Nick Minicucci

#4 · QB · Sr. · Delaware6′2″ · 215 lb · Midland Park, NJ · Don Bosco Prep

ZPR6135th of 119 QBs Last gameW 35–21at Western Kentucky · Oct 27

Nextat Kennesaw StateSat Nov 7 · 3 pm ET

via bluehens.com ↗

Graded Solid or better in each of the last two games.

Last game: W 35-21 at Western Kentucky, Oct 27 · 32 of 38 for 414 yards, 4 touchdowns · 2 carries for 14 yards

Delaware’s next game: at Kennesaw State, Sat Nov 7, 3:00 p.m. ET

Delaware is 4-1 in the five games with 10 or more passes thrown. A chain-mover who rarely runs.

Strongest: a touchdown on 7.7% of throws, tied for 13th best of 158 starters.

Plays most like Clark ’25, Missouri State 2025.

Passing yards

1,477

111 of 170, 65%

TD–INT

14–4

8.7 per throw

NCAA rating

160.7

23rd of 119

ZPR

35th of 119

How ZPR works

One rough passing grade, at Vanderbilt.

Best by our grade: at Western Kentucky. Lowest: at Vanderbilt, with 2 interceptions and sacked 5 times. Best play: Completion for 36 yards, touchdown, against Coastal Carolina, Q4 8:19. Win chance 67% to 90%. Costliest play: Interception, against Missouri State, Q1 0:53. Win chance 69% to 40%.

Tap a game for its plays

Q1Q2Q3Q4

Merrimack

W 42–7·FCS

Great

330 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT · Rush 5 for 13, 1 TD · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q2 run added 10 points of win chance. Win chance: 83% to 93%.

Full game page

at Vanderbilt

L 26–35·Unranked

Rough

182 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT · Rush 9 for -5 · Interceptions cost about 20 points of win chance · Sacked 5

It’s over. Just let Minicucci rest.
Delaware fan

Biggest swing: a Q4 interception cost the team 15 points of win chance. Win chance: 15% to 0%.

Full game page

Coastal Carolina

W 22–14·Unranked

Solid

302 yds, 2 TD, 0 INT · Rush 5 for 10 · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q4 completion added 32 points of win chance. Win chance: 61% to 92%.

Full game page

at Virginia

L 3–42·Unranked

Left in Q2

Last pass came in the second quarter; Braden Streeter finished the game · 24 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · Rush 1 for 8 · Sacked 0

None of the quarterback’s own plays moved the team's chance of winning by more than a few points.

Full game page

Liberty

L 14–30·Unranked

Did not play

Minicucci, and he was badly injured last week.
Delaware fan

at Middle Tennessee

L 30–33·Unranked

Did not play

Missouri State

W 61–38·Unranked

Solid

225 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT · Rush 4 for 5, 1 TD · A first-quarter interception took the team's chance of winning from 62% to 37% · Sacked 2

Biggest swing: a Q1 interception cost the team 25 points of win chance. It flipped the game against the team: 62% to 37%.

Full game page

at Western Kentucky

W 35–21·Unranked

Great

414 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT · Rush 2 for 14 · Sacked 1

Biggest swing: a Q2 completion added 25 points of win chance. Win chance: 55% to 80%.

Full game page

Season

Steady through the game

How to read this

Each column is a quarter. Blue and up is a good stretch for the quarterback, red and down a bad one, hatched means the game was already decided. A red cross is a turnover and a black dot a touchdown. The word on the right grades the whole game. A gold line means the r/CFB game thread kept naming the quarterback. Dashed outlines on the Season row are last season’s average. Tap a game to open its plays: each bar is one of the quarterback’s plays, up helped the team’s chance of winning and down hurt it, and the grey line is that chance.

The word grades the game against every FBS quarterback start, from Rough to Great, using the same throws as the season Zeitgeist Passer Rating and adjusting for the defense faced. Bars are points added per throw in that quarter. The Season row leaves out quarters after a game was decided.

Style of play

Chain-mover

Also: big-play arm

Why this word

Runs2.2 a gameRarelyA lot

Throws8.5 yards past the lineShortDeep

Completes67% by play-by-playFewerMore

Takes sacks7% of dropbacksRarelyOften

The dot is this quarterback, among this season’s starters; the tick is the middle.

