Luke Gilbert

#30 · TE · Jacksonville State6′3″ · 215 lb · Pisgah, AL

Receiving yards33115th of 107 tight ends Last gameW 24–0at New Mexico State · Oct 28

Nextvs Sam HoustonSat Nov 7 · 7 pm ET

Worth knowing

Luke Gilbert has 30.5 receiving yards a game at home, 52.2 on the road.

Luke Gilbert

TE · Jacksonville State · #30

Filling the Shoesas of Nov 4

Luke Gilbert takes over from Pearson Baldwin at Jacksonville State.

331receiving yards17catches4receiving TD

TEAM RECEIVING YARDS LEADER

331

Team leader in receiving yards (331).

Read the story so far

Luke Gilbert arrived as a 3-star prospect. Luke Gilbert lines up at TE for Jacksonville State.

On the field, the headline is 331 rec yds, with 17 rec.

Luke Gilbert inherited the TE job from Pearson Baldwin.

The number to watch: 331 — team receiving yards leader.

TE successionleap of faith

Inherited fromPearson Baldwin

AI-generated narrative · may contain errors · not journalism · updated 2026-11-04

Style of play

Play style

Creates mismatches lined up all over the formation.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Jeremiah GainesSMU · 2015 · 70% season match
Nate IeseUCLA · 2016 · 66% season match
Kade WaguespackAir Force · 2018 · 63% season match
Grayson BarnesNorthern Illinois · 2023 · 63% season match
Griffin HebertLouisiana Tech · 2019 · 60% season match

Fans

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

Jacksonville State in the news

WR Quentin Lewis commits to Jacksonville StateOpelika-Auburn News Oct 27
Donor donates $10K to band tripOct 20

Where to follow

The latest game

Against New Mexico State on Oct. 28: 5 catches for 67 yards, 2 of 2 on third and fourth down. In the 8 games drawn here: 17 catches for 331 yards. Jacksonville State has thrown to him 24 times in 213 passes.

First quarterSecond quarterThird quarterFourth quarter

W 24-0 at New Mexico State5 catches, 67 yds, 1 TD
W 27-24 vs Florida International3 catches, 55 yds, 1 TD
W 27-26 at Kennesaw State3 catches, 50 yds
W 23-13 vs Middle Tennessee2 catches, 39 yds
W 31-27 vs Georgia Southern1 catch, 4 yds
L 27-29 at Ohio1 catch, 82 yds, 1 TD
W 49-7 vs Eastern Kentucky1 catch, 24 yds, 1 TD
L 7-33 at North Dakota State1 catch, 10 yds

a catch, by its yardsa touchdownthrown to him, incomplete

Each game is split into its four quarters, so the columns line up from game to game; inside a quarter, plays keep their order. Third and fourth downs are marked under the line, bold when he moved the chains.

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Jacksonville State	17	331	19.5	4	82
2025	Jacksonville State	--	--	--	--	--
Career		17	331	19.5	4	82

Last game (Wk 9): 67 receiving yards, 5 catches, 1 receiving TD.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 7-33@ North Dakota State	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 1	W 49-7vs Eastern Kentucky	1	24	24.0	1	24
Wk 2	L 27-29@ Ohio	1	82	82.0	1	82	Season-high 82 yds
Wk 3	W 31-27vs Georgia Southern	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 4	W 23-13vs Middle Tennessee	2	39	19.5	0	31
Wk 6	W 27-26@ Kennesaw State	3	50	16.7	0	37
Wk 7	W 27-24vs Florida International	3	55	18.3	1	38
Wk 9	W 24-0@ New Mexico State	5	67	13.4	1	29
Total		17	331	19.5	4	82

Signature game

Week 2 · 2026

L 27-29

at Ohio

1 rec · 82 yds · 1 TD

With C. Creel — 265 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 60.4 · 120 rush yds (29 car) · 1 TD · J. Williams — 5 rec · 39 yds · 14 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 2 · Ohio · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +6.49Creel to Gilbert: an 82-yard touchdown pass.
Week 9 · New Mexico State · 2nd and 13 · Q4 · EPA +3.57Creel to Gilbert: a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Week 7 · Florida International · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +3.09Creel to Gilbert: a 38-yard touchdown pass.
Week 1 · Eastern Kentucky · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +2.68Creel to Gilbert: a 24-yard touchdown pass.
Week 9 · New Mexico State · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +2.49Creel to Gilbert: a 12-yard pass.
Week 6 · Kennesaw State · 2nd and 3 · Q2 · EPA +2.37Creel to Gilbert: a 37-yard pass.

4 more plays

Week 9 · New Mexico State · 3rd and 6 · Q4 · EPA +1.38Creel to Gilbert: a 7-yard pass.
Week 4 · Middle Tennessee · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.31Creel to Gilbert: a 31-yard pass.
Week 9 · New Mexico State · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.14Creel to Gilbert: a 15-yard pass.
Week 7 · Florida International · 1st and 10 · Q3 · EPA +0.98C.Creel pass complete short left to L.Gilbert caught at Jax ST27, for 11 yards to the Jax ST38 (R.Gadson), out of bounds

Where he ranks

Rec yards33115thAmong 107 tight ends with 12 or more catches

Receptions17tied for 57thAmong 107 tight ends with 12 or more catches

Yards / catch19.51stAmong 107 tight ends with 12 or more catches

Rec TDs4tied for 8thAmong 107 tight ends with 12 or more catches

Long catch823rdAmong 107 tight ends with 12 or more catches

210th in receiving yards, among all 2,086 FBS players with a receiving row this season, any position

Receiving touchdowns4tied for 5th in the Conference USA this season.

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -15 to +9 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

17 rec · 331 yds · 4 TD

17 of 17 receptions matched to play-by-play

23 of 24 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

2412% of team targets

Catch rate

71%17 of 24 targets

Short · 0–9 air yds

65% of targets (15)

80%catch rate

Air 3.1 · YAC 9.8 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

30% of targets (7)

43%catch rate

Air 13.0 · YAC 8.0 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

4% of targets (1)

100%catch rate

Air 26.0 · YAC 12.0 avg

71% catch rate on 24 targets · 12% of the team's targets.

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Charles Kelly — 15-7 over that span.

2025Jacksonville State9-5HC: Charles Kelly · Run-heavy

2026Jacksonville State6-2HC: Charles Kelly · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 65 (#22 of 132). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

65Quality starter #22 of 132?

10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (99th percentile). Strength: explosive rate (97th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#9 / 569 · 99th pct

16.7%

Explosive rate#15 / 569 · 97th pct

25.0%

EPA / target#26 / 569 · 96th pct

0.90

Yards / catch#30 / 569 · 95th pct

19.5

Catch rate#164 / 569 · 71st pct

70.8%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#1 / 107 · 100th pct

19.5

Long catch#3 / 107 · 98th pct

Rec TDs#8 / 107 · 88th pct

Rec yards#15 / 107 · 86th pct

331

Receptions#57 / 107 · 45th 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

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	1.8	30.5	16.4	0.5
Road4g	2.5	52.2	30.5	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	1.7	37.7	24.9	0.4
Weeks 8+1g	5.0	67.0	13.4	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Charles Kelly

Pass share

43.9%

213 pass / 272 run

Plays / game

60.6

8 games

Team sack rate

3.3%

240 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2026

17 catches in 8 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS tight ends who play every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

65 · #22 of 132 TEs

Three-star recruit. Now #22 at the position.

Starter

The No. 2,468 recruit in the country is starting at tight end in the Conference USA.

Luke Gilbert

This week

Worth knowing

Style of play

Similar players