#18

Marcus Bellon

Senior wide receiver for Nevada. 2025: 25 catches, 242 receiving yards, 1 TD.

WR · Nevada · Sr. · #18

5′7″ · 178 lb · Truckee, CA

CFB Index 29 · #424 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceAll-ConferenceReturning to Nevada for 2026

The numbers

242

receiving yards · 2025

25 catches · 1 TD · 9.7 per catch

Best game: 6 rec, 76 yds, 1 TD, at Penn State

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Nevada. 2025: 25 catches, 242 receiving yards, 1 TD.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Moves the chains on third down.

Explosive rate: 33rd percentile.

The full scouting read

Marcus Bellon

WR · Nevada · Sr · #18

Moves the chains on third down. Across four seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Dana Dimel and Jeff Choate. He has two of these now, the latest All-Mountain West in 2025. The receipt on tape: 76 rec yds, 6 receptions against Penn State, Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022UTEP5-7HC: Dana Dimel · Run-leaning

2023UTEP3-9HC: Dana Dimel · Run-leaning

2024Nevada3-10HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning

2025Nevada3-9HC: Jeff Choate · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

29Below cohort / limited sample #424 of 485?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: epa / target (1st percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#535 / 798 · 33rd pct

7.1%

Yards / catch#545 / 798 · 32nd pct

10.1

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Catch rate#710 / 798 · 11th pct

54.8%

EPA / target#789 / 798 · 1st pct

-0.11

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#156 / 287 · 45th pct

Long catch#332 / 558 · 39th pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Receptions#347 / 558 · 37th pct

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Rec yards#415 / 558 · 26th pct

242

Rec TDs#373 / 558 · 24th pct

Yards / catch#477 / 558 · 15th pct

9.7

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

91st → 1st percentile

Explosive rate

78th → 33rd percentile

Catch rate

91st → 11th percentile

TD rate

81st → 18th percentile

Yards / catch

70th → 32nd percentile

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).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

26%11 of his 42 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	2.4	23.0	11.1	0.0
Road5g	2.6	25.4	8.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	3.0	38.6	13.9	0.2
Weeks 8+5g	2.0	9.8	5.4	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jeff Choate

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

29 · #424 of 485 WRs

2026 outlook

Outside shot to repeat All-Mountain West

Based on 2025: #34 of 41 Mountain West WRs

How the All-Mountain West estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Nevada	25	242	9.7	1	--
2024	Nevada	39	522	13.4	4	--
2023	UTEP	10	97	9.7	0	--
2022	UTEP	5	83	16.6	1	--
Career		79	944	11.9	6	--

Season	Team
2025	Nevada	3	10	--	74	--
2024	Nevada	9	37	--	76	--
2023	UTEP	1	--	--	24	--
2022	UTEP	--	--	70	100	1
Career		13	47	70	274	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 20–17

vs Sacramento State

5 rush yds (1 car)

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

With C. Purdy — 144 yds · 0 TD · 2 INT · QBR 17.2 · 115 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD · C. Ramseur — 70 rush yds (13 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Sacramento State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.82Chubba Purdy pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 43 yds to the SAC 25 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Penn State · 1&9 · Q4 · EPA +2.42Marcus Bellon 9 Yd pass from AJ Bianco (AJ Bianco Pass to Jett Carpenter for Two-Point Conversion)
Week 1 · Penn State · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.39Chubba Purdy pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 32 yds to the PSU 20 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Penn State · 4&6 · Q4 · EPA +2.33AJ Bianco pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 14 yds to the PSU 19 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Sacramento State · 2&12 · Q2 · EPA +2.16Chubba Purdy pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 16 yds to the SAC 32 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Fresno State · 3&3 · Q2 · EPA +1.97Carter Jones pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 12 yds to the FRES 38 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Boise State · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +1.65(09:52) Shotgun #6 C.Jones pass complete short right to #18 M.Bellon caught at Nevada37, for 6 yards to the Nevada37 (#6 J.Earby), 1ST DOWN
Week 12 · San José State · 2&12 · Q1 · EPA +1.53(01:51) Shotgun #6 C.Jones pass complete short middle to #18 M.Bellon caught at Nevada47, for 11 yards to the SJSU47 (#20 I.Revis)
Week 11 · Utah State · 3&2 · Q4 · EPA +1.26(03:13) No Huddle-Shotgun #13 C.Purdy pass complete short right to #18 M.Bellon caught at USU50, for 5 yards to the USU41 (#31 D.Howell; #28 C.Tujague), 1ST DOWN
Week 4 · Western Kentucky · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.10Chubba Purdy pass complete to Marcus Bellon for 20 yds to the NEV 30 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 11-46@ Penn State	6	76	12.7	1	32	Season-high 76 yds
Wk 2	W 20-17vs Sacramento State	2	59	29.5	0	43
Wk 3	L 13-14vs Middle Tennessee	3	18	6.0	0	8
Wk 4	L 16-31@ Western Kentucky	3	28	9.3	0	20
Wk 6	L 17-20@ Fresno State	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 9	L 3-24vs Boise State	3	9	3.0	0	6
Wk 11	L 14-51@ Utah State	2	8	4.0	0	5
Wk 12	W 55-10vs San José State	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 13	W 13-7@ Wyoming	1	3	3.0	0	3
Wk 14	L 17-42vs UNLV	3	18	6.0	0	11
Total		25	242	9.7	1	43

How he plays

Play style

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

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

Nevada

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Nevada

Returning around him

36% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
Transfer portal: -7 net (14 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Nevada · Last season: 3-9 · Talent rank #118 · 2026 recruiting class #98

DNA match

Player DNA

Possession Receiver

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jah'Marae Sheread’s 2020 season.

Jah'Marae Sheread

78%match

Texas State · 2020

Walter Dawn Jr.

UTEP · 2020

69%

Billy Kemp

Virginia · 2022

63%

Antonio Jones

Temple · 2024

60%

Malik Phillips

Sam Houston · 2025

58%

Matches Jah'Marae on

TD rate

Weight

Reception volume

Differs from Jah'Marae on

Class year (higher)

Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jeremiah Miller’s path through Stephen F. Austin.

Jeremiah Miller

99%match

Stephen F. Austin · 2021

Ryan Flournoy

Southeast Missouri State · 2023

NFL Rd 6

98%

Ma'jon Wright

Arizona · 2020

98%

Anthony Schwartz

Auburn · 2020

NFL Rd 3 · Pk 28

97%

Ian Duarte

Idaho State · 2025

95%

Matches Jeremiah on

Yards per reception

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Anthony Hankerson's senior season at Oregon State (2025).

Anthony Hankerson

63%match

Oregon State · 2025

Kevin Davis

Miami (OH) · 2023

61%

Jamaal Bell

Nevada · 2023

60%

Cam Barfield

Hawai'i · 2025

All-Mountain West

59%

Devin Maddox

Toledo · 2023

All-MAC

56%

Matches Anthony on

Height

Differs from Anthony on

Weight (lower)

Yards / reception (higher)

EPA / play (adj) (lower)

Player DNA

Players who play like Marcus Bellon

Alred Luke

Missouri State · 2025

77%

Chris Dawn Jr.

Texas State · 2025

74%

Cade Harris

Air Force · 2024

71%

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

Marcus Bellon

20229 games

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

Players who play like Marcus Bellon