Throws at a middling depth and rarely runs. 2.2 carries a game. Closest matches: Clark ’25, Mendoza ’25, Mestemaker, Maiava.

Where the throws go

Behind the line14%typical 17%

Short54%typical 47%

Middle18%typical 22%

Deep14%typical 14%

Runs 2.2 times a game; 81% of starters run more.

Closest in style

Nearer the middle means more alike.

Clark ’25 Missouri State 2025 · Balanced
3,244 yards, 28 TD, 11 INT. Both rarely throw behind the line and hit big plays.
Mendoza ’25 Indiana 2025 · Chain-mover
3,535 yards, 41 TD, 6 INT. Drafted in round 1 (No. 1 overall) by Las Vegas, 2026. Both score a lot and rarely throw behind the line.
Mestemaker Oklahoma State · Playmaker
2,649 yards, 25 TD, 7 INT so far. Both hit big plays and score a lot.
Maiava USC · Chain-mover
2,525 yards, 20 TD, 5 INT so far. Both are efficient and rarely throw behind the line.

Compared with the 158 FBS starters this season for throws and running, and with 219 quarterbacks across 2 seasons for the matches, on how they play and how they have done.

This week

RecordDelaware is 4-4.
Fans after Missouri State
My goat qb Minicucci came in like Darth Vader to destroy Mo State
Delaware fan

What’s being said

3 stories in the last 30 days, from 4 outlets.

Stories per day. W and L: the team’s results.

Nick Minicucci leads Delaware past Western Kentucky to snap road skid

247Sports +1 Oct 27

All 6 stories this season

Worth knowing

Nick Minicucci was second-team All-Conference USA in 2025.

His most important play this season

Q4, 8:19 · Delaware up 1Nick Minicucci finds Sean Wilson for a 36-yard touchdownCoastal Carolina at Delaware, week 3Q4, 8:19 · Delaware 22, Coastal Carolina 14▲23%Delaware’s chance to win, 67% to 90%▲23%Delaware’s chance to win, 67% to 90%N.Minicucci pass complete deep middle to S.Wilson caught at CCU00, for 36 yards to the CCU00 touchdown, 1ST DOWN, kick goodWatch from this play CBS Sports College Football

All 14 of his plays on video

Nick Minicucci

QB · Delaware · #4

Pushes it downfield on every look. Second year in the Delaware quarterback room. The first one came in 2025: All-Conference USA. One game to point at: 414 passing yards and 14 rushing yards against Western Kentucky — Week 9, 2026.

1,477 passing yards · 14 passing TD · 45 rushing yards

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2026	Delaware	111	170	65.3%	1,477	8.7	14	4	160.7	61
2025	Delaware	322	514	62.6%	3,671	7.1	23	7	134.7	39
Career		433	684	63.3%	5,148	7.5	37	11	141.2	45

Season	Team
2026	Delaware	26	45	1.7	2	15
2025	Delaware	112	235	2.1	10	29
Career		138	280	2.0	12	29

Last game (Wk 9): 414 passing yards, 4 passing TD.

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2026 season · 6 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	Grade	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	SK	RUSH	Note
Wk 1	W 42-7vs Merrimack	Great	20/36	330	2	1	9.2	79.3	1	13
Wk 2	L 26-35@ Vanderbilt	Rough	11/27	182	1	2	6.7	21.6	5	-5
Wk 3	W 22-14vs Coastal Carolina	Solid	24/32	302	2	0	9.4	66.3	2	10	Clean 2-TD game
Wk 4	L 3-42@ Virginia	Left in Q2	4/8	24	0	0	3.0	35.2	0	8
Wk 8	W 61-38vs Missouri State	Solid	20/29	225	5	1	7.8	80.2	2	5	5 TD passes
Wk 9	W 35-21@ Western Kentucky	Great	32/38	414	4	0	10.9	93.2	1	14	Season-high 414 yds
Total			111/170	1477	14	4	8.7	—	11	45

The latest game

Oct. 27 · W 35-21 at Western Kentucky

32 of 38 for 414 yards and 4 touchdowns.

His season, game by game

The season, game by game

W 35-21 at Western KentuckyOct. 27414 yds32 of 38, 4 TDPlay by play just above

W 61-38 vs Missouri StateOct. 20225 yds20 of 29, 5 TD, 1 INTBig game

Play by playOn the field

A big game: 20 of 29 for 225 yards, 5 touchdowns and an interception. Delaware scored touchdowns on 8 of the 10 drives he played.

