Jeff Caldwell

Senior wide receiver for Cincinnati. 2025: 32 catches, 478 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Cincinnati · Sr. · #9

6′5″ · 215 lb · Louisville, KY

CFB Index 50 · #231 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to Cincinnati for 2026

How he plays

Wins the 50-50 ball at the goal line.

Yards / catch: 86th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

478

receiving yards · 2025

32 catches · 6 TD · 14.9 per catch

Swing playSwung Cincinnati from 8% to 28% to win.BYU at Cincinnati · 26-14

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Cincinnati. 2025: 32 catches, 478 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Transferred from Lindenwood to Cincinnati in 2025.

His career, year by year

Jeff Caldwell

WR · Cincinnati · Sr · #9

Wins the 50-50 ball at the goal line. Lindenwood to Cincinnati — the move that set up everything since. The receipt on tape: 109 rec yds, 5 receptions against Bowling Green, Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025Cincinnati7-6HC: Scott Satterfield · Balanced, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

50Rotational starter #231 of 485?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (86th percentile). Strength: td rate (85th percentile). Concern: catch rate (7th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#110 / 798 · 86th pct

15.1

TD rate#120 / 798 · 85th pct

5.5%

Explosive rate#186 / 798 · 77th pct

14.5%

EPA / target#256 / 798 · 68th pct

0.53

Catch rate#740 / 798 · 7th pct

52.7%

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#56 / 558 · 87th pct

Yards / catch#138 / 558 · 75th pct

14.9

Rec yards#240 / 558 · 57th pct

478

Receptions#255 / 558 · 53rd pct

Long catch#378 / 558 · 31st 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 this season. 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).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

20%11 of his 55 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	2.6	43.0	14.4	0.6
Road4g	2.8	33.5	12.1	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.7	46.3	15.9	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	2.7	33.3	11.3	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Satterfield

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

50 · #231 of 485 WRs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big 12

Based on 2025: #28 of 55 Big 12 WRs

How the All-Big 12 estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Cincinnati	32	478	14.9	6	--
Career		32	478	14.9	6	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 6 · 2025

W 38–30

vs Iowa State

1 rec · 21 yds

Edged out Iowa State at home in a shootout.

With B. Sorsby — 214 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 86.0 · 64 rush yds (9 car) · 1 TD · M. Fletcher — 41 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 60 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · Oklahoma State · 3&16 · Q4 · EPA +4.35Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 38 yds to the OKST 29 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · UCF · 2&12 · Q1 · EPA +4.28Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 40 yds for a TD (Stephen Rusnak KICK)
Week 13 · BYU · 3&14 · Q4 · EPA +3.70(04:41) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 B.Sorsby pass complete short middle to #9 J.Caldwell caught at BYU03, for 19 yards to the BYU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 04:37, 1ST DOWN #99 S.Rusnak kick attempt good (H: #31 M.Fletcher, LS: #48 E.Stein)
Week 12 · Arizona · 2&15 · Q4 · EPA +3.53(10:23) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 B.Sorsby pass complete deep left to #9 J.Caldwell caught at CIN50, for 33 yards to the ARZ47 (#43 D.Johnson), 1ST DOWN
Week 2 · Bowling Green · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.49Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 39 yds to the BGSU 25 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Northwestern State · 1&20 · Q2 · EPA +3.29Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 28 yds to the NWST 34 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Bowling Green · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +3.01Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 9 yds for a TD (Stephen Rusnak KICK)
Week 12 · Arizona · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +2.61Jeff Caldwell 7 Yd pass from Brendan Sorsby (Stephen Rusnak Kick)
Week 14 · TCU · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.55(11:31) No Huddle-Shotgun #2 B.Sorsby pass complete short middle to #9 J.Caldwell caught at TCU00, for 14 yards to the TCU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 11:27, 1ST DOWN #99 S.Rusnak kick attempt good (H: #31 M.Fletcher, LS: #48 E.Stein)
Week 2 · Bowling Green · 2&12 · Q2 · EPA +2.55Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Jeff Caldwell for 20 yds to the BGSU 32 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 17-20vs Nebraska	1	5	5.0	0	5
Wk 2	W 34-20vs Bowling Green	5	109	21.8	1	39	Season-high 109 yds
Wk 3	W 70-0vs Northwestern State	3	58	19.3	0	28
Wk 5	W 37-34@ Kansas	3	27	9.0	0	15
Wk 6	W 38-30vs Iowa State	1	21	21.0	0	21
Wk 7	W 20-11vs UCF	3	58	19.3	2	40	2 TD catches
Wk 8	W 49-17@ Oklahoma State	3	54	18.0	0	38
Wk 9	W 41-20vs Baylor	1	5	5.0	0	5
Wk 10	L 14-45@ Utah	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 12	L 24-30vs Arizona	5	68	13.6	1	33
Wk 13	L 14-26vs BYU	2	20	10.0	1	19
Wk 14	L 23-45@ TCU	4	42	10.5	1	16
Total		32	478	13.6	6	40

How he plays

Play style

Wins contested catches at the goal line. Size and catch radius are the weapons.

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

Cincinnati

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Cincinnati

Returning around him

8% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
4 Cincinnati players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +0 net (23 in / 23 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Cincinnati · Last season: 7-6 (AP #22) · Talent rank #77 · 2026 recruiting class #58

DNA match

Player DNA

Jump-Ball Target

Wins contested catches at the goal line. Size and catch radius are the weapons.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Da'Quan Felton’s 2023 season.

Da'Quan Felton

81%match

Virginia Tech · 2023

Christian Fitzpatrick

Marshall · 2024

80%

Tykee Ogle-Kellogg

UTSA · 2023

80%

Isaiah Neyor

Nebraska · 2024

79%

Noah Thomas

Texas A&M · 2024

74%

Matches Da'Quan on

Total EPA (college ability)

Yards / reception

TD rate

Through 1 college season, his career arc tracks closest to Trevon Grimes’s path through Florida.

Trevon Grimes

99%match

Florida · 2020

Jalen Coker

Holy Cross · 2023

99%

Tylan Wallace

Oklahoma State · 2020

All-Big 12NFL Rd 4

98%

CJ Turner

SE Louisiana · 2022

98%

Jared Gipson

Sacramento State · 2024

97%

Matches Trevon on

Yards per reception

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Quentin Skinner's sophomore season at Kansas (2022).

Quentin Skinner

81%match

Kansas · 2022

Jordan Smith

Temple · 2022

79%

Devin Carter

NC State · 2021

73%

Noah Thomas

Texas A&M · 2023

73%

Ja'Cyais Credle

Georgia State · 2021

71%

Matches Quentin on

TD rate

Yards / reception

Reception volume

Differs from Quentin on

Weight (higher)

EPA / play (adj) (lower)

Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology

202512 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Jump-Ball Target