JaVonta Payton

#3 · WR · Sr. · Tennessee6′1″ · 180 lb · Nashville, TN · Hillsboro

JaVonta Payton: WR · Tennessee · #3.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Devin RavenelJames Madison · 2022 · 70% season match
Jordan KerleySMU · 2021 · 66% season match
Rara ThomasMississippi State · 2021 · 58% season match
Javen BanksTexas State · 2020 · 56% season match
Kyren LacyLouisiana · 2021 · 46% season match

JaVonta Payton

WR · Tennessee · Sr · #3

Moves the chains on third down. Played for three head coaches at two programs in three seasons: Joe Moorhead, Mike Leach and Josh Heupel. On tape: 82 receiving yards and 2 receptions against Florida, Week 4, 2021.

Style of play

Play style

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

Fans

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

Tennessee in the news

Napier fired as Florida coachOct 30
2027 CB Preston Glasco commits to TennesseeOct 29
Tennessee fires head coachOct 26
Tennessee AD criticizes officiatingOct 25

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2021	Tennessee	18	413	22.9	6	75
2020	Mississippi State	19	225	11.8	1	34
2019	Mississippi State	9	147	16.3	0	34
Career		46	785	17.1	7	75

Season	Team
2021	Tennessee	1	−2	--
2020	Mississippi State	--	--	121
2019	Mississippi State	1	11	82
Career		2	9	203

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 38-6vs Bowling Green	2	14	7.0	0	10
Wk 3	W 56-0vs Tennessee Tech	3	46	15.3	1	29
Wk 4	L 14-38@ No. 11 Florida	2	82	41.0	1	75	Season-high 82 yds
Wk 5	W 62-24@ Missouri	1	35	35.0	1	35
Wk 6	W 45-20vs South Carolina	1	39	39.0	1	39
Wk 7	L 26-31vs No. 13 Ole Miss	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 8	L 24-52@ No. 4 Alabama	2	59	29.5	1	57
Wk 10	W 45-42@ No. 18 Kentucky	2	78	39.0	1	75
Wk 11	L 17-41vs No. 1 Georgia	1	8	8.0	0	8
Wk 13	W 45-21vs Vanderbilt	1	5	5.0	0	5
Total		16	378	23.6	6	75

Signature game

Week 8 · 2021

L 24-52

at Alabama

2 rec · 59 yds · 1 TD

With H. Hooker — 282 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 76.6 · 27 rush yds (13 car) · P. Brooks — 44.3 yards per punt · 7 punts · 2 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 4 · Florida · 2nd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +6.53Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 75 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 10 · Kentucky · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 75 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 8 · Alabama · 2nd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +4.84Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 57 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 6 · South Carolina · 2nd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +3.59Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 39 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 5 · Missouri · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +2.97Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 35 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)
Week 3 · Tennessee Tech · 2nd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +2.96Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 29 yds for a TD, (Chase McGrath KICK)

4 more plays

Week 4 · Florida · 4th and 5 · Q3 · EPA +2.70Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 7 yds to the Fla 35 for a
Week 3 · Tennessee Tech · 4th and 4 · Q2 · EPA +1.78Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 10 yds to the TnTch 20 for a
Week 1 · Purdue · 3rd and 3 · Q1 · EPA +1.25Hendon Hooker pass complete to JaVonta Payton for 24 yds to the Prdue 12 for a
Week 10 · Kentucky · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA −1.19JaVonta Payton run for a loss of 2 yards to the Tenn 30

Teams and coaches

2019Mississippi State6-7HC: Joe Moorhead · Run-heavy

2020Mississippi State4-7HC: Mike Leach · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

2021Tennessee7-6HC: Josh Heupel · Run-heavy, fast tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 42 (#271 of 468). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2021 season

42Rotational starter #271 of 468 · 2021?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2021 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: yards / catch (99th percentile). Strength: td rate (97th percentile). Concern: catch rate (2nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#7 / 655 · 99th pct

23.0

TD rate#21 / 655 · 97th pct

16.7%

Explosive rate#112 / 655 · 83rd pct

19.4%

EPA / target#324 / 655 · 51st pct

0.65

Catch rate#642 / 655 · 2nd pct

50.0%

Box-score rates (7)

Yards / catch#7 / 557 · 99th pct

22.9

Long catch#41 / 557 · 90th pct

Rec TDs#71 / 557 · 84th pct

Rec yards#265 / 557 · 52nd pct

413

Rush TDs#57 / 273 · 40th pct

Receptions#419 / 557 · 23rd pct

Rush yards#245 / 273 · 10th pct

-2

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2021. 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

2021 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	1.5	20.7	14.4	0.3
Road4g	1.8	63.5	36.1	1.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.7	38.0	24.9	0.7
Weeks 8+4g	1.5	37.5	20.4	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2021 season

Head Coach

Josh Heupel

Pass share

39.5%

374 pass / 572 run

Plays / game

78.8

12 games

Team sack rate

10.0%

430 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, fast tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

18 catches and 1 carry in 10 games

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

42 · #271 of 468 WRs · 2021

Three-star recruit. Now #271 at the position.

JaVonta Payton

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Tennessee in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

18 catches and 1 carry in 10 games

Five seasons, two schools

Moves

2017

2019 13 games

2021 10 games