9 of 10 of his drives scored
9 of 11 on 3rd and 4th down
sacked twice
2 runs for 9 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
TD1 of 2, 15 yds
Int0 of 3, 0 yds12
TD5 of 5, 47 yds3
Second quarterbegan down 14-7
TD3 of 3, 49 yds
FG1 of 3, 5 yds
Third quarterbegan down 28-24
TD1 of 1, 12 yds
TD3 of 3, 26 yds
TD0 of 1, 0 yds
TD4 of 5, 55 yds4
Fourth quarterbegan up 45-35
TD2 of 3, 16 yds
FinalW 61-38

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
8-yard run on 3rd and 9. First quarter, tied 7-7. Converted.
2
Intercepted. First quarter, tied 7-7. Picked off by Missouri State’s J. J. O'Neal.
3
13-yard completion to Sean Wilson on 3rd and 7. Second quarter, down 14-7. Converted.
4
32-yard completion to Scott Moore on 4th and 1. Third quarter, up 45-35. Converted.

102030405032

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

4 more games, with the play by play

L 3-42 at VirginiaSept. 2624 yds4 of 8

Play by playOn the field

4 of 8 for 24 yards. He was 1 of 4 on third and fourth down.

1 of 4 of his drives scored
1 of 4 on 3rd and 4th down
1 run for 8 yds

First quarterbegan tied 0-0
Punt0 of 2, 0 yds1
Punt0 of 2, 0 yds2
Second quarterbegan down 7-0
FG4 of 4, 24 yds3
Punt—
FinalL 3-42

a drive that ended in a touchdown or a field goala drive he didn’t playa completion, by its yardshis runincompleteinterceptedsacked, by the yards lost

completea touchdownincompleteinterceptedhis runsacked

1
Incomplete to Donovan Lewis on 3rd and 8. First quarter, down 7-0.
2
Incomplete on 3rd and 10. First quarter, down 7-0.
3
11-yard completion to Elijah Sessoms. Second quarter, down 14-0.

1020304050

leftmiddlerightno spot

a completionincompleteinterceptedsacked, below the line

Each pass sits where it was caught or thrown to, in yards past the line. The play text only says left, middle or right, so inside a lane marks are sorted, not placed.

W 22-14 vs Coastal CarolinaSept. 19302 yds24 of 32, 2 TDBox score only

24 of 32 for 302 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

L 26-35 at VanderbiltSept. 12182 yds11 of 27, 1 TD, 2 INTBox score only

11 of 27 for 182 yards, a touchdown and 2 interceptions.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

W 42-7 vs MerrimackSept. 3330 yds20 of 36, 2 TD, 1 INTBox score only

20 of 36 for 330 yards, 2 touchdowns and an interception.

Not drawn: the play-by-play doesn’t add up to the box score.

Highs and lows

Only games with 20 or more plays count for best and lowest.
Best by our grade	at Western Kentucky	W 35-21 · Graded great · 414 yds, 4 TD, 0 INT · Rush 2 for 14 · Sacked 1
Lowest by our grade	at Vanderbilt	L 26-35 · Graded rough · 182 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT · Rush 9 for -5 · Interceptions cost about 20 points of win chance · Sacked 5
Best play	Coastal Carolina	Completion for 36 yards, touchdown, Q4 8:19 · Win chance 67% to 90%
Costliest play	Missouri State	Interception, Q1 0:53 · Win chance 69% to 40%

Where he ranks

Leads Conference USA quarterbacks in touchdown passes. 2nd among Conference USA quarterbacks in passer rating.

Stat	His	Nation	Conference USA
Passing yards	1,477	76th of 370	6th of 28
Yards an attempt	8.7	T-26th of 152	2nd of 13
Touchdown passes	14	T-31st of 370	1st of 28
Passer rating	160.7	24th of 152	2nd of 13
Completion percentage	65.3	57th of 152	5th of 13
Rushing yards	45	T-158th of 370	9th of 28
Rushing touchdowns	2	T-71st of 370	6th of 28

Counting stats rank all FBS quarterbacks with a pass attempt; the rates rank those with at least 10 attempts a game.

