Nico Ragaini

#89 · WR · Sr. · Iowa6′0″ · 190 lb · East Haven, CT · Avon Old Farms

Nico Ragaini: WR · Iowa · #89.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Mike Brown-StephensMinnesota · 2021 · 92% season match
Vinny AnthonyWisconsin · 2025 · 89% season match
Brian CasteelArizona · 2021 · 87% season match
Bryce KirtzNorthwestern · 2021 · 86% season match
Skyler BellWisconsin · 2023 · 85% season match

Nico Ragaini

WR · Iowa · Sr · #89

Moves the chains on third down. Sixth year in the same receiving corps at Iowa. A game that shows it: 48 receiving yards and 4 receptions against Rutgers — Week 11, 2023.

Style of play

Play style

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

Fans

No outlet on our list has written about this player by name this season.

Iowa in the news

Iowa QB battle unresolvedNov 2
RB Kamari Moulton out for seasonKCCI Oct 28
Fleck dedicates win to UMD playerFOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul Oct 27
Iowa QB granted 5th yearOct 24

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2023	Iowa	31	255	8.2	0	29
2022	Iowa	34	388	11.4	1	46
2021	Iowa	26	331	12.7	1	48
2020	Iowa	18	191	10.6	0	28
2019	Iowa	46	439	9.5	2	45
2018	Iowa	1	7	7.0	0	7
Career		156	1,611	10.3	4	48

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

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

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@ No. 7 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 10-7vs 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 No. 2 Michigan	3	25	8.3	12
Bowl	L 0-35vs No. 25 Tennessee	2	3	1.5	4
Total		31	255	8.2	29

Signature game

Week 11 · 2023

W 22-0

vs Rutgers

4 rec · 48 yds · -4 rush yds (1 car)

Dominant 22-point win at home against Rutgers.

With D. Hill — 223 yds · 1 TD · 1 INT · QBR 58.2 · T. Taylor — 47.7 yards per punt · 3 punts · 1 inside the 20

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 1 · Utah State · 3rd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +3.38Cade McNamara pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 29 yds to the USU 47 for a
Week 7 · Wisconsin · 4th and 3 · Q1 · EPA −2.54Nico Ragaini run for a loss of 5 yards to the WIS 37
Week 8 · Minnesota · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +2.26Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 10 yds to the MINN 42 for a
Week 12 · Illinois · 3rd and 5 · Q4 · EPA +2.08Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 9 yds to the ILL 40 for a
Week 13 · Nebraska · 3rd and 6 · Q1 · EPA +2.02Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 6 yds to the IOWA 43 for a
Week 7 · Wisconsin · 3rd and 5 · Q1 · EPA +1.93Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 6 yds to the IOWA 43 for a

4 more plays

Week 12 · Illinois · 2nd and 10 · Q3 · EPA +1.52Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 11 yds to the IOWA 34 for a
Week 12 · Illinois · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.12Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 13 yds to the IOWA 38 for a
Week 11 · Rutgers · 2nd and 8 · Q3 · EPA +1.10Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 13 yds to the RUTG 28 for a
Week 10 · Northwestern · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +0.97Deacon Hill pass complete to Nico Ragaini for 8 yds to the IOWA 36

Teams and coaches

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

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 34 (#386 of 497). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2023 season

34Below cohort / limited sample #386 of 497 · 2023?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2023 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. 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 in 2023. 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

2023 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	3.0	30.0	9.9	0.0
Road4g	1.8	9.8	5.4	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

2023 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

Pass share

42.3%

348 pass / 474 run

Plays / game

58.7

14 games

Team sack rate

8.8%

377 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning, slow tempo.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

31 catches and 3 carries in 13 games

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

34 · #386 of 497 WRs · 2023

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

Nico Ragaini

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Iowa in the news

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

31 catches and 3 carries in 13 games

Six seasons at Iowa

2018