Holden Willis

#83 · TE · Sr. · Middle Tennessee6′4″ · 212 lb · Greenback, TN

Holden Willis: TE · Middle Tennessee · #83.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Xavier GainesMarshall · 2020 · 41% season match
Harold FanninBowling Green · 2023 · 40% season match
Grayson BarnesNorthern Illinois · 2023 · 38% season match
Seydou TraoreArkansas State · 2022 · 36% season match

Holden Willis

TE · Middle Tennessee · Sr · #83

Creates mismatches lined up all over the formation. The four seasons span two programs and three head coaches: Jeff Scott, Rick Stockstill and Derek Mason. Named All-Conference USA two seasons running, most recently in 2024. On tape: 123 receiving yards and 6 receptions against Florida International, Week 14, 2024.

Style of play

Play style

Lined up out wide as often as inline. Creates mismatches downfield.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Middle Tennessee in the news

Rick Stockstill named FSU interim coachNov 2
Ed Bunio dies at 85Oct 26

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2024	Middle Tennessee	53	871	16.4	6	61
2023	Middle Tennessee	46	697	15.2	5	62
2022	South Florida	6	69	11.5	1	24
2021	South Florida	2	43	21.5	0	32
Career		107	1,680	15.7	12	62

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 32-25vs Tennessee Tech	2	32	16.0	0	25
Wk 2	L 3-52@ No. 6 Ole Miss	6	93	15.5	0	29
Wk 3	L 21-49vs Western Kentucky	4	73	18.3	0	32
Wk 4	L 17-45vs Duke	3	60	20.0	1	23
Wk 5	L 7-24@ Memphis	5	62	12.4	0	25
Wk 7	L 21-48@ Louisiana Tech	5	79	15.8	1	35
Wk 8	W 14-5vs Kennesaw State	8	92	11.5	0	25
Wk 9	L 20-42@ Jacksonville State	6	109	18.2	1	61
Wk 11	L 17-37vs Liberty	5	81	16.2	0	22
Wk 13	L 21-36vs New Mexico State	3	67	22.3	1	43
Wk 14	L 24-35vs Florida International	6	123	20.5	2	56	Season-high 123 yds
Total		53	871	16.4	6	61

Signature game

Week 2 · 2024

L 3-52

at Ole Miss

6 rec · 93 yds

With N. Vattiato — 209 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · QBR 47.9 · G. Chadwick — 39.8 yards per punt · 4 punts · 1 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 9 · Jacksonville State · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +4.86Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 61 yds for a TD (Zeke Rankin KICK)
Week 13 · New Mexico State · 1st and 20 · Q4 · EPA +3.86Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 43 yds to the NMSU 42 for a
Week 14 · Florida International · 2nd and 1 · Q2 · EPA +3.86Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 56 yds for a TD (Zeke Rankin KICK)
Week 1 · Tennessee Tech · 3rd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +3.38Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 25 yds to the TNTC 43 for a
Week 14 · Florida International · 2nd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +3.34Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 37 yds for a TD (Zeke Rankin KICK)
Week 4 · Duke · 2nd and 15 · Q3 · EPA +3.10Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 15 yds for a TD (Zeke Rankin KICK)

4 more plays

Week 11 · Liberty · 3rd and 9 · Q3 · EPA +3.07Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 22 yds to the MTSU 48 for a
Week 13 · New Mexico State · 2nd and 11 · Q3 · EPA +2.87Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 12 yds for a TD (Zeke Rankin KICK)
Week 7 · Louisiana Tech · 3rd and 3 · Q1 · EPA +2.76Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 35 yds to the LT 18 for a
Week 8 · Kennesaw State · 3rd and 5 · Q3 · EPA +2.67Nicholas Vattiato pass complete to Holden Willis for 25 yds to the KENN 25 for a

Teams and coaches

2021South Florida2-10HC: Jeff Scott · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022South Florida1-11HC: Jeff Scott and Daniel Da Prato · Run-leaning

2023Middle Tennessee4-8HC: Rick Stockstill · Balanced

2024Middle Tennessee3-9HC: Derek Mason · Pass-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 82 (#5 of 135). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2024 season

82All-Conference level #5 of 135 · 2024?

11 metrics · season cumulative

2024 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: explosive rate (97th percentile). Strength: epa / target (95th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#18 / 610 · 97th pct

32.1%

EPA / target#31 / 610 · 95th pct

1.49

Catch rate#1 / 610 · 91st pct

100.0%

Yards / catch#68 / 610 · 89th pct

16.4

TD rate#99 / 610 · 84th pct

11.3%

Box-score rates (6)

Yards / catch#3 / 168 · 99th pct

16.4

Rec yards#4 / 168 · 98th pct

871

Receptions#9 / 168 · 95th pct

Long catch#13 / 168 · 93rd pct

Rec TDs#13 / 168 · 90th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 47 · 72nd pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

81st → 95th percentile

Explosive rate

96th → 97th percentile

Catch rate

95th → 91st percentile

TD rate

84th → 84th percentile

Yards / catch

80th → 89th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2024. 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

2024 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	4.2	67.5	17.4	0.3
Road4g	5.5	85.8	15.5	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	4.2	66.5	16.3	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	5.6	94.4	17.7	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2024 season

Head Coach

Derek Mason

Pass share

56.3%

427 pass / 331 run

Plays / game

63.2

12 games

Team sack rate

6.4%

452 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

The All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #5 of 135 FBS tight ends by CFB Zeitgeist Score.2024 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

82 · #5 of 135 TEs · 2024

Three-star recruit. Now #5 at the position.

Holden Willis

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Middle Tennessee in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Five seasons, two schools

Moves

2020

2023 11 games

2024 11 games