All Conference USA quarterbacks

Rk	Quarterback	Yards	TD	INT	Att	Y/A
1	JJ Kohl	1,801	11	9	255	7.1
2	Caden Creel	1,746	13	8	209	8.4
3	Landyn Locke	1,653	12	5	236	7.0
4	Rickie Collins	1,617	7	6	229	7.1
5	Roman Gagliano	1,587	12	4	258	6.2
6	Nick Minicucci	1,477	14	4	170	8.7
7	Deshawn Purdie	1,453	10	1	152	9.6
8	Henry Belin IV	1,071	8	4	126	8.5
9	Trey Hedden	906	5	6	124	7.3
10	Brock Glenn	887	6	4	165	5.4
11	Rodney Tisdale Jr.	883	4	2	123	7.2
12	Skyler Locklear	788	4	2	108	7.3
13	Adam Damante	638	4	4	118	5.4
14	Tyler Bell	373	3	1	49	7.6
15	DJ Bailey	258	0	0	37	7.0
16	Braden Streeter	175	1	3	35	5.0
17	Landon Varnes	154	0	0	22	7.0
18	EJ Archield Jr.	137	0	0	19	7.2
19	Jaylen Henderson	131	2	0	18	7.3
20	Zach Marker	109	0	0	15	7.3
21	Brett Holloway	64	1	1	5	12.8
22	Riley Trujillo	38	0	0	3	12.7
23	Jack Moran	25	0	0	2	12.5
24	Skyler Williams	12	0	1	4	3.0
25	Elijah Leonard	7	0	0	1	7.0
26	Ethan Vasko	6	1	0	2	3.0
27	Caleb McMickle	3	0	0	2	1.5
28	Peter Costelli	0	0	0	1	0.0

Sorted by passing yards. Gray: under 10 attempts a game, so not ranked on yards an attempt.

Passing yards1,4776th in the Conference USA this season.

Touchdown passes141st in the Conference USA this season; 49th among current FBS players over the whole career (37).

Conference ranks count every player in the conference with a row in that stat, any position. Career ranks count current FBS players, from the games in our log.

Opponents faced, by strength

Ratings of the games shown run from -17 to +6 points against an average team (SP+ rating of each opponent).

Pass targets

Wilson and Lewis saw 73 of the 169 charted throws.

Receiver	Targets	Catches	Yards	Throw depth	After catch
Sean Wilson	47	32	531	14.8	3.0
Donovan Lewis	26	17	152	4.6	6.1
Bryson Graves	26	17	144	7.2	4.9
Da'Wain Lofton	17	12	223	9.8	10.2
Kaderris Roberts	15	13	102	-0.4	9.2
8 others	32	19	301	7.6	7.2
No receiver charted	6	All four interceptions are among these

Play by play: 169 passes, 110 caught, 1,453 yards; the box score counts 170 attempts. Throw depth: average air yards per target. After catch: average yards after the catch per catch. Bar: targets; the blue part was caught.

Passing profile

Pass Profile · True throw depth (charted plays)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

111/170 (65.3%) · 14 TD · 4 INT

170 of 170 attempts matched to play-by-play

167 of 170 attempts charted for true throw depth

Adjusted ANY/A

8.4231 of 185 QBs

Sack rate

6.1%116 of 185 QBs

Sacked on 6.1% of dropbacks (116 of 185) — and still 31 of 185 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

14% of attempts (23)

87%comp

Air -3.8 · YAC 9.1 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

53% of attempts (89)

63%comp2 INT

Air 4.5 · YAC 5.6 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

19% of attempts (31)

61%comp2 INT

Air 13.6 · YAC 5.8 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

14% of attempts (24)

54%comp

Air 28.9 · YAC 3.3 avg

Overall 65.3% completion on 170 attempts · 54% completion on 24 deep attempts (20+ air yds).

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Ryan Carty — 11-10 over that span.

2025Delaware7-6HC: Ryan Carty · Pass-leaning

2026Delaware4-4HC: Ryan Carty · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 54 (#53 of 145). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

54Rotational starter #53 of 145 · through 6 games?

