Mitchell Tinsley

Senior wide receiver for Penn State. 2022: 51 catches, 577 receiving yards, 5 TD.

WR · Penn State · Sr. · #5

6′1″ · 206 lb · Lee's Summit, MO

CFB Index 57 · #153 of 488 WRsHigh confidencePenn State 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 249 nationally · Joined Western Kentucky

Statement game9 rec · 173 yds · 2 TDat UTSA (FBS) · L 41-49

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Penn State. 2022: 51 catches, 577 receiving yards, 5 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Western Kentucky in 2020.
Transferred from Western Kentucky to Penn State in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Penn State, 2,356 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 198 yds at Rice.Rice · W 42-212021

202011 games

Signed with Western Kentucky3-star out of Hutchinson C.C.

202113 games

All-Conference USAsecond

202213 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#249 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 2ND TEAM

All-Conference USA 2nd team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2022

1 coach

2020–2022

James Franklin

Penn State

Played his entire career under James Franklin.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Western Kentucky5-7HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced

2021Western Kentucky9-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-heavy, fast tempo

2022Penn State11-2HC: James Franklin · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

57Quality starter #153 of 488?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: fumbles lost (84th percentile). Concern: catch rate (24th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#246 / 636 · 61st pct

7.6%

Explosive rate#350 / 636 · 45th pct

12.1%

Yards / catch#401 / 636 · 37th pct

11.2

EPA / target#423 / 636 · 34th pct

0.54

Catch rate#487 / 636 · 24th pct

69.7%

Box-score rates (6)

Fumbles lost#1 / 223 · 84th pct

Receptions#117 / 550 · 78th pct

Rec TDs#111 / 550 · 76th pct

Rec yards#169 / 550 · 69th pct

577

Yards / catch#392 / 550 · 28th pct

11.3

Long catch#442 / 550 · 19th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

74th → 34th percentile

Explosive rate

83rd → 45th percentile

Catch rate

46th → 24th percentile

TD rate

83rd → 61st percentile

Yards / catch

86th → 37th 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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2022 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.9	30.6	12.4	0.4
Road6g	5.2	60.5	12.1	0.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.3	47.3	11.0	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	3.5	41.0	13.8	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Matt Campbell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

57 · #153 of 488 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #153 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Penn State	51	577	11.3	5	--
2021	Western Kentucky	87	1,402	16.1	14	--
2020	Western Kentucky	43	377	8.8	4	--
Career		181	2,356	13.0	23	--

Season	Team
2022	Penn State	--	--	--	4	--
2021	Western Kentucky	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Western Kentucky	1	5	--	6	--
Career		1	5	--	10	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2022

W 35–21

at Utah

6 rec · 49 yds · 1 TD

With B. Amor — 46 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 60 LONG · N. Singleton — 120 rush yds (7 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 4 · Central Michigan · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.28Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 29 yds to the PnSt 49 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Michigan · 3&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.08Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 16 yds to the Mich 43 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Rutgers · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +3.02S.Clifford pass complete to PSU 47. Catch made by M.Tinsley at PSU 47. Gain of 21 yards. Tackled by A.Young; A.Dean at RUT 32.
Week 1 · Purdue · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.88Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 12 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Week 8 · Minnesota · 3&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.76Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 30 yds to the PENNST 24 for a 1ST down MINNESOTA Penalty, Defensive Offside (Jalen Logan-Redding) declined for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Indiana · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.64Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 27 yds to the Ind 2 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Minnesota · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.62Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 20 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Week 1 · Utah · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 10 yds for a TD (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Week 4 · Central Michigan · 2&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.44Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 5 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Week 1 · Purdue · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.34Sean Clifford pass complete to Mitchell Tinsley for 17 yds to the Prdue 38 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 35-31@ Purdue	7	84	12.0	1	27	Season-high 84 yds
Wk 2	W 46-10vs Ohio	3	27	9.0	1	14
Wk 3	W 41-12@ Auburn	3	47	15.7	0	34
Wk 4	W 33-14vs Central Michigan	4	51	12.8	1	29
Wk 5	W 17-7vs Northwestern	2	16	8.0	0	9
Wk 7	L 17-41@ Michigan	5	57	11.4	0	16
Wk 8	W 45-17vs Minnesota	4	58	14.5	1	30
Wk 9	L 31-44vs Ohio State	5	24	4.8	0	8
Wk 10	W 45-14@ Indiana	5	63	12.6	0	27
Wk 11	W 30-0vs Maryland	1	25	25.0	0	25
Wk 12	W 55-10@ Rutgers	5	63	12.6	0	21
Wk 13	W 35-16vs Michigan State	1	13	13.0	0	13
Bowl	W 35-21@ Utah	6	49	8.2	1	16
Total		51	577	12.3	5	34