Malik Rutherford

#8 · WR · Sr. · Georgia Tech5′9″ · 170 lb · Miami, FL · Champagnat Catholic - Hialeah

Malik Rutherford is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Georgia Tech.

Rutherford wins underneath on volume and route precision. The five seasons at Georgia Tech span two head coaches: Geoff Collins and Brent Key. A game that shows it: 121 receiving yards and 21 rushing yards against Boston College — Week 12, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Jovanni BermudezTemple · 2025 · 88% season match
Jarod BowieJacksonville State · 2024 · 87% season match
Raylen SharpeArkansas · 2025 · 82% season match
Myles PriceIndiana · 2024 · 80% season match
Yusuf AliMiddle Tennessee · 2020 · 79% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Georgia Tech	46	523	11.4	3	71
2024	Georgia Tech	62	702	11.3	3	52
2023	Georgia Tech	46	502	10.9	4	55
2022	Georgia Tech	23	225	9.8	0	38
2021	Georgia Tech	5	62	12.4	0	24
Career		182	2,014	11.1	10	71

Season	Team
2025	Georgia Tech	7	45	--
2024	Georgia Tech	9	87	--
2023	Georgia Tech	3	17	--
2022	Georgia Tech	1	4	39
2021	Georgia Tech	--	--	--
Career		20	153	39

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 27-20@ Colorado	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 2	W 59-12vs Gardner-Webb	5	62	12.4	0	26
Wk 3	W 24-21vs No. 12 Clemson	4	22	5.5	0	9
Wk 4	W 45-24vs Temple	2	33	16.5	1	24
Wk 5	W 30-29@ Wake Forest	5	38	7.6	0	19
Wk 7	W 35-20vs Virginia Tech	6	49	8.2	1	16
Wk 8	W 27-18@ Duke	1	-2	-2.0	0	-2
Wk 12	W 36-34@ Boston College	5	121	24.2	1	71	Season-high 121 yds
Wk 13	L 28-42vs Pittsburgh	6	68	11.3	0	20
Wk 14	L 9-16vs No. 4 Georgia	4	27	6.8	0	9
Bowl	L 21-25vs No. 12 BYU	8	105	13.1	0	28
Total		46	523	11.4	3	71

Signature game

Bowl · 2025

L 21-25

vs BYU · neutral site

8 rec · 105 yds

With H. King — 254 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 82.8 · 31 rush yds (7 car) · M. Nichols — 55.3 yards per punt · 3 punts · 56 long

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 12 · Boston College · 2nd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +6.42H.King pass complete short left to M.Rutherford caught at GT 26, for 71 yards for a touchdown
Week 7 · Virginia Tech · 3rd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +2.87Haynes King pass complete to Malik Rutherford for 9 yds for a TD (Aidan Birr KICK)
Week 4 · Temple · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +2.68Haynes King pass complete to Malik Rutherford for 24 yds for a TD
Week 1 · BYU · 2nd and 12 · Q2 · EPA +2.67King to Rutherford: a 28-yard pass.
Week 1 · BYU · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.98King to Rutherford: a 22-yard pass.
Week 7 · Virginia Tech · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +1.93Haynes King pass complete to Malik Rutherford for 14 yds to the GT 39 for a

4 more plays

Week 14 · Georgia · 3rd and 5 · Q4 · EPA +1.88King to Rutherford: a 9-yard pass.
Week 3 · Clemson · 2nd and 3 · Q1 · EPA −1.77Haynes King pass complete to Malik Rutherford for a loss of 2 yards to the GT 48
Week 5 · Wake Forest · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +1.71Haynes King pass complete to Malik Rutherford for 19 yds to the GT 44 for a
Week 4 · Temple · 2nd and 8 · Q4 · EPA +1.69Malik Rutherford run for 9 yds to the 50 yard line for a

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

14%6 of his 42 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2021Georgia Tech3-9HC: Geoff Collins · Run-leaning

2022Georgia Tech5-7HC: Geoff Collins and Brent Key · Balanced

2023Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2024Georgia Tech7-6HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

2025Georgia Tech9-4HC: Brent Key · Run-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 56 (#161 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

56Quality starter #161 of 485 · 2025?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: catch rate (100th percentile). Strength: epa / target (90th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#3 / 798 · 100th pct

95.2%

EPA / target#84 / 798 · 90th pct

0.73

TD rate#168 / 798 · 78th pct

4.8%

Explosive rate#416 / 798 · 47th pct

9.5%

Yards / catch#554 / 798 · 31st pct

10.1

Box-score rates (7)

Long catch#83 / 558 · 85th pct

Rush yards#61 / 287 · 79th pct

Receptions#137 / 558 · 75th pct

Rec yards#200 / 558 · 64th pct

523

Rec TDs#205 / 558 · 57th pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Yards / catch#374 / 558 · 33rd pct

11.4

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

45th → 90th percentile

Explosive rate

52nd → 47th percentile

Catch rate

62nd → 100th percentile

TD rate

37th → 78th percentile

Yards / catch

41st → 31st percentile

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps in 2025. 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

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	4.6	46.8	10.8	0.4
Road4g	2.8	39.2	9.9	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.3	44.1	10.5	0.3
Weeks 8+4g	4.0	53.5	10.1	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Brent Key

Pass share

46.1%

391 pass / 457 run

Plays / game

65.2

13 games

Team sack rate

3.0%

367 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

46 catches and 7 carries in 11 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

56 · #161 of 485 WRs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #161 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #25 of 64 ACC WRs

How the All-ACC base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%).