Marcello Bussey

#6 · WR · Sr. · Memphis5′11″ · 175 lb · Junction City, KS

Marcello Bussey is a wide receiver who has not played this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025, at Memphis.

Bussey moves the chains on third down. Third year in the same receiving corps at Memphis. On tape: 68 receiving yards and 4 receptions against Tulsa, Week 6, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Corey CroomsMinnesota · 2023 · 82% season match
Tanner KnueEastern Michigan · 2021 · 81% season match
Eric RiversFlorida International · 2023 · 79% season match
JP CoulterUL Monroe · 2025 · 78% season match
Trey GoodmanUTEP · 2024 · 78% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Memphis	27	287	10.6	0	40
2024	Memphis	10	147	14.7	1	36
2023	Memphis	1	4	4.0	0	4
Career		38	438	11.5	1	40

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 45-10vs Chattanooga	2	30	15.0	17
Wk 2	W 38-16@ Georgia State	1	-1	-1.0	0
Wk 4	W 32-31vs Arkansas	1	40	40.0	40
Wk 5	W 55-26@ Florida Atlantic	2	12	6.0	6
Wk 6	W 45-7vs Tulsa	4	68	17.0	29	Season-high 68 yds
Wk 8	L 24-31@ UAB	3	27	9.0	13
Wk 9	W 34-31vs No. 18 South Florida	3	25	8.3	19
Wk 10	W 38-14@ Rice	3	17	5.7	12
Wk 11	L 32-38vs Tulane	1	6	6.0	6
Wk 12	L 27-31@ East Carolina	2	6	3.0	4
Wk 14	L 17-28vs Navy	2	23	11.5	13
Bowl	L 7-31vs NC State	3	34	11.3	24
Total		27	287	10.6	40

Signature game

Week 6 · 2025

W 45-7

vs Tulsa

4 rec · 68 yds

Dominant 38-point win at home against Tulsa.

With B. Lewis — 266 yds · 3 TD · 2 INT · QBR 76.1 · 67 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD · J. Hawkins — 7 rec · 110 yds

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · NC State · 3rd and 16 · Q1 · EPA +3.26Lewis to Bussey: a 24-yard pass.
Week 1 · Chattanooga · 1st and 20 · Q3 · EPA +2.60Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for 17 yds to the MEM 46
Week 6 · Tulsa · 2nd and 15 · Q3 · EPA +2.51Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for 29 yds to the MEM 40 for a
Week 4 · Arkansas · 1st and 5 · Q3 · EPA +1.85Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for 40 yds to the ARK 30 for a
Week 1 · NC State · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +1.84B.Lewis pass complete short middle to M.Bussey caught at NC St.45, for 6 yards to the NC St.41 (D.Marshall; S.Harsh)
Week 6 · Tulsa · 2nd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +1.62Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for 21 yds to the TLSA 30 for a

4 more plays

Week 14 · Navy · 2nd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +1.53Lewis to Bussey: a 13-yard pass.
Week 1 · Chattanooga · 2nd and 5 · Q2 · EPA +1.52Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for 13 yds to the MEM 43 for a
Week 2 · Georgia State · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA −1.32Brendon Lewis pass complete to Marcello Bussey for a loss of 1 yard to the MEM 39
Week 9 · South Florida · 2nd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +1.22Lewis to Bussey: a 19-yard pass.

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

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

27 rec · 287 yds · 0 TD

25 of 27 receptions matched to play-by-play

16 of 34 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

3410% of team targets

Catch rate

74%25 of 34 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

12% of targets (2)

50%catch rate

Air -2.5 · YAC 14.0 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

50% of targets (8)

88%catch rate

Air 3.6 · YAC 0.3 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

19% of targets (3)

100%catch rate

Air 12.0 · YAC 2.7 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

19% of targets (3)

0%catch rate

Air 38.7 avg

74% catch rate on 34 targets · 10% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

19%7 of his 36 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

3 seasons under Ryan Silverfield — 29-10 over that span.

2023Memphis10-3HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2024Memphis11-2HC: Ryan Silverfield · Balanced

2025Memphis8-5HC: Ryan Silverfield · Run-leaning

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 34 (#367 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

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

34Below cohort / limited sample #367 of 485 · 2025?

10 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#200 / 798 · 74th pct

75.0%

Explosive rate#343 / 798 · 56th pct

11.1%

EPA / target#444 / 798 · 44th pct

0.38

Yards / catch#489 / 798 · 39th pct

10.6

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#320 / 558 · 41st pct

Rec yards#367 / 558 · 34th pct

287

Long catch#378 / 558 · 31st pct

Yards / catch#435 / 558 · 22nd pct

10.6

Rec TDs#482 / 558 · 7th 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 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.2	32.0	16.3	0.0
Road5g	2.2	12.2	4.5	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.2	30.5	14.7	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	2.3	17.3	7.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Ryan Silverfield

Pass share

46.9%

412 pass / 466 run

Plays / game

67.5

13 games

Team sack rate

7.5%

425 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

27 catches in 12 games

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

34 · #367 of 485 WRs · 2025

Three-star recruit. Now #367 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-AAC

Based on 2025: #40 of 51 American Athletic WRs

How the All-AAC 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%).