Joe Royer

#11 · TE · Sr. · Cincinnati6′5″ · 250 lb · Cincinnati, OH · Elder

Joe Royer: TE · Cincinnati · #11.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Jack VellingMichigan State · 2025 · 81% season match
Max KlareOhio State · 2025 · 80% season match
Anthony LandphereMemphis · 2024 · 77% season match
Terrance FergusonOregon · 2022 · 77% season match
Garrett OakleyKansas State · 2025 · 76% season match

Joe Royer

TE · Cincinnati · Sr · #11

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. The five seasons span two programs and two head coaches: Ryan Day and Scott Satterfield. All-Big 12 in 2025 made it two straight seasons on the honors list. On tape: 104 receiving yards and 2 receptions against Bowling Green, Week 2, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

Fans

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

Cincinnati in the news

Cincinnati beats Texas Tech for first top-10 win since 2021Yahoo Sports Oct 24
$1M Sorsby lawsuit pendingFront Office Sports Oct 22

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Cincinnati	29	416	14.3	4	73
2024	Cincinnati	51	532	10.4	3	38
2023	Ohio State	1	5	5.0	0	5
2022	Ohio State	2	10	5.0	0	9
2021	Ohio State	1	9	9.0	0	9
Career		84	972	11.6	7	73

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 17-20vs Nebraska	3	11	3.7	0	6
Wk 2	W 34-20vs Bowling Green	2	104	52.0	0	73	Season-high 104 yds
Wk 3	W 70-0vs Northwestern State	3	23	7.7	2	21	2 TD catches
Wk 5	W 37-34@ Kansas	2	24	12.0	0	20
Wk 6	W 38-30vs No. 14 Iowa State	4	20	5.0	1	12
Wk 7	W 20-11vs UCF	2	83	41.5	0	67
Wk 8	W 49-17@ Oklahoma State	5	63	12.6	1	27
Wk 9	W 41-20vs Baylor	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 10	L 14-45@ No. 24 Utah	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 12	L 24-30vs Arizona	1	8	8.0	0	8
Wk 13	L 14-26vs No. 11 BYU	2	13	6.5	0	8
Wk 14	L 23-45@ TCU	3	45	15.0	0	26
Total		29	416	14.3	4	73

Signature game

Week 3 · 2025

W 70-0

vs Northwestern State

3 rec · 23 yds · 2 TD

Dominant 70-point win at home against Northwestern State.

With B. Sorsby — 253 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.8 · 39 rush yds (2 car) · 1 TD · S. Jones — 53 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 94.6 · 26 rush yds (3 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 2 · Bowling Green · 2nd and 12 · Q2 · EPA +4.63Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 73 yds to the BGSU 18 for a
Week 7 · UCF · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +3.72Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 67 yds to the UCF 9 for a
Week 8 · Oklahoma State · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.23Sorsby to Royer: a 27-yard touchdown pass.
Week 14 · TCU · 3rd and 4 · Q3 · EPA +2.95Sorsby to Royer: a 26-yard pass.
Week 6 · Iowa State · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +2.88Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 12 yds for a TD (Stephen Rusnak KICK)
Week 5 · Kansas · 3rd and 13 · Q3 · EPA +2.68Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 20 yds to the CIN 42 for a

4 more plays

Week 2 · Bowling Green · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.67Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 31 yds to the BGSU 46 for a
Week 8 · Oklahoma State · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +2.33Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 11 yds to the CIN 42 for a
Week 3 · Northwestern State · 2nd and 2 · Q1 · EPA +2.28Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 21 yds for a TD (Stephen Rusnak KICK)
Week 3 · Northwestern State · 2nd and 2 · Q1 · EPA +2.07Brendan Sorsby pass complete to Joe Royer for 2 yds for a TD (Stephen Rusnak KICK)

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

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

29 rec · 416 yds · 4 TD

28 of 29 receptions matched to play-by-play

11 of 36 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

3611% of team targets

Catch rate

78%28 of 36 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

18% of targets (2)

50%catch rate

Air -3.5 · YAC 10.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

45% of targets (5)

100%catch rate

Air 6.6 · YAC 2.2 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

27% of targets (3)

67%catch rate

Air 11.0 · YAC 7.5 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

9% of targets (1)

0%catch rate

Air 22.0 avg

78% catch rate on 36 targets · 11% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

22%8 of his 36 targets came on third down · TE median is 22%

Teams and coaches

2021Ohio State11-2HC: Ryan Day · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Ohio State11-2HC: Ryan Day · Balanced

2023Ohio State11-2HC: Ryan Day · Balanced

2024Cincinnati5-7HC: Scott Satterfield · Balanced

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

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 61 (#37 of 156). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

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

61Quality starter #37 of 156 · 2025?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: td rate (95th percentile). Strength: explosive rate (85th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#41 / 798 · 95th pct

8.3%

Explosive rate#113 / 798 · 85th pct

16.7%

EPA / target#133 / 798 · 83rd pct

0.65

Catch rate#138 / 798 · 83rd pct

77.8%

Yards / catch#194 / 798 · 76th pct

13.9

Box-score rates (5)

Long catch#6 / 175 · 97th pct

Yards / catch#15 / 175 · 91st pct

14.3

Rec yards#32 / 175 · 82nd pct

416

Rec TDs#27 / 175 · 80th pct

Receptions#58 / 175 · 66th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

48th → 83rd percentile

Explosive rate

29th → 85th percentile

Catch rate

91st → 83rd percentile

TD rate

35th → 95th percentile

Yards / catch

31st → 76th percentile

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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.1	37.6	19.0	0.4
Road4g	2.8	35.5	12.4	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.7	44.2	20.3	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	2.2	25.2	10.7	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Scott Satterfield

Pass share

47.8%

363 pass / 396 run

Plays / game

58.4

13 games

Team sack rate

1.9%

360 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

61 · #37 of 156 TEs · 2025

Former four-star. Now #37 at the position.

Joe Royer

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Cincinnati in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Receiving profile

Situational

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-Conference

Six seasons, two schools, drafted

Moves

2020

2024 12 games

2025 12 games

2026