Kirk Merritt

#13 · WR · Sr. · Arkansas State6′0″ · 215 lb · Destrehan, LA

Kirk Merritt: WR · Arkansas State · #13.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Gabe MarksWashington State · 2016 · 85% season match
Hunter SharpUtah State · 2015 · 81% season match
Isiah MyersWashington State · 2014 · 76% season match
Parris CampbellOhio State · 2018 · 75% season match
Devin DuvernayTexas · 2019 · 71% season match

Kirk Merritt

WR · Arkansas State · Sr · #13

Wins the 50-50 ball at the goal line. Played for two head coaches across three seasons and two programs. Named All-Sun Belt two seasons running, most recently in 2019. One game to point at: 131 receiving yards and 10 receptions against Southern Illinois — Week 4, 2019.

Style of play

Play style

Wins contested catches at the goal line. Size and catch radius are the weapons.

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2019	Arkansas State	70	806	11.5	12	45
2018	Arkansas State	83	1,005	12.1	7	73
2015	Oregon	5	61	12.2	0	28
Career		158	1,872	11.8	19	73

Season	Team
2019	Arkansas State	2	11	415
2018	Arkansas State	5	31	275
2015	Oregon	3	13	28
Career		10	55	718

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2019 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 2	W 43-17@ UNLV	4	52	13.0	1	37
Wk 3	L 0-55@ No. 3 Georgia	6	25	4.2	0	10
Wk 4	W 41-28vs Southern Illinois	10	131	13.1	2	43	Season-high 131 yds
Wk 5	W 50-43@ Troy	6	104	17.3	2	45	2 TD catches
Wk 6	L 38-52@ Georgia State	9	84	9.3	1	27
Wk 8	L 20-37vs Louisiana	2	28	14.0	1	25
Wk 9	W 38-14vs Texas State	3	40	13.3	0	26
Wk 10	W 48-41@ UL Monroe	6	67	11.2	1	23
Wk 12	W 28-27vs Coastal Carolina	7	70	10.0	2	21	2 TD catches
Wk 13	W 38-33vs Georgia Southern	2	41	20.5	1	27
Wk 14	L 30-34@ South Alabama	9	121	13.4	0	34
Bowl	W 34-26vs Florida International	6	43	7.2	1	14
Total		70	806	11.5	12	45

Signature game

Week 4 · 2019

W 41-28

vs Southern Illinois

10 rec · 131 yds · 2 TD

Edged out Southern Illinois at home in a shootout.

With L. Bonner — 320 yds · 4 TD · 0 INT · QBR 70.4 · 1 rec · 37 yds · O. Bayless — 3 rec · 141 yds · 1 TD · 37 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.1

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 2 · UNLV · 3rd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +4.27Logan Bonner pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 37 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 4 · Southern Illinois · 2nd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +4.02Logan Bonner pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 43 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 5 · Troy · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.48Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 45 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 1 · Florida International · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +2.97Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 9 yds for a TD (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 9 · Texas State · 2nd and 9 · Q2 · EPA +2.95Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 26 yds to the TexSt 37 for a
Week 12 · Coastal Carolina · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +2.88Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 7 yds for a TD (Blake Grupe KICK)

4 more plays

Week 5 · Troy · 3rd and 4 · Q1 · EPA +2.86Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 14 yds for a TD, (Blake Grupe KICK)
Week 10 · UL Monroe · 3rd and 1 · Q2 · EPA +2.85Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 23 yds for a TD
Week 14 · South Alabama · 2nd and 12 · Q3 · EPA +2.76Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 34 yds to the SAlab 10 for a SOUTH ALABAMA Penalty, unsportsmanlike conduct (Riley Cole) to the SAlab 5 for a
Week 12 · Coastal Carolina · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.75Layne Hatcher pass complete to Kirk Merritt for 20 yds to the CCaro 42 for a

Teams and coaches

2015Oregon9-4HC: Mark Helfrich · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2018Arkansas State8-5HC: Blake Anderson · Balanced, fast tempo

2019Arkansas State8-5HC: Blake Anderson · Balanced

Our ratings

Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2019 season

13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (92nd percentile). Strength: rec tds (97th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#59 / 728 · 92nd pct

12.2%

Explosive rate#230 / 728 · 68th pct

15.3%

Catch rate#292 / 728 · 59th pct

71.4%

EPA / target#393 / 728 · 46th pct

0.51

Yards / catch#437 / 728 · 40th pct

11.5

Box-score rates (8)

Rec TDs#12 / 556 · 97th pct

Receptions#39 / 556 · 93rd pct

Rec yards#79 / 556 · 86th pct

806

Long catch#324 / 556 · 41st pct

Fumbles lost#80 / 223 · 40th pct

Rush yards#170 / 283 · 40th pct

Rush TDs#60 / 283 · 40th pct

Yards / catch#374 / 556 · 32nd pct

11.5

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

82nd → 46th percentile

Explosive rate

71st → 68th percentile

Catch rate

89th → 59th percentile

TD rate

77th → 92nd percentile

Yards / catch

59th → 40th percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2019. 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

2019 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	4.8	62.0	14.2	1.2
Road6g	6.7	75.5	11.4	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	6.8	73.2	10.7	1.2
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	61.2	13.7	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2019 season

Head Coach

Blake Anderson

Pass share

51.2%

469 pass / 447 run

Plays / game

70.5

13 games

Team sack rate

7.6%

523 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2019

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Kirk Merritt

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-Conference 1st team

Six seasons, two schools

2018 13 games

2019 12 games