Sam Phillips

Senior wide receiver for Iowa. 2025: 16 catches, 261 receiving yards.

WR · Iowa · Sr. · #2

5′7″ · 183 lb · Cartersville, GA

CFB Index 31 · #402 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to Iowa for 2026

How he plays

Beats you over the top.

Explosive rate: 97th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

261

receiving yards · 2025

16 catches · 16.3 per catch

Best game: 5 rec, 64 yds, vs Indiana

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Iowa. 2025: 16 catches, 261 receiving yards.

Transferred from Chattanooga to Iowa in 2025.

His career, year by year

Sam Phillips

WR · Iowa · Sr · #2

Beats you over the top. He got to Iowa by way of Chattanooga. One game to point at: 75 rec yds, 3 receptions against Massachusetts — Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
portal record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025Iowa9-4HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-heavy, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

31Below cohort / limited sample #402 of 485?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (97th percentile). Strength: epa / target (95th percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#22 / 798 · 97th pct

22.7%

EPA / target#44 / 798 · 95th pct

0.84

Yards / catch#63 / 798 · 92nd pct

16.3

Catch rate#255 / 798 · 67th pct

72.7%

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#77 / 558 · 86th pct

16.3

Long catch#300 / 558 · 45th pct

Rec yards#397 / 558 · 29th pct

261

Receptions#465 / 558 · 15th pct

Rec TDs#482 / 558 · 7th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— first qualifying season

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

23%5 of his 22 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	1.8	32.5	18.8	0.0
Road4g	1.2	16.5	15.0	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.8	32.2	18.4	0.0
Weeks 8+4g	1.2	17.0	15.5	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 · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

31 · #402 of 485 WRs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Big Ten

Based on 2025: #55 of 61 Big Ten WRs

How the All-Big Ten estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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	Iowa	16	261	16.3	0	--
Career		16	261	16.3	0	--

Season	Team
2025	Iowa	--	--	--	46	--
Career		--	--	--	46	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 3 · Massachusetts · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +3.28Mark Gronowski pass complete to Sam Phillips for 45 yds to the MASS 20 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Oregon · 3&8 · Q3 · EPA +2.33(08:01) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short right to #2 S.Phillips caught at OREGON32, for 12 yards to the OREGON32, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN, PENALTY OREGON Personal Foul (#42 A.Breland) 15 yards from OREGON32 to OREGON17, 1ST DOWN
Week 2 · Iowa State · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.24Mark Gronowski pass complete to Sam Phillips for 15 yds to the IOWA 44 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Massachusetts · 2&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.09Mark Gronowski pass complete to Sam Phillips for 22 yds to the MASS 39 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Indiana · 3&5 · Q4 · EPA +1.98Hank Brown pass complete to Sam Phillips for 10 yds to the IOWA 40 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Indiana · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.83Mark Gronowski pass complete to Sam Phillips for 13 yds to the IOWA 38 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Indiana · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.62Mark Gronowski pass complete to Sam Phillips for 21 yds to the IU 39 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Nebraska · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.59(00:50) No Huddle-Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short left to #2 S.Phillips caught at NEB07, for 11 yards to the NEB01 (#8 D.Singleton), 1ST DOWN
Week 13 · Michigan State · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA +1.59(13:32) #11 M.Gronowski pass complete deep right to #2 S.Phillips caught at MSU20, for 33 yards to the MSU11 (#30 A.Grose), 1ST DOWN
Week 9 · Minnesota · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +1.21(12:58) Shotgun #11 M.Gronowski pass complete short left to #2 S.Phillips caught at Minn38, for 11 yards to the Minn33 (#3 K.Perich), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 34-7vs UAlbany	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 2	L 13-16@ Iowa State	1	15	15.0	0	15
Wk 3	W 47-7vs Massachusetts	3	75	25.0	0	45	Season-high 75 yds
Wk 4	W 38-28@ Rutgers	1	25	25.0	0	25
Wk 5	L 15-20vs Indiana	5	64	12.8	0	21
Wk 7	W 37-0@ Wisconsin	1	14	14.0	0	14
Wk 9	W 41-3vs Minnesota	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 11	L 16-18vs Oregon	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 13	W 20-17vs Michigan State	1	33	33.0	0	33
Wk 14	W 40-16@ Nebraska	2	12	6.0	0	11
Total		16	261	17.1	0	45

How he plays

Play style

Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

Iowa

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Wide receiver · Iowa

Returning around him

34% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
7 Iowa players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: +7 net (15 in / 8 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Iowa · Last season: 9-4 · Talent rank #44 · 2026 recruiting class #26

DNA match

Player DNA

Deep Threat

Stretches the field vertically. Every snap is a potential big play.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Jahcour Pearson’s 2021 season.

Jahcour Pearson

63%match

Ole Miss · 2021

Ja'Khi Douglas

Florida State · 2021

61%

Tyrin Smith

UTEP · 2021

57%

Anthony Gould

Oregon State · 2021

NFL Rd 5

57%

Jaylon Robinson

UCF · 2021

56%

Matches Jahcour on

Weight

Yards / reception

Differs from Jahcour on

EPA / play (adj) (higher)

Height (lower)

Reception volume (lower)

Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Cornell Powell’s path through Clemson.

Cornell Powell

99%match

Clemson · 2020

All-ACCNFL Rd 5

Dez Fitzpatrick

Louisville · 2020

All-ACCNFL Rd 4

91%

Austin Trammell

Rice · 2020

All-Conference USA

84%

Dennis Houston

Western Illinois · 2021

81%

T.J. Simmons

West Virginia · 2020

80%

Matches Cornell on

Yards per reception

As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Jamari Hawkins's junior season at Memphis (2025).

Jamari Hawkins

60%match

Memphis · 2025

Kacper Rutkiewicz

Northern Illinois · 2023

58%

Aaron Anderson

LSU · 2025

All-SEC

54%

Mason Pierce

Marshall · 2023

53%

Tyler King

New Mexico State · 2025

All-Mountain West

51%

Differs from Jamari on

Class year (higher)

Reception volume (lower)

EPA / play (adj) (higher)

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

202510 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Deep Threat