Grayson Barnes

#80 · TE · Sr. · West Virginia6′4″ · 223 lb · Rocklin, CA

Grayson Barnes is a tight end who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at West Virginia.

Barnes shows up in the passing game from any alignment. The three seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Thomas Hammock and Rich Rodriguez. One game to point at: 58 receiving yards and 5 receptions against Pittsburgh — Week 3, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Dominick MazottiMassachusetts · 2024 · 84% season match
Xavier GainesMarshall · 2020 · 80% season match
River HelmsWestern Kentucky · 2024 · 78% season match
Otto TiaUtah State · 2024 · 77% season match
Christian RossMemphis · 2025 · 74% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	West Virginia	21	232	11.0	2	34
2024	Northern Illinois	31	338	10.9	4	60
2023	Northern Illinois	23	422	18.3	5	58
Career		75	992	13.2	11	60

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 45-3vs Robert Morris	3	37	12.3	0	20
Wk 2	L 10-17@ Ohio	1	2	2.0	0	2
Wk 3	W 31-24vs Pittsburgh	5	58	11.6	1	34	Season-high 58 yds
Wk 4	L 10-41@ Kansas	3	20	6.7	0	8
Wk 6	L 24-38@ No. 23 BYU	1	15	15.0	0	15
Wk 9	L 17-23vs TCU	3	25	8.3	1	17
Wk 11	W 29-22vs Colorado	1	20	20.0	0	20
Wk 12	L 23-25@ Arizona State	3	26	8.7	0	17
Wk 14	L 0-49vs No. 7 Texas Tech	1	29	29.0	0	29
Total		21	232	11.0	2	34

Signature game

Week 3 · 2025

W 31-24

vs Pittsburgh

5 rec · 58 yds · 1 TD

A close one, won by 7 at home.

With O. Straw — 45.7 yards per punt · 6 punts · 1 inside the 20 · N. Marchiol — 192 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 57.4

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 3 · Pittsburgh · 3rd and 9 · Q4 · EPA +3.85Nicco Marchiol pass complete to Grayson Barnes for 34 yds to the PITT 41 for a
Week 6 · BYU · 3rd and 8 · Q3 · EPA +3.02Khalil Wilkins pass complete to Grayson Barnes for 15 yds to the BYU 44 for a
Week 9 · TCU · 2nd and 4 · Q2 · EPA +2.47Fox Jr. to Barnes: a 17-yard touchdown pass.
Week 3 · Pittsburgh · 2nd and 2 · Q4 · EPA +2.07Marchiol to Barnes: a 2-yard touchdown pass.
Week 11 · Colorado · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.80Fox Jr. to Barnes: a 20-yard pass.
Week 12 · Arizona State · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +1.58Fox Jr. to Barnes: a 17-yard pass.

4 more plays

Week 12 · Arizona State · 2nd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +1.30Fox Jr. to Barnes: an 8-yard pass.
Week 4 · Kansas · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.04Nicco Marchiol pass complete to Grayson Barnes for 8 yds to the WVU 44
Week 4 · Kansas · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +0.91Jaylen Henderson pass complete to Grayson Barnes for 8 yds to the WVU 33
Week 14 · Texas Tech · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +0.76Vaughn to Barnes: a 29-yard pass.

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

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

21 rec · 232 yds · 2 TD

19 of 21 receptions matched to play-by-play

10 of 27 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

279% of team targets

Catch rate

70%19 of 27 targets

Short · 0–9 air yds

60% of targets (6)

67%catch rate

Air 4.2 · YAC 1.0 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

30% of targets (3)

100%catch rate

Air 14.3 · YAC 3.7 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

10% of targets (1)

100%catch rate

Air 22.0 · YAC 7.0 avg

70% catch rate on 27 targets · 9% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

28%7 of his 25 targets came on third down · TE median is 22%

Teams and coaches

2023Northern Illinois7-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2024Northern Illinois8-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2025West Virginia4-8HC: Rich Rodriguez · Run-heavy

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 41 (#106 of 156). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

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

41Rotational starter #106 of 156 · 2025?

11 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: explosive rate (83rd percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#135 / 798 · 83rd pct

16.0%

Catch rate#181 / 798 · 77th pct

76.0%

EPA / target#319 / 798 · 60th pct

0.48

Yards / catch#389 / 798 · 51st pct

11.5

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (6)

Yards / catch#75 / 175 · 57th pct

11.0

Long catch#86 / 175 · 49th pct

Rec yards#91 / 175 · 48th pct

232

Receptions#93 / 175 · 45th pct

Rec TDs#76 / 175 · 43rd pct

Fumbles lost#18 / 33 · 27th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

13th → 60th percentile

Explosive rate

14th → 83rd percentile

Catch rate

6th → 77th percentile

TD rate

22nd → 18th percentile

Yards / catch

13th → 51st percentile

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 · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	2.6	33.8	16.2	0.4
Road4g	2.0	15.8	8.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.6	26.4	9.5	0.2
Weeks 8+4g	2.0	25.0	16.5	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Rich Rodriguez

Pass share

38.7%

327 pass / 517 run

Plays / game

70.3

12 games

Team sack rate

7.9%

369 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

21 catches in 9 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS tight end who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

41 · #106 of 156 TEs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #106 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #15 of 19 Big 12 TEs

How the All-Big 12 base rate is computed

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%).