Kelly Akharaiyi

Former wide receiver at Mississippi State. 2024: 25 catches, 391 receiving yards, 2 TD.

WR · Mississippi State · Sr. · #1

6′1″ · 200 lb · Irving, TX

CFB Index 40 · #285 of 466 WRsHigh confidenceMississippi State 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

2★

WR recruit

No. 196 nationally · Joined UTEP

Statement game8 rec · 223 yds · 2 TDat Florida International (FBS) · W 27-14

Top 0.1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Mississippi State. 2024: 25 catches, 391 receiving yards, 2 TD.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to UTEP in 2022.
Transferred from UTEP to Mississippi State in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Mississippi State, 1,699 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2023) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 223 yds at Florida International.Florida International · W 27-142023

20229 games

Signed with UTEP2-star out of Tyler J.C.

202311 games

All-Conference USAfirst

202410 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#196 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2022–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM

All-Conference USA 1st team (2023)

Coaching lineage · 2022–2024

3 coaches

2022

Mike Leach

Mississippi State

2023

Greg Knox

Mississippi State

era →

2024

Jeff Lebby

Mississippi State

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Mike Leach, Greg Knox, and Jeff Lebby. Multi-era developmental context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022UTEP5-7HC: Dana Dimel · Run-leaning

2023UTEP3-9HC: Dana Dimel · Run-leaning

2024Mississippi State2-10HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

40Below cohort / limited sample #285 of 466?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (87th percentile). Strength: epa / target (86th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#82 / 610 · 87th pct

16.1

EPA / target#84 / 610 · 86th pct

1.25

Explosive rate#107 / 610 · 82nd pct

22.2%

TD rate#247 / 610 · 59th pct

7.4%

Catch rate#330 / 610 · 45th pct

88.9%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#132 / 541 · 75th pct

15.6

Long catch#268 / 541 · 50th pct

Rec yards#278 / 541 · 49th pct

391

Rec TDs#275 / 541 · 41st pct

Receptions#324 / 541 · 39th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

98th → 86th percentile

Explosive rate

98th → 82nd percentile

Catch rate

45th → 45th percentile

TD rate

89th → 59th percentile

Yards / catch

99th → 87th 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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.8	38.2	14.2	0.0
Road4g	2.0	40.5	19.5	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	2.4	39.2	17.3	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	2.6	39.0	15.3	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Lebby

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

40 · #285 of 466 WRs

Two-star recruit. Now #285 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Mississippi State	25	391	15.6	2	--
2023	UTEP	48	1,033	21.5	7	--
2022	UTEP	21	275	13.1	1	--
Career		94	1,699	18.1	10	--

Season	Team
2024	Mississippi State	--	--	--	--	--
2023	UTEP	1	7	--	--	--
2022	UTEP	1	-6	--	--	--
Career		2	1	--	--	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 7 · Georgia · 3&8 · Q4 · EPA +4.34Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 35 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK)
Week 7 · Georgia · 2&24 · Q2 · EPA +4.17Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 24 yds for a TD (Kyle Ferrie KICK)
Week 3 · Toledo · 3&14 · Q3 · EPA +3.30Blake Shapen pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 16 yds to the TOL 31 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Missouri · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.25Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 49 yds to the MIZ 24 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Ole Miss · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.70Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 36 yds to the MISS 33 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Arkansas · 4&5 · Q4 · EPA +2.06Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 7 yds to the MSST 37 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Texas A&M · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.05Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 14 yds to the TA&M 45 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Arizona State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.95Blake Shapen pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 18 yds to the ASU 30 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Florida · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.79Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 28 yds to the FLA 4 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Texas · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.52Michael Van Buren Jr. pass complete to Kelly Akharaiyi for 18 yds to the MSST 40 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 2	L 23-30@ Arizona State	1	18	18.0	0	18
Wk 3	L 17-41vs Toledo	4	32	8.0	0	16
Wk 4	L 28-45vs Florida	3	56	18.7	0	28
Wk 5	L 13-35@ Texas	1	18	18.0	0	18
Wk 7	L 31-41@ Georgia	3	72	24.0	2	35	Season-high 72 yds
Wk 8	L 24-34vs Texas A&M	3	45	15.0	0	22
Wk 9	L 25-58vs Arkansas	3	15	5.0	0	8
Wk 10	W 45-20vs Massachusetts	1	17	17.0	0	17
Wk 13	L 20-39vs Missouri	3	64	21.3	0	49
Wk 14	L 14-26@ Ole Miss	3	54	18.0	0	36
Total		25	391	16.3	2	49

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

Kelly Akharaiyi

20229 games

202311 games

202410 games

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

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