#10

Makai Polk

Junior wide receiver for Mississippi State. 2021: 105 catches, 1,046 receiving yards, 9 TD.

WR · Mississippi State · Jr. · #10

6′3″ · 200 lb · Richmond, CA

CFB Index 85 · #22 of 468 WRsHigh confidenceMississippi State 2021 alumnus

The story

3 wide receiver for Mississippi State. 2021: 105 catches, 1,046 receiving yards, 9 TD.

Transferred from California to Mississippi State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Mississippi State, 1,524 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 136 yds at Memphis.Memphis · L 29-312021

202112 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

2 coaches

2019

Joe Moorhead

Mississippi State

2020–2021

Mike Leach

Mississippi State

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Joe Moorhead → Mike Leach. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019California8-5HC: Justin Wilcox · Run-leaning

2020California1-3HC: Justin Wilcox · Balanced

2021Mississippi State7-6HC: Mike Leach · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

85All-Conference level #22 of 468?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (100th percentile). Strength: rec tds (94th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (21st percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#241 / 655 · 63rd pct

79.4%

TD rate#281 / 655 · 57th pct

6.9%

EPA / target#411 / 655 · 37th pct

0.55

Yards / catch#520 / 655 · 21st pct

10.0

Explosive rate#521 / 655 · 21st pct

7.6%

Box-score rates (6)

Receptions#2 / 557 · 100th pct

105

Rec TDs#28 / 557 · 94th pct

Rec yards#33 / 557 · 94th pct

1046

Long catch#257 / 557 · 53rd pct

Fumbles lost#89 / 223 · 36th pct

Yards / catch#489 / 557 · 12th pct

10.0

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	7.6	69.4	9.2	0.3
Road5g	9.0	101	11.4	1.4

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	8.8	81.5	9.1	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	7.5	83.3	11.2	0.8

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 · 2021

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

85 · #22 of 468 WRs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Mississippi State	105	1,046	10.0	9	--
2020	California	17	183	10.8	1	--
2019	California	19	295	15.5	2	--
Career		141	1,524	10.8	12	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2021

W 26–22

at Texas A&M

13 rec · 126 yds · 2 TD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 on the road.

With W. Rogers — 408 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 93.1 · 5 rush yds (4 car) · A. Trafford — 40 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 47 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 3 · Memphis · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +4.14Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 41 yds to the Memph 32 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Tennessee State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.84Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 50 yds for a TD (Nolan McCord KICK)
Week 10 · Arkansas · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.69Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 42 yds to the Ark 31 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Vanderbilt · 2&11 · Q2 · EPA +3.51Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 31 yds for a TD (Brandon Ruiz KICK)
Week 4 · LSU · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.15Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 29 yds for a TD, (Nolan McCord KICK)
Week 3 · Memphis · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.01Makai Polk 36 Yd pass from Will Rogers (Two-Point Run Conversion Failed)
Week 5 · Texas A&M · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.99Makai Polk 20 Yd pass from Will Rogers (Nolan McCord Kick)
Week 7 · Alabama · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +2.86Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 12 yds to the MisSt 48 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Texas A&M · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.56Makai Polk 15 Yd pass from Will Rogers (Nolan McCord Kick)
Week 8 · Vanderbilt · 1&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.42Will Rogers pass complete to Makai Polk for 9 yds for a TD, (Brandon Ruiz KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 35-34vs Louisiana Tech	10	57	5.7	0	10
Wk 2	W 24-10vs NC State	4	33	8.3	0	17
Wk 3	L 29-31@ Memphis	11	136	12.4	1	41	Season-high 136 yds
Wk 4	L 25-28vs LSU	8	78	9.8	1	29
Wk 5	W 26-22@ Texas A&M	13	126	9.7	2	20	2 TD catches
Wk 7	L 9-49vs Alabama	7	59	8.4	0	20
Wk 8	W 45-6@ Vanderbilt	5	63	12.6	2	31	2 TD catches
Wk 9	W 31-17vs Kentucky	5	51	10.2	0	23
Wk 10	L 28-31@ Arkansas	8	117	14.6	0	42
Wk 11	W 43-34@ Auburn	8	61	7.6	2	19	2 TD catches
Wk 12	W 55-10vs Tennessee State	9	110	12.2	1	50
Wk 13	L 21-31vs Ole Miss	10	98	9.8	0	23
Total		98	989	10.1	9	50

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