#83

Kylen Granson

Former tight end at SMU. 2020: 35 catches, 536 receiving yards, 5 TD.

TE · SMU · Sr. · #83

6′3″ · 235 lb · Austin, TX

All-Conf 1st teamIndianapolis — drafted 2021, Rd 4, Pick 22, #127 overall

The story

Former tight end at SMU. 2020: 35 catches, 536 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Rice in 2016.
Drafted round 4 by the Indianapolis in 2021.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

TE recruit

No. 3771 nationally · Signed with Rice

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Four seasons at SMU, 1,879 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #127 overall by Indianapolis.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20167 games

Signed with Rice2-star out of Austin Westlake

202010 games

All-AACfirst

2021

Drafted by Indianapolisround 4, pick 127

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3771 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2016–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #127

Indianapolis · 2021

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2016–2020

2 coaches

2016–2017

Chad Morris

SMU

2019–2020

Sonny Dykes

SMU

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Chad Morris → Sonny Dykes. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

IndianapolisEntering 6th NFL season

#127Rd 4 · Pick 22

IndianapolisEntering 6th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2016Rice3-9HC: David Bailiff · Run-leaning

2017Rice1-11HC: David Bailiff · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2019SMU10-3HC: Sonny Dykes · Balanced, fast tempo

2020SMU7-3HC: Sonny Dykes · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec yards (92nd percentile). Strength: receptions (89th percentile). Concern: rush yards (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#14 / 65 · 79th pct

19.2%

EPA / target#15 / 65 · 78th pct

0.76

TD rate#17 / 65 · 75th pct

9.6%

Yards / catch#19 / 65 · 72nd pct

15.3

Catch rate#39 / 65 · 41st pct

67.3%

Box-score rates (7)

Rec yards#8 / 94 · 92nd pct

536

Receptions#10 / 94 · 89th pct

Yards / catch#12 / 94 · 87th pct

15.3

Rec TDs#13 / 94 · 84th pct

Long catch#27 / 94 · 71st pct

Rush TDs#5 / 14 · 36th pct

Rush yards#11 / 14 · 18th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

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

2020 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	4.2	59.8	14.1	0.2
Road6g	3.0	49.5	14.1	0.7

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.4	45.8	13.0	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	3.6	61.4	15.2	0.6

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rhett Lashlee

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	SMU	35	536	15.3	5	--
2019	SMU	43	721	16.8	9	--
2017	Rice	18	241	13.4	0	--
2016	Rice	33	381	11.5	2	--
Career		129	1,879	14.6	16	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2020

W 30–27

vs Memphis

5 rec · 94 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With S. Buechele — 474 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · 27 rush yds (7 car) · C. Naggar — 43 LONG · 100 PCT · 12 PTS

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 10 · Temple · 3&12 · Q1 · EPA +4.09Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 34 yds to the Temp 35 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Tulane · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.87Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 42 yds to the Tulan 32 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Tulsa · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +3.65Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 22 yds for a TD (Chris Naggar KICK)
Week 1 · Texas State · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA -3.59Kylen Granson run for no gain to the TexSt 21
Week 3 · North Texas · 3&7 · Q1 · EPA +2.88Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 7 yds for a TD (Chris Naggar KICK)
Week 5 · Memphis · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +2.84Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 13 yds to the Memph 33 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Temple · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.68Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 24 yds for a TD (Chris Naggar PAT MISSED)
Week 5 · Memphis · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.66Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 31 yds to the Memph 44 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Memphis · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.62Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 31 yds to the Memph 49 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · East Carolina · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.61Shane Buechele pass complete to Kylen Granson for 17 yds to the SMU 43 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week