Raphael Williams

Senior wide receiver for Pittsburgh. 2025: 52 catches, 741 receiving yards, 7 TD.

WR · Pittsburgh · Sr. · #5

5′10″ · 165 lb · Fort Lauderdale, FL

CFB Index 68 · #90 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to Pittsburgh for 2026

The numbers

741

receiving yards · 2025

52 catches · 7 TD · 14.3 per catch

The play that turned itSwung Pittsburgh from 65% to 97% to win.Pittsburgh at West Virginia · 31-24

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Pittsburgh. 2025: 52 catches, 741 receiving yards, 7 TD.

Transferred from Western Carolina to San Diego State in 2023.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Wins underneath on volume and route precision.

Yards / catch: 80th percentile.

The full scouting read

Raphael Williams

WR · Pittsburgh · Sr · #5

Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Raphael Williams arrived at San Diego State from Western Carolina. One game to point at: 121 rec yds, 6 receptions against Central Michigan — Week 2, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2 seasons under Pat Narduzzi, all balanced offenses — 15-11 over that span.

2024Pittsburgh7-6HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

68Quality starter #90 of 485?

High confidenceAscending12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (80th percentile). Strength: rec tds (92nd percentile). Concern: rush yards (28th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#159 / 798 · 80th pct

14.4

Explosive rate#174 / 798 · 78th pct

14.9%

TD rate#225 / 798 · 72nd pct

4.1%

EPA / target#354 / 798 · 56th pct

0.46

Catch rate#486 / 798 · 39th pct

64.9%

Box-score rates (7)

Rec TDs#37 / 558 · 92nd pct

Rec yards#88 / 558 · 84th pct

741

Receptions#109 / 558 · 80th pct

Long catch#112 / 558 · 80th pct

Yards / catch#175 / 558 · 68th pct

14.3

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Rush yards#204 / 287 · 28th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

46th → 56th percentile

Explosive rate

49th → 78th percentile

Catch rate

24th → 39th percentile

TD rate

86th → 72nd percentile

Yards / catch

44th → 80th 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).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

24%18 of his 74 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.7	54.7	17.0	0.6
Road6g	4.3	59.7	13.7	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	4.3	70.7	19.0	0.7
Weeks 8+6g	3.7	41.0	11.4	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Part-time starter

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

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

68 · #90 of 485 WRs

Unranked recruit. Now #90 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #14 of 64 ACC WRs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

22% estimated, 95% confidence interval 19–25%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Pittsburgh	52	741	14.2	7	--
2024	Pittsburgh	36	419	11.6	6	--
Career		88	1,160	13.2	13	--

Season	Team
2025	Pittsburgh	1	4	--	9	--
2024	Pittsburgh	1	-3	--	--	--
Career		2	1	--	9	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2025

W 42–28

at Georgia Tech

2 rec · 39 yds

Edged out Georgia Tech on the road in a shootout.

With M. Heintschel — 226 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.8 · -29 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · J. Turner — 201 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Central Michigan · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +4.76Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 48 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK)
Week 3 · West Virginia · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +4.48Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 67 yds to the WVU 6 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Notre Dame · 4&5 · Q3 · EPA -3.95(04:20) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short left to #5 R.Williams Jr. caught at ND02, for 4 yards to the ND01 (#28 L.Talich), TURNOVER ON DOWNS
Week 14 · Miami · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.73(10:41) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete deep middle to #5 R.Williams Jr. caught at Miami37, for 38 yards to the Miami37, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 9 · NC State · 3&13 · Q1 · EPA +3.68(07:58) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete deep middle to #5 R.Williams Jr. caught at NC ST35, for 22 yards to the NC ST33, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · Duquesne · 2&5 · Q2 · EPA +3.49Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 45 yds to the DUQ 30 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Florida State · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +3.24Mason Heintschel pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 15 yds to the FSU 44 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Louisville · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.09Eli Holstein pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 38 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK)
Week 1 · East Carolina · 3&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.92(00:09) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete deep right to #5 R.Williams Jr. caught at ECU00, for 22 yards to the ECU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 00:04, 1ST DOWN #93 T.Butkowski kick attempt good (H: #91 C.Junko, LS: #48 N.Crawford)
Week 5 · Louisville · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +2.56Cole Gonzales pass complete to Raphael Williams Jr. for 14 yds to the PITT 45 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 61-9vs Duquesne	1	45	45.0	0	45
Wk 2	W 45-17vs Central Michigan	6	121	20.2	2	48	Season-high 121 yds
Wk 3	L 24-31@ West Virginia	6	119	19.8	1	67
Wk 5	L 27-34vs Louisville	4	57	14.3	1	38
Wk 6	W 48-7vs Boston College	2	18	9.0	0	15
Wk 7	W 34-31@ Florida State	6	78	13.0	0	21
Wk 8	W 30-13@ Syracuse	3	28	9.3	0	15
Wk 9	W 53-34vs NC State	5	62	12.4	1	22
Wk 10	W 35-20@ Stanford	4	37	9.3	1	18
Wk 12	L 15-37vs Notre Dame	3	14	4.7	0	8
Wk 13	W 42-28@ Georgia Tech	2	39	19.5	0	20
Wk 14	L 7-38vs Miami	5	66	13.2	0	38
Bowl	L 17-23@ East Carolina	5	57	11.4	1	22
Total		52	741	15.5	7	67