12 metrics · season cumulative

through 6 games score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: explosive rate (89th percentile). Strength: epa / dropback (85th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#18 / 157 · 89th pct

14.7%

EPA / dropback#24 / 157 · 85th pct

0.37

Success rate#28 / 157 · 82nd pct

47.8%

Interception rate#90 / 157 · 43rd pct

2.4%

Sack rate#99 / 157 · 37th pct

6.1%

Box-score rates (7)

Yards / att#27 / 159 · 83rd pct

8.7

Pass TDs#32 / 159 · 78th pct

Completion %#59 / 159 · 63rd pct

65.3%

Interceptions#62 / 159 · 54th pct

Rush TDs#57 / 159 · 52nd pct

Pass yards#78 / 159 · 51st pct

1477

Rush yards#109 / 159 · 31st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / dropback

64th → 85th percentile

Success rate

73rd → 82nd percentile

Explosive rate

61st → 89th percentile

Sack rate

53rd → 37th percentile

Interception rate

87th → 43rd 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).

Zeitgeist Passer Rating

2026 · our own passing-efficiency number, shown next to the 1979 formula it does not replace.

After 167 dropbacks

61Zeitgeist Passer Rating35th of 119 FBS QBs

NCAA passer rating 160.7 23rd of 119 FBS QBs

ZPR ranks this quarterback 12 places lower than passer rating does: the schedule adjustment debits the defenses faced; and passer rating cannot see sacks, and a sack comes on 6.6% of dropbacks.

Positive-play rate weight 24%

48.4%62nd pct of FBS QBs

share of dropbacks that gained expected points · -4.2% schedule adj.

Yards per attempt weight 56%

8.7686th pct of FBS QBs

sacks excluded · -0.9 schedule adj.

Sack rate weight 21% (penalty)

7.4%21st pct of FBS QBs

the input passer rating cannot see · +0.8% schedule adj.

Opponent-adjusted; garbage time excluded (12 of 179 dropbacks dropped). 50 = FBS average; the number is pulled toward 50 when the sample is thin. How ZPR is built.

Splits

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2026 season · 6 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home3g	286	3.0	8.8	0.7
Road3g	207	1.7	6.9	0.7

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-74g	210	1.2	7.1	0.8
Weeks 8+2g	320	4.5	9.3	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Ryan Carty

Pass share

53.3%

278 pass / 244 run

Plays / game

65.2

8 games

Scheme: Balanced.

Delaware’s quarterbacks

Nick Minicucci	Threw in 6 of 8 games · 111 of 170, 1,477 yds, 14 TD, 4 INT · 8.7 yards an attempt on 170 attempts · ran for 45 yds, 2 TD
Tyler Bell	Threw in 3 of 8 games · 28 of 49, 373 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT · 7.6 yards an attempt on 49 attempts · ran for 53 yds, 0 TD
Braden Streeter	Threw in 4 of 8 games · 12 of 35, 175 yds, 1 TD, 3 INT · 5.0 yards an attempt on 35 attempts · ran for -12 yds, 0 TD
EJ Archield Jr.	Threw in 1 of 8 games · 10 of 19, 137 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 7.2 yards an attempt on 19 attempts · ran for 18 yds, 0 TD
Riley Trujillo	Threw in 1 of 8 games · 1 of 3, 38 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT · 12.7 yards an attempt on 3 attempts · ran for -2 yds, 0 TD

Box score. Every quarterback on the team who has thrown a pass this season.

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Who threw in each quarter. Blue: Nick Minicucci. Gray: Braden Streeter, Riley Trujillo, EJ Archield Jr., Tyler Bell. From the play by play.

Q1Q2Q3Q4Merrimack@ VanderbiltCoastal Carolina@ VirginiaLiberty@ Middle TennesseeMissouri State@ Western Kentucky

Awards

Player standing · 2025

All-Conference

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

2026 outlook

In the mix to repeat All-Conference USA

Based on 2025: #2 of 16 Conference USA QBs

How the All-Conference USA base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 49% of returning players who ranked #1–3 at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 43–54%).

Nick Minicucci

Style of play

This week

What’s being said

Worth knowing

His most important play this season

In the news in the last 30 days

In the news this season

What they’re talking about

Week by week

In the news across his career

What fans said

In the game threads

Named in

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

The latest game

The season, game by game

Highs and lows

Where he ranks

Pass targets

Passing profile

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Delaware’s quarterbacks

Who threw, quarter by quarter

Awards

All-Conference

Two seasons at Delaware

2023

2025 13 games