#82

Nykeim Johnson

Senior wide receiver for Syracuse. 2021: 55 catches, 626 receiving yards, 3 TD.

WR · Syracuse · Sr. · #82

5′8″ · 170 lb · Washington, DC

CFB Index 61 · #105 of 468 WRsHigh confidenceSyracuse 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 952 nationally · Signed with Syracuse

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Syracuse. 2021: 55 catches, 626 receiving yards, 3 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Syracuse in 2017.
Transferred from Syracuse to Kent State in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Kent State, 1,681 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 136 yds vs NC State.NC State · W 51-412018

20176 games

Signed with Syracuse3-star out of Friendship Academy

202113 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#952 national

CFB

College

Syracuse

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Dino Babers

Syracuse

Played his entire career under Dino Babers.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Dino Babers — 25-35 over that span.

2017Syracuse4-8HC: Dino Babers · Balanced, fast tempo

2018Syracuse10-3HC: Dino Babers · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2019Syracuse5-7HC: Dino Babers · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2020Syracuse1-10HC: Dino Babers · Balanced, slow tempo

2021Kent State5-7HC: Dino Babers · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

61Quality starter #105 of 468?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush tds (98th percentile). Strength: rush yards (91st percentile). Concern: yards / catch (25th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#235 / 655 · 64th pct

79.7%

EPA / target#295 / 655 · 55th pct

0.70

Explosive rate#388 / 655 · 41st pct

11.6%

Yards / catch#414 / 655 · 37th pct

11.5

TD rate#415 / 655 · 36th pct

4.3%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#5 / 273 · 98th pct

Rush yards#25 / 273 · 91st pct

Receptions#86 / 557 · 84th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 223 · 80th pct

Rec yards#129 / 557 · 77th pct

626

Rec TDs#196 / 557 · 58th pct

Long catch#248 / 557 · 55th pct

Yards / catch#413 / 557 · 25th pct

11.4

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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

2021 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	3.2	43.2	13.5	0.4
Road8g	4.0	38.6	10.6	0.1

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.0	45.3	12.1	0.1
Weeks 8+6g	3.3	34.7	11.5	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Fran Brown

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

61 · #105 of 468 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #105 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Syracuse	55	626	11.4	3	--
2020	Syracuse	20	323	16.1	4	--
2019	Syracuse	19	99	5.2	0	--
2018	Syracuse	41	565	13.8	4	--
2017	Syracuse	8	68	8.5	0	--
Career		143	1,681	11.8	11	--

Season	Team
2021	Syracuse	10	83	346	66	--
2020	Syracuse	8	82	395	169	--
2019	Syracuse	1	8	115	-2	--
2018	Syracuse	4	9	11	10	--
2017	Syracuse	2	6	91	--	--
Career		25	188	958	243	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 6 · Buffalo · 2&21 · Q3 · EPA +4.39Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 45 yds to the KENTST 30 for a 1ST down BUFFALO Penalty, Defensive Offside (Khamran Laborn) declined for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Buffalo · 3&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.80Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 32 yds to the Buff 31 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Northern Illinois · 3&12 · Q3 · EPA +3.45Nykeim Johnson 17 Yd pass from Dustin Crum (Andrew Glass Kick)
Week 1 · Wyoming · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.16Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 51 yds to the Wyom 20 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · VMI · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +3.03Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 20 yds for a TD, (Andrew Glass KICK)
Week 10 · Northern Illinois · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.01Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 36 yds for a TD (Andrew Glass KICK)
Week 10 · Northern Illinois · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.86Nykeim Johnson run for 14 yds for a TD (Andrew Glass KICK)
Week 11 · Central Michigan · 4&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.60Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 13 yds to the CMich 2 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Maryland · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.58Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 34 yds to the Mary 34 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Western Michigan · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.56Dustin Crum pass complete to Nykeim Johnson for 9 yds to the WMich 36 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 10-41@ Texas A&M	2	16	8.0	0	11
Wk 2	W 60-10vs VMI	5	55	11.0	1	20
Wk 3	L 7-30@ Iowa	6	34	5.7	0	12
Wk 4	L 16-37@ Maryland	4	69	17.3	0	34
Wk 5	W 27-20vs Bowling Green	3	21	7.0	0	11
Wk 6	W 48-38vs Buffalo	3	85	28.3	0	45
Wk 7	L 31-64@ Western Michigan	5	37	7.4	0	10
Wk 8	W 34-27@ Ohio	8	86	10.8	0	21	Season-high 86 yds
Wk 10	W 52-47vs Northern Illinois	3	38	12.7	1	36
Wk 11	L 30-54@ Central Michigan	6	50	8.3	0	13
Wk 12	W 38-0@ Akron	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 13	W 48-47vs Miami (OH)	2	17	8.5	0	11
Wk 14	L 23-41@ Northern Illinois	1	17	17.0	1	17
Total		48	525	11.8	3	45

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