Joseph Scates

Senior wide receiver for Memphis. 2023: 33 catches, 414 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Memphis · Sr. · #6

6′2″ · 210 lb · Dayton, OH

CFB Index 47 · #229 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceMemphis 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

4★

WR recruit

No. 266 nationally · Signed with Iowa State

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Memphis. 2023: 33 catches, 414 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Iowa State in 2018.
Transferred from Iowa State to Memphis in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Memphis, 1,130 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

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

The week the volume broke through — put up 78 yds at Temple.Temple · W 45-212023

2018

Signed with Iowa State4-star out of Dunbar

20229 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#266 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

2 coaches

2019

Mike Norvell

Memphis

2020–2023

Ryan Silverfield

Memphis

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Mike Norvell → Ryan Silverfield. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Iowa State7-6HC: Matt Campbell · Balanced

2020Iowa State9-3HC: Matt Campbell · Run-leaning

2021Iowa State7-6HC: Matt Campbell · Balanced, fast tempo

2022Memphis7-6HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2023Memphis10-3HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

47Rotational starter #229 of 497?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (93rd percentile). Strength: catch rate (83rd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#42 / 639 · 93rd pct

13.8%

Catch rate#109 / 639 · 83rd pct

93.1%

EPA / target#219 / 639 · 66th pct

0.89

Explosive rate#314 / 639 · 51st pct

13.8%

Yards / catch#394 / 639 · 38th pct

11.1

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#74 / 566 · 84th pct

Long catch#205 / 566 · 63rd pct

Receptions#244 / 566 · 56th pct

Rec yards#264 / 566 · 53rd pct

414

Yards / catch#312 / 566 · 44th pct

12.5

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

58th → 66th percentile

Explosive rate

93rd → 51st percentile

Catch rate

8th → 83rd percentile

TD rate

81st → 93rd percentile

Yards / catch

99th → 38th 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

2023 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	3.2	25.2	11.8	0.2
Road7g	2.9	44.7	14.8	0.7

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.6	37.8	17.3	0.8
Weeks 8+6g	3.3	37.5	10.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Charles Huff

Pass share

38.2%

66 pass / 107 run

Plays / game

57.7

3 games

Team sack rate

5.2%

77 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-heavy, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

47 · #229 of 497 WRs

Former four-star. Now #229 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Memphis	33	414	12.5	6	--
2022	Memphis	18	412	22.9	4	--
2021	Iowa State	8	145	18.1	1	--
2020	Iowa State	6	134	22.3	2	--
2019	Iowa State	2	25	12.5	1	--
Career		67	1,130	16.9	14	--

Season	Team
2023	Memphis	--	--	--	--	--
2022	Memphis	1	4	--	--	--
2021	Iowa State	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Iowa State	--	--	--	--	--
2019	Iowa State	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	4	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2023

W 36–26

at Iowa State

3 rec · 75 yds · 1 TD

With S. Henigan — 364 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 95.4 · 27 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD · S. Smith — 22 rush yds (4 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Iowa State · 2&6 · Q1 · EPA +4.25Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 51 yds for a TD (Two-Point Conversion failed)
Week 13 · Temple · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.18Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 54 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 7 · Tulane · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.98Joseph Scates 28 Yd pass from Seth Henigan (Tanner Gillis Kick)
Week 9 · North Texas · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +3.78Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 36 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 2 · Arkansas State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.38Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 45 yds to the ARST 43 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Charlotte · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.31Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 47 yds to the CLT 28 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Iowa State · 3&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.23Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 17 yds to the ISU 29 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Missouri · 4&3 · Q1 · EPA +2.92Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 3 yds for a TD (Tanner Gillis KICK)
Week 10 · South Florida · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.90Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 14 yds to the USF 40 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Arkansas State · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +2.70Seth Henigan pass complete to Joseph Scates for 4 yds for a TD (Seth Morgan KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 2	W 37-3@ Arkansas State	2	49	24.5	1	45
Wk 3	W 28-24vs Navy	5	31	6.2	0	10
Wk 4	L 27-34@ Missouri	2	6	3.0	1	3
Wk 7	L 21-31vs Tulane	1	28	28.0	1	28
Wk 8	W 45-21@ UAB	2	6	3.0	0	4
Wk 9	W 45-42@ North Texas	3	44	14.7	1	36
Wk 10	W 59-50vs South Florida	2	16	8.0	0	14
Wk 11	W 44-38@ Charlotte	4	55	13.8	0	47
Wk 12	L 34-38vs SMU	5	26	5.2	0	8
Wk 13	W 45-21@ Temple	4	78	19.5	1	54	Season-high 78 yds
Bowl	W 36-26@ Iowa State	3	75	25.0	1	51
Total		33	414	13.7	6	54

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