James BlackStrain

#5 · WR · Sr. · Missouri State6′2″ · 180 lb · Cocoa, FL · Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy

James BlackStrain is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Missouri State.

BlackStrain moves the chains on third down. The two seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Brent Key and Nick Petrino. One game to point at: 47 receiving yards and 3 receptions against UT Martin — Week 4, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Robert WilliamsLouisiana · 2024 · 87% season match
Jeremiah NogaWashington State · 2025 · 86% season match
Peter LeBlancLouisiana · 2022 · 83% season match
Troy StellatoClemson · 2024 · 80% season match
Amorion WalkerMiddle Tennessee · 2025 · 67% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Missouri State	22	224	10.2	1	32
2023	Georgia Tech	--	--	--	--	--
Career		22	224	10.2	1	32

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 3	L 10-28vs SMU	2	40	20.0	0	21
Wk 4	W 42-10vs UT Martin	3	47	15.7	1	23	Season-high 47 yds
Wk 7	W 22-20@ Middle Tennessee	2	12	6.0	0	11
Wk 9	W 24-17@ New Mexico State	3	19	6.3	0	15
Wk 10	W 28-21vs Florida International	2	23	11.5	0	13
Wk 11	W 21-17@ Liberty	2	23	11.5	0	18
Wk 12	W 38-24vs UTEP	3	12	4.0	0	10
Wk 13	L 34-41@ Kennesaw State	2	40	20.0	0	32
Wk 14	L 30-42vs Louisiana Tech	1	5	5.0	0	5
Bowl	L 28-34vs Arkansas State	2	3	1.5	0	4
Total		22	224	10.2	1	32

Signature game

Week 4 · 2025

W 42-10

vs UT Martin

3 rec · 47 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 32-point win at home against UT Martin.

With J. Clark — 271 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 72.5 · 22 rush yds (7 car) · 2 TD · S. McDonald — 43 yards per punt · 3 punts · 3 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 4 · UT Martin · 2nd and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.58Jacob Clark pass complete to James BlackStrain for 18 yds to the MOST 49 for a
Week 4 · UT Martin · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +2.06Jacob Clark pass complete to James BlackStrain for 23 yds to the UTM 46 for a
Week 4 · UT Martin · 1st and 6 · Q1 · EPA +2.05Jacob Clark pass complete to James BlackStrain for 6 yds for a TD (Yousef Obeid KICK)
Week 3 · SMU · 2nd and 5 · Q4 · EPA +2.02Jacob Clark pass complete to James BlackStrain for 19 yds to the MOST 47 for a
Week 11 · Liberty · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +1.94Clark to BlackStrain: a 5-yard pass.
Week 11 · Liberty · 2nd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +1.92Clark to BlackStrain: an 18-yard pass.

4 more plays

Week 3 · SMU · 2nd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.72Jacob Clark pass complete to James BlackStrain for 21 yds to the SMU 23 for a
Week 13 · Kennesaw State · 2nd and 2 · Q4 · EPA +1.58Clark to BlackStrain: a 32-yard pass.
Week 1 · Arkansas State · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA −1.37Clark to BlackStrain: a 1-yard pass.
Week 10 · Florida International · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.24Clark to BlackStrain: a 13-yard pass.

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

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

22 rec · 224 yds · 1 TD

20 of 22 receptions matched to play-by-play

21 of 33 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

339% of team targets

Catch rate

61%20 of 33 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

14% of targets (3)

100%catch rate

Air -2.3 · YAC 6.3 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

62% of targets (13)

62%catch rate

Air 5.1 · YAC 2.4 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

19% of targets (4)

25%catch rate

Air 13.2 · YAC 2.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

5% of targets (1)

100%catch rate

Air 31.0 · YAC 1.0 avg

61% catch rate on 33 targets · 9% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

9%3 of his 34 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2023Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2025Missouri State7-6HC: Ryan Beard · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 30 (#404 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

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

30Below cohort / limited sample #404 of 485 · 2025?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Concern: long catch (17th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#337 / 798 · 57th pct

2.9%

Explosive rate#454 / 798 · 43rd pct

8.8%

Yards / catch#488 / 798 · 39th pct

10.6

Catch rate#492 / 798 · 38th pct

64.7%

EPA / target#548 / 798 · 31st pct

0.29

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#383 / 558 · 30th pct

Rec TDs#373 / 558 · 24th pct

Rec yards#434 / 558 · 22nd pct

224

Yards / catch#457 / 558 · 18th pct

10.2

Long catch#462 / 558 · 17th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	2.2	25.4	11.2	0.2
Road4g	2.2	23.5	10.9	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	2.2	25.5	10.8	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	20.3	9.7	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Nick Petrino

Pass share

51.9%

433 pass / 401 run

Plays / game

64.2

13 games

Team sack rate

8.7%

458 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

22 catches in 10 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

30 · #404 of 485 WRs · 2025

Former four-star. Now #404 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Conference USA

Based on 2025: #43 of 52 Conference USA WRs

How the All-Conference USA base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).