#81

John Copenhaver

Former tight end at North Carolina. 2024: 40 catches, 414 receiving yards, 4 TD.

TE · North Carolina · Sr. · #81

6′3″ · 240 lb · Roswell, GA

CFB Index 58 · #31 of 135 TEsMedium-low confidenceNorth Carolina 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

TE recruit

No. 430 nationally · Signed with North Carolina

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former tight end at North Carolina. 2024: 40 catches, 414 receiving yards, 4 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to North Carolina in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at North Carolina, 924 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

2020

Signed with North Carolina3-star out of Roswell

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#430 national

CFB

College

North Carolina

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

2 coaches

2021–2023

Mack Brown

North Carolina

2024

Freddie Kitchens

North Carolina

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mack Brown → Freddie Kitchens. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

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

2022North Carolina9-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

2023North Carolina8-5HC: Mack Brown · Balanced

2024North Carolina6-7HC: Freddie Kitchens · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

58Quality starter #31 of 135?

Medium-low confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

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 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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	3.4	35.1	10.2	0.5
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

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

58 · #31 of 135 TEs

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

Career stats

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

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 4 · James Madison · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.66Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 35 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 14 · NC State · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.16Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 19 yds to the NCSU 44 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Pittsburgh · 3&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 · 1&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 · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +2.88Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 16 yds to the NCCU 43 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · UConn · 2&9 · Q4 · EPA +2.86Caleb Hood pass complete to John Copenhaver for 17 yds for a TD (Noah Burnette KICK)
Week 1 · UConn · 1&15 · Q2 · EPA +2.65Michael Merdinger pass complete to John Copenhaver for 23 yds to the CONN 42 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Georgia Tech · 3&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.64Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 12 yds to the GT 33 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Wake Forest · 4&4 · Q1 · EPA +2.63John Copenhaver run for 6 yds to the UNC 47 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Boston College · 3&27 · Q2 · EPA +2.12Jacolby Criswell pass complete to John Copenhaver for 25 yds to the BC 41

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

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	10.5	4	35

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

John Copenhaver

2020

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Complete TE

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