Jaelon Darden

#1 · WR · Sr. · North Texas5′9″ · 174 lb · Houston, TX · Aldine Eisenhower

Jaelon Darden: WR · North Texas · #1.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

De'Michael HarrisSouthern Miss · 2019 · 91% season match
Richie JamesMiddle Tennessee · 2017 · 88% season match
Calvin Austin IIIMemphis · 2020 · 66% season match
Nicholas NorrisWestern Kentucky · 2016 · 65% season match
Antonio VaughanOld Dominion · 2014 · 64% season match

Jaelon Darden

WR · North Texas · Sr · #1

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Fourth year in the North Texas receiving corps. All-America (ESPN) in 2020 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 244 receiving yards and 13 receptions against Charlotte, Week 6, 2020.

Style of play

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

Fans

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

North Texas in the news

June Jones passes awayOct 29
North Texas QB eligibility questionedFort Worth Star-Telegram Oct 20
$1.02M donation to UNT athleticsUniversity of North Texas Athletics Oct 20
Former North Texas HS standout dies after injuryCBS News Oct 16

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2020	North Texas	74	1,190	16.1	19	75
2019	North Texas	76	736	9.7	12	68
2018	North Texas	48	575	12.0	4	46
2017	North Texas	32	281	8.8	3	28
Career		230	2,782	12.1	38	75

Season	Team
2020	North Texas	1	−3	--	21	--
2019	North Texas	2	13	4	108	--
2018	North Texas	3	16	--	62	--
2017	North Texas	1	1	295	119	1
Career		7	27	299	310	1

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2020 season · 9 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 57-31vs Houston Christian	5	71	14.2	3	33	3 TD catches
Wk 3	L 35-65vs SMU	5	66	13.2	2	33	2 TD catches
Wk 5	L 31-41vs Southern Miss	13	104	8.0	1	17
Wk 6	L 21-49vs Charlotte	13	244	18.8	3	45	Season-high 244 yds
Wk 7	W 52-35@ Middle Tennessee	10	204	20.4	1	55	204-yard receiving day
Wk 12	W 27-17vs Rice	4	50	12.5	1	25
Wk 13	L 17-49@ UTSA	8	143	17.9	1	75	143-yard receiving day
Wk 14	L 31-42vs Louisiana Tech	8	135	16.9	3	49	3 TD catches
Wk 15	W 45-43@ UTEP	8	173	21.6	4	75	4 TD catches
Total		74	1190	16.1	19	75

Signature game

Week 6 · 2020

L 21-49

vs Charlotte

13 rec · 244 yds · 3 TD

With A. Aune — 382 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · B. Rodriguez — 47.8 yards per punt · 4 punts · 1 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 13 · UTSA · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +6.08Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 75 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 15 · UTEP · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +6.08Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 75 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 15 · UTEP · 3rd and 6 · Q4 · EPA +5.50Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 50 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 7 · Middle Tennessee · 2nd and 10 · Q3 · EPA +5.44Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 55 yds for a TD, (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 6 · Charlotte · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +3.73Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 30 yds to the Charl 32 for a
Week 1 · Houston Christian · 3rd and 4 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 33 yds for a TD, (Zach Williams KICK)

4 more plays

Week 6 · Charlotte · 2nd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 37 yds to the Charl 38 for a
Week 12 · Rice · 3rd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +3.58Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 25 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 3 · SMU · 2nd and 10 · Q4 · EPA +3.54Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 33 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 6 · Charlotte · 2nd and 4 · Q3 · EPA +3.43Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 43 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)

Teams and coaches

4 seasons under Seth Littrell — 26-23 over that span.

2017North Texas9-5HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2018North Texas9-4HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced, fast tempo

2019North Texas4-8HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2020North Texas4-6HC: Seth Littrell · Run-leaning, fast tempo

Our ratings

Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2020 season

12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (93rd percentile). Strength: rec tds (100th percentile). Concern: catch rate (30th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#5 / 65 · 93rd pct

16.5%

Yards / catch#16 / 65 · 76th pct

16.1

Explosive rate#20 / 65 · 69th pct

17.4%

EPA / target#27 / 65 · 59th pct

0.66

Catch rate#46 / 65 · 30th pct

64.3%

Box-score rates (7)

Rec TDs#2 / 421 · 100th pct

Rec yards#3 / 421 · 99th pct

1190

Receptions#5 / 421 · 99th pct

Long catch#36 / 421 · 90th pct

Yards / catch#77 / 421 · 82nd pct

16.1

Rush TDs#38 / 202 · 41st pct

Rush yards#179 / 202 · 11th pct

-3

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

42nd → 59th percentile

Explosive rate

24th → 69th percentile

Catch rate

54th → 30th percentile

TD rate

89th → 93rd percentile

Yards / catch

21st → 76th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2020. 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

2020 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	8.0	112	13.9	2.2
Road3g	8.7	173	20.0	2.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	9.2	138	14.9	2.0
Weeks 8+4g	7.0	125	17.2	2.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2020 season

Head Coach

Seth Littrell

Pass share

43.2%

336 pass / 441 run

Plays / game

86.3

9 games

Team sack rate

4.8%

353 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, fast tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2020

All-American

Named to an All-America team by a recognized selector.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Selector Grid · 2020

AP—

FWAA1st

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Jaelon Darden

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

North Texas in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-American

Four seasons at North Texas, drafted

2017 13 games

2019 12 games

2020 9 games

2021