#89

Nico Ragaini

Senior wide receiver for Iowa. 2023: 31 catches, 255 receiving yards.

WR · Iowa · Sr. · #89

6′0″ · 190 lb · East Haven, CT

CFB Index 34 · #386 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceIowa 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1374 nationally · Signed with Iowa

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Iowa. 2023: 31 catches, 255 receiving yards.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Iowa in 2018.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at Iowa, 1,611 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He barely played early on. Then he did not come off the field.

The week the volume broke through — put up 73 yds vs Penn State.Penn State · W 23-202021

2018

Signed with Iowa3-star out of Avon Old Farms

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1374 national

CFB

College

Iowa

2018–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2023

1 coach

2018–2023

Kirk Ferentz

Iowa

Played his entire career under Kirk Ferentz.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

6 seasons under Kirk Ferentz — 53-22 over that span.

2018Iowa9-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2019Iowa10-3HC: Kirk Ferentz · Balanced

2020Iowa6-2HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2021Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2022Iowa8-5HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Iowa10-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

34Below cohort / limited sample #386 of 497?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: explosive rate (5th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#473 / 639 · 26th pct

74.4%

EPA / target#522 / 639 · 18th pct

0.45

Yards / catch#562 / 639 · 12th pct

8.7

TD rate#532 / 639 · 8th pct

0.0%

Explosive rate#609 / 639 · 5th pct

2.6%

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#262 / 566 · 53rd pct

Rush TDs#54 / 294 · 41st pct

Rec yards#426 / 566 · 25th pct

255

Long catch#502 / 566 · 10th pct

Rush yards#275 / 294 · 7th pct

-4

Rec TDs#503 / 566 · 6th pct

Yards / catch#546 / 566 · 3rd pct

8.2

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

53rd → 18th percentile

Explosive rate

79th → 5th percentile

Catch rate

55th → 26th percentile

TD rate

17th → 8th percentile

Yards / catch

52nd → 12th 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

2023 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.0	29.3	9.6	0.0
Road6g	1.7	8.3	5.2	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	1.7	12.3	6.7	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	3.2	28.2	8.6	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

34 · #386 of 497 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #386 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Iowa	31	255	8.2	0	--
2022	Iowa	34	388	11.4	1	--
2021	Iowa	26	331	12.7	1	--
2020	Iowa	18	191	10.6	0	--
2019	Iowa	46	439	9.5	2	--
2018	Iowa	1	7	7.0	0	--
Career		156	1,611	10.3	4	--

Season	Team
2023	Iowa	3	-4	--	--	--
2022	Iowa	2	17	--	--	--
2021	Iowa	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Iowa	1	1	--	--	--
2019	Iowa	1	2	--	96	--
2018	Iowa	--	--	--	--	--
Career		7	16	--	96	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2023

W 15–6

at Wisconsin

-5 rush yds (1 car)

With T. Taylor — 50 AVG · 6 IN 20 · 62 LONG · L. Williams — 174 rush yds (25 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Utah State · 3&6 · Q3 · EPA +3.38Cade McNamara pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 29 yds to the USU 47 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Wisconsin · 4&3 · Q1 · EPA -2.54Nico Ragaini run for a loss of 5 yards to the WIS 37
Week 8 · Minnesota · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.26Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 10 yds to the MINN 42 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Illinois · 3&5 · Q4 · EPA +2.08Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 9 yds to the ILL 40 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Nebraska · 3&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.02Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 6 yds to the IOWA 43 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Wisconsin · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +1.93Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 6 yds to the IOWA 43 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Illinois · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.52Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 11 yds to the IOWA 34 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Illinois · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.12Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 13 yds to the IOWA 38 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Rutgers · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +1.10Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 13 yds to the RUTG 28 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Northwestern · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +0.97Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 8 yds to the IOWA 36

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 24-14vs Utah State	2	36	18.0	29
Wk 2	W 20-13@ Iowa State	2	8	4.0	8
Wk 3	W 41-10vs Western Michigan	1	4	4.0	4
Wk 4	L 0-31@ Penn State	1	4	4.0	4
Wk 5	W 26-16vs Michigan State	2	18	9.0	14
Wk 7	W 15-6@ Wisconsin	2	13	6.5	7
Wk 8	L 10-12vs Minnesota	4	28	7.0	11
Wk 10	W 10-7@ Northwestern	1	8	8.0	8
Wk 11	W 22-0vs Rutgers	4	48	12.0	17	Season-high 48 yds
Wk 12	W 15-13vs Illinois	5	46	9.2	13
Wk 13	W 13-10@ Nebraska	2	14	7.0	8
Wk 14	L 0-26vs Michigan	3	25	8.3	12
Bowl	L 0-35@ Tennessee	2	3	1.5	4
Total		31	255	7.6	29

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