#81

Josh Whyle

Former tight end at Cincinnati. 2022: 32 catches, 326 receiving yards, 3 TD.

TE · Cincinnati · Sr. · #81

6′6″ · 250 lb · Cincinnati, OH

CFB Index 53 · #43 of 132 TEsMedium-low confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamTennessee — drafted 2023, Rd 5, Pick 13, #147 overall

Recruiting

3★

TE recruit

No. 412 nationally · Signed with Cincinnati

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former tight end at Cincinnati. 2022: 32 catches, 326 receiving yards, 3 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Cincinnati in 2018.
Drafted round 5 by the Tennessee in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Cincinnati, 1,062 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — drafted at #147 overall by Tennessee.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

2018

Signed with Cincinnati3-star out of LaSalle

20209 games

All-AACsecond

202211 games

All-AACfirst

2023

Drafted by Tennesseeround 5, pick 147

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#412 national

CFB

College

Cincinnati

2019–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R5 · #147

Tennessee · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

4 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2022

1 coach

2019–2022

Luke Fickell

Cincinnati

Played his entire career under Luke Fickell.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

TennesseeEntering 4th NFL season

#147Rd 5 · Pick 13

TennesseeEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Luke Fickell — 42-9 over that span.

2019Cincinnati11-3HC: Luke Fickell · Run-heavy

2020Cincinnati9-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2021Cincinnati13-1HC: Luke Fickell · Run-leaning

2022Cincinnati9-4HC: Luke Fickell · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

53Rotational starter #43 of 132?

Medium-low confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: explosive rate (4th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#270 / 636 · 57th pct

7.1%

EPA / target#301 / 636 · 53rd pct

0.71

Catch rate#464 / 636 · 27th pct

71.4%

Yards / catch#482 / 636 · 24th pct

10.2

Explosive rate#609 / 636 · 4th pct

2.4%

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#32 / 158 · 79th pct

Rec yards#48 / 158 · 70th pct

326

Rec TDs#50 / 158 · 62nd pct

Long catch#79 / 158 · 49th pct

Yards / catch#104 / 158 · 34th pct

10.2

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

71st → 53rd percentile

Explosive rate

73rd → 4th percentile

Catch rate

45th → 27th percentile

TD rate

97th → 57th percentile

Yards / catch

53rd → 24th 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

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	1.8	22.2	12.4	0.2
Road6g	3.8	35.8	8.8	0.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.5	23.2	9.3	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	3.4	37.4	11.8	0.2

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 · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

53 · #43 of 132 TEs

Three-star recruit. Now #43 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Cincinnati	32	326	10.2	3	--
2021	Cincinnati	26	332	12.8	6	--
2020	Cincinnati	28	353	12.6	6	--
2019	Cincinnati	2	51	25.5	0	--
Career		88	1,062	12.1	15	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2022

W 63–10

vs Kennesaw State

3 rec · 36 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 53-point win at home against Kennesaw State.

With E. Prater — 92 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 99.5 · 44 rush yds (1 car) · 1 TD · B. Bryant — 201 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 72.9 · -14 rush yds (3 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · SMU · 2&14 · Q3 · EPA +3.30Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 35 yds to the SMU 20 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Tulsa · 4&2 · Q3 · EPA +2.85Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 2 yds for a TD, (Ryan Coe KICK)
Week 2 · Kennesaw State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.58Josh Whyle 17 Yd pass from Ben Bryant (Ryan Coe Kick)
Week 9 · UCF · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.55Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 14 yds for a TD, (Ryan Coe KICK)
Week 11 · East Carolina · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.40Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 11 yds to the ECaro 37 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Temple · 3&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.38Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 19 yds to the Temp 27 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · SMU · 3&8 · Q4 · EPA +2.28Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 9 yds to the SMU 36 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Arkansas · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.22Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 17 yds to the Cincy 42 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Temple · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.02Evan Prater pass complete to Josh Whyle for 11 yds to the Cincy 44 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Arkansas · 3&4 · Q1 · EPA +1.86Ben Bryant pass complete to Josh Whyle for 9 yds to the Cincy 40 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week