Sam Pinckney

#15 · WR · Sr. · Coastal Carolina6′4″ · 220 lb · Greenwood, SC

Sam Pinckney: WR · Coastal Carolina · #15.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

JJ BuchananMichigan · 2026 · 88% season match
Corey GammageMarshall · 2020 · 88% season match
Elijah CooksSan José State · 2022 · 77% season match
Jake BoboUCLA · 2022 · 74% season match
Jonathan Adams Jr.Arkansas State · 2020 · 72% season match

Sam Pinckney

WR · Coastal Carolina · Sr · #15

Moves the chains on third down. Played for three head coaches across six seasons and two programs. That makes four straight seasons on the honors list: All-Sun Belt again in 2023. On tape: 139 receiving yards and 9 receptions against UCLA, Week 1, 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.

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2023	Coastal Carolina	72	1,027	14.3	8	52
2022	Coastal Carolina	72	1,011	14.0	3	48
2021	Georgia State	27	311	11.5	1	28
2020	Georgia State	47	815	17.3	7	65
2019	Georgia State	36	460	12.8	5	43
2018	Georgia State	3	82	27.3	0	55
Career		257	3,706	14.4	24	65

Season	Team
2023	Coastal Carolina	1	7	2
2022	Coastal Carolina	--	--	--
2021	Georgia State	1	12	--
2020	Georgia State	--	--	--
2019	Georgia State	--	--	--
2018	Georgia State	--	--	--
Career		2	19	2

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	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 13-27@ UCLA	9	139	15.4	1	52	139-yard receiving day
Wk 2	W 30-16vs Jacksonville State	4	63	15.8	0	33
Wk 3	W 66-7vs Duquesne	2	42	21.0	1	31
Wk 4	L 17-30vs Georgia State	6	67	11.2	0	20
Wk 5	L 28-38@ Georgia Southern	7	132	18.9	1	42	132-yard receiving day
Wk 7	W 27-24@ App State	7	102	14.6	0	31
Wk 8	W 27-17@ Arkansas State	4	20	5.0	1	9
Wk 9	W 34-6vs Marshall	2	48	24.0	0	31
Wk 10	W 28-24@ Old Dominion	7	69	9.9	1	16
Wk 11	W 31-23vs Texas State	6	81	13.5	1	25
Wk 12	L 21-28@ Army	6	78	13.0	1	31
Wk 13	L 14-56vs No. 24 James Madison	4	63	15.8	0	26
Bowl	W 24-14vs San José State	8	123	15.4	1	22
Total		72	1027	14.3	8	52

Signature game

Week 1 · 2023

L 13-27

at UCLA

9 rec · 139 yds · 1 TD

With G. McCall — 271 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 58.5 · E. Crenshaw — 43.5 yards per punt · 2 punts · 45 long

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 12 · Army · 3rd and 11 · Q4 · EPA +4.33Jarrett Guest pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 31 yds for a TD (Kade Hensley KICK)
Week 1 · UCLA · 3rd and 7 · Q3 · EPA +4.32Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 52 yds to the UCLA 20 for a
Week 3 · Duquesne · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +3.31Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 31 yds to the DUQ 23 for a
Week 1 · UCLA · 3rd and 4 · Q1 · EPA +3.24Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 31 yds to the UCLA 28 for a
Week 11 · Texas State · 2nd and 10 · Q2 · EPA +3.15Ethan Vasko pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 25 yds for a TD (Kade Hensley KICK)
Week 8 · Arkansas State · 3rd and 7 · Q2 · EPA +2.90Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 8 yds for a TD (Kade Hensley KICK)

4 more plays

Week 2 · Jacksonville State · 3rd and 6 · Q3 · EPA +2.87Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 16 yds to the JVST 42 for a
Week 1 · San José State · 3rd and 4 · Q4 · EPA +2.75Ethan Vasko pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 8 yds for a TD (Kade Hensley KICK)
Week 1 · UCLA · 2nd and 9 · Q3 · EPA +2.74McCall to Pinckney: a 9-yard touchdown pass.
Week 2 · Jacksonville State · 3rd and 8 · Q1 · EPA +2.58Grayson McCall pass complete to Sam Pinckney for 33 yds to the JVST 8 for a

Teams and coaches

2018Georgia State2-10HC: Shawn Elliott · Run-leaning

2019Georgia State7-6HC: Shawn Elliott · Run-heavy

2020Georgia State6-4HC: Shawn Elliott · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021Georgia State8-5HC: Shawn Elliott · Run-heavy

2022Coastal Carolina9-4HC: Jamey Chadwell · Run-leaning

2023Coastal Carolina8-5HC: Tim Beck · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 84 (#23 of 497). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

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

84All-Conference level #23 of 497 · 2023?

12 metrics · season cumulative

2023 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: rec yards (95th percentile). Strength: receptions (94th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / target#145 / 639 · 77th pct

1.00

Yards / catch#182 / 639 · 72nd pct

14.2

Explosive rate#209 / 639 · 67th pct

16.9%

TD rate#225 / 639 · 65th pct

7.8%

Catch rate#367 / 639 · 43rd pct

80.5%

Box-score rates (7)

Rec yards#29 / 566 · 95th pct

1027

Receptions#33 / 566 · 94th pct

Rec TDs#33 / 566 · 93rd pct

Yards / catch#193 / 566 · 66th pct

14.3

Long catch#221 / 566 · 60th pct

Rush TDs#54 / 294 · 41st pct

Rush yards#171 / 294 · 41st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

53rd → 77th percentile

Explosive rate

83rd → 67th percentile

Catch rate

42nd → 43rd percentile

TD rate

24th → 65th percentile

Yards / catch

73rd → 72nd 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	4.0	60.7	16.9	0.3
Road6g	6.7	90.0	12.8	0.8

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	6.1	95.4	16.0	0.6
Weeks 8+6g	4.8	59.8	13.5	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2023 season

Head Coach

Tim Beck

Pass share

47.5%

410 pass / 453 run

Plays / game

66.4

13 games

Team sack rate

3.8%

426 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2023

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

84 · #23 of 497 WRs · 2023

Three-star recruit. Now #23 at the position.

Sam Pinckney

Similar players

Style of play

Fans

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

All-Conference

Six seasons, two schools

Moves

2018 3 games

2020 9 games

2021 10 games

2022 13 games

2023 13 games