Senior tight end for Arizona. 2025: 17 catches, 135 receiving yards, 2 TD.
6′3″ · 231 lb · Visalia, CA
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
How he plays
Shows up in the passing game from any alignment.
Catch rate: 89th percentile.
The full scouting readThe numbers
receiving yards · 2025
17 catches · 2 TD · 7.9 per catch
Best game: 1 rec, 16 yds, 1 TD, vs Kansas
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
4 tight end for Arizona. 2025: 17 catches, 135 receiving yards, 2 TD.
Sam Olson
Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. San José State to Arizona — the move that set up everything since. One game to point at: 32 rec yds, 3 receptions against SMU — Bowl, 2025.
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
His career
He was on the field for 6 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.
The role got bigger.
Career arc
Coaching lineage · 2020–2025
3 coachesPlayed under 3 different head coaches: Kevin Sumlin, Jedd Fisch, and Brent Brennan. Multi-era developmental context.
Season context · Team result + system
Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
Elite: catch rate (89th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (3rd percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Season trend
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 · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)
Third-down role
Splits · Per-game
2025 season · 8 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home5g | 1.6 | 12.4 | 8.7 | 0.4 |
| Road3g | 3.0 | 24.3 | 8.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-76g | 2.3 | 17.0 | 7.4 | 0.2 |
| Weeks 8+2g | 1.5 | 16.5 | 12.2 | 0.5 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Brent Brennan
Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.
Player standing · 2025
Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.
Recognition
Production · CFB Index Score
Two-star recruit. Now #135 at the position.
2026 outlook
Outside shot for All-Big 12
Based on 2025: #18 of 19 Big 12 TEs
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.
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Arizona | 17 | 135 | 7.9 | 2 | -- |
| 2024 | Arizona | 13 | 196 | 15.1 | 2 | -- |
| 2023 | San José State | 22 | 310 | 14.1 | 3 | -- |
| 2022 | San José State | 14 | 114 | 8.1 | 1 | -- |
| 2021 | San José State | 4 | 102 | 25.5 | 1 | -- |
| 2020 | San José State | 5 | 67 | 13.4 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 75 | 924 | 12.3 | 10 | -- |
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2025
W 23–17
vs Kansas State
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
Game log · Week-by-week
2025 season · 8 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 40-6vs Hawai'i | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 1 | 5 | Season-high 32 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 23-17vs Kansas State | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 0 | 13 | |
| Wk 5 | L 14-39@ Iowa State | 4 | 24 | 6.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 6 | W 41-13vs Oklahoma State | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | |
| Wk 7 | L 27-33vs BYU | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 8 | L 28-31@ Houston | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 9 | |
| Wk 11 | W 24-20vs Kansas | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 1 | 16 | |
| Bowl | L 19-24@ SMU | 3 | 32 | 10.7 | 0 | 13 | |
| Total | 17 | 135 | 8.6 | 2 | 16 |
Play style
No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.
CFB Index positional classification
2026 Outlook
Arizona
2026 Depth chart
Projected starter
Tight end · Arizona
Returning around him
2026 Award watch
No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)
Arizona · Last season: 9-4 (AP #21) · Talent rank #54 · 2026 recruiting class #42
Player DNA
No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.
His 2025 production profile sits closest to Josh Sterzer’s 2024 season.
Matches Josh on
Differs from Josh on
Not enough data yet for this comparison.
Player DNA