for 18 yds to the MD 47 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · UAB · 4&3 · Q2 · EPA +3.02Gemari Sands run for 11 yds to the UAB 42 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Florida A&M · 3&2 · Q1 · EPA +2.78Gemari Sands run for 37 yds to the FAMU 18 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Florida International · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.44Gemari Sands run for 19 yds to the FIU 43 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Florida International · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.32Gemari Sands run for 26 yds to the FIU 49 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Florida International · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.28Gemari Sands run for 16 yds to the FAU 44 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Tulane · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.02(07:00) No Huddle-Shotgun #23 G.Sands rush middle for 11 yards gain to the FAU44 (#1 J.Tchienchou), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · Tulane · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.00(10:23) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short middle to #23 G.Sands caught at FAU34, for 9 yards to the FAU38 (#42 M.Williams), 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · East Carolina · 3&3 · Q3 · EPA +1.95No Huddle-Shotgun #23 G.Sands rush left for 8 yards gain to the ECU49 (#12 C.Graves), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 7-39@ Maryland	9	44	4.9	23
Wk 2	W 56-14vs Florida A&M	10	83	8.3	37
Wk 3	L 28-38@ Florida International	14	105	7.5	26	Season-high 105 yds
Wk 5	L 26-55vs Memphis	5	13	2.6	9
Wk 6	W 27-21@ Rice	3	9	3.0	5
Wk 7	W 53-33vs UAB	11	47	4.3	11
Wk 8	L 13-48@ South Florida	7	7	1.0	6
Wk 9	L 32-42@ Navy	7	22	3.1	8
Wk 11	W 40-21vs Tulsa	6	7	1.2	6
Wk 12	L 24-35@ Tulane	13	50	3.8	11
Wk 13	L 45-48vs UConn	11	44	4.0	10
Wk 14	L 3-42vs East Carolina	9	34	3.8	8
Total		105	465	4.0	37

The backfield · Florida State

#5Tre WisnerRB · Sr.597 rushing yards · 2025
#22Gemari SandsRB · Jr.465 rushing yards · 2025
#32Ousmane KromahRB · So.408 rushing yards · 2025
#3Samuel SingletonRB · Jr.360 rushing yards · 2025
#21Zay ParksRB · So.95 rushing yards · 2025

1 more on the roster · Florida State team page

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

Gemari Sands

2023

2026

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Satellite Back

Background

The backfield · Florida State