John Copenhaver

#81 · TE · Sr. · North Carolina6′3″ · 240 lb · Roswell, GA

John Copenhaver: TE · North Carolina · #81.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Jjay McafeeGeorgia Southern · 2023 · 84% season match
Miller McCrumbySouth Alabama · 2025 · 84% season match
Desirrio RilesEast Carolina · 2025 · 81% season match
Ryan JonesEast Carolina · 2022 · 79% season match
Christian TrahanHouston · 2021 · 79% season match

John Copenhaver

TE · North Carolina · Sr · #81

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. The four seasons at North Carolina span two head coaches: Mack Brown and Freddie Kitchens. A game that shows it: 64 receiving yards and 4 receptions against Boston College — Week 13, 2024.

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.

North Carolina in the news

Gregory Kirwan commits to UNC247Sports Nov 3
Top-ranked wing commits to CarolinaOct 30
NC State fires Dave DoerenOct 29
Fran Brown names UNC QB1Syracuse.com Oct 22

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2024	North Carolina	40	414	10.3	4	35
2023	North Carolina	18	279	15.5	4	40
2022	North Carolina	15	222	14.8	0	47
2021	North Carolina	2	9	4.5	1	7
Career		75	924	12.3	9	47

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 2	W 38-20vs Charlotte	2	9	4.5	0	8
Wk 3	W 45-10vs North Carolina Central	6	60	10.0	1	23
Wk 4	L 50-70vs James Madison	3	62	20.7	1	35
Wk 5	L 20-21@ Duke	1	15	15.0	0	15
Wk 6	L 24-34vs Pittsburgh	4	32	8.0	1	11
Wk 7	L 34-41vs Georgia Tech	2	15	7.5	0	12
Wk 9	W 41-14@ Virginia	4	24	6.0	0	9
Wk 10	W 35-11@ Florida State	4	30	7.5	0	16
Wk 12	W 31-24vs Wake Forest	3	33	11.0	0	18
Wk 13	L 21-41@ Boston College	4	64	16.0	0	25	Season-high 64 yds
Wk 14	L 30-35vs NC State	3	26	8.7	0	19
Bowl	L 14-27vs UConn	4	44	11.0	1	23
Total		40	414	10.3	4	35

Signature game

Week 3 · 2024

W 45-10

vs North Carolina Central

6 rec · 60 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 35-point win at home against North Carolina Central.

With O. Hampton — 210 rush yds (25 car) · 3 TD · J. Criswell — 161 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 28.6 · 16 rush yds (3 car)

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 4 · James Madison · 2nd and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.66Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 35 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 14 · NC State · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +3.16Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 19 yds to the NCSU 44 for a
Week 6 · Pittsburgh · 3rd and 11 · Q3 · EPA +3.15Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 11 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 3 · North Carolina Central · 1st and 15 · Q4 · EPA +2.98Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 23 yds for a TD (Liam Boyd KICK)
Week 3 · North Carolina Central · 3rd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +2.88Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 16 yds to the NCCU 43 for a
Week 1 · UConn · 2nd and 9 · Q4 · EPA +2.86Caleb Hood pass complete to John Copenhaver for 17 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)

4 more plays

Week 1 · UConn · 1st and 15 · Q2 · EPA +2.65Michael Merdinger pass complete to John Copenhaver for 23 yds to the CONN 42 for a
Week 7 · Georgia Tech · 3rd and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.64Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 12 yds to the GT 33 for a
Week 12 · Wake Forest · 4th and 4 · Q1 · EPA +2.63John Copenhaver run for 6 yds to the UNC 47 for a
Week 13 · Boston College · 3rd and 27 · Q2 · EPA +2.12Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 25 yds to the BC 41

Teams and coaches

4 seasons under Mack Brown — 29-24 over that span.

2021North Carolina6-7HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning

2022North Carolina9-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

2023North Carolina8-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

2024North Carolina6-7HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 58 (#31 of 135). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2024 season

58Quality starter #31 of 135 · 2024?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2024 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: receptions (85th percentile). Strength: rec yards (82nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#157 / 610 · 73rd pct

9.1%

Explosive rate#327 / 610 · 46th pct

13.6%

EPA / target#397 / 610 · 35th pct

0.74

Yards / catch#404 / 610 · 34th pct

10.8

Catch rate#403 / 610 · 34th pct

86.4%

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#25 / 168 · 85th pct

Rec yards#31 / 168 · 82nd pct

414

Rec TDs#29 / 168 · 78th pct

Long catch#73 / 168 · 55th pct

Rush yards#13 / 27 · 52nd pct

Yards / catch#98 / 168 · 40th pct

10.4

Rush TDs#8 / 27 · 37th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

90th → 35th percentile

Explosive rate

69th → 46th percentile

Catch rate

25th → 34th percentile

TD rate

98th → 73rd percentile

Yards / catch

71st → 34th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2024. 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

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.3	33.9	10.1	0.4
Road4g	3.2	33.2	11.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.1	33.9	11.0	0.6
Weeks 8+5g	3.6	35.4	9.8	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2024 season

Head Coach

Freddie Kitchens

Pass share

44.2%

391 pass / 493 run

Plays / game

68.0

13 games

Team sack rate

7.1%

420 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Impact starter

40 catches and 1 carry in 12 games, more catches a game than most FBS tight ends who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

58 · #31 of 135 TEs · 2024

Three-star recruit. Now #31 at the position.

John Copenhaver

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

North Carolina in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

Impact starter

Five seasons at North Carolina

2020