Tay Lanier

#6 · WR · Sr. · Colorado State6′1″ · 165 lb · Long Beach, CA

Tay Lanier is a wide receiver at Colorado State who has not played in Colorado State's 8 games this season; the last season with a stat line was 2025.

Where Lanier comes from

Long Beach, CAHometown
About 850 miles from Canvas StadiumDistance
On the Colorado State roster since 2025Roster

Where Lanier fits

The consensus depth chart of May 27 lists Lanier at WR, No. 2.

Colorado State lists 25 receivers this season.

Colorado State receivers with a game this season

Terrence Smith8 games this season
Jackson Harper7 games this season
Reginald Vick Jr.6 games this season
Tommy Maher6 games this season
Jaivyn Moore5 games this season
Lavon Brown3 games this season

Colorado State is 3-5. Next: vs Boise State, Sat Nov 7.

Similar players

Also from Long Beach, CA

Raiden BrownSacramento State · WR
Jordan Malau'uluFresno State · WR
Tron BakerUSC · WR
Jaylen StokesNew Mexico State · WR

Lanier moves the chains on third down. One game to point at: 73 receiving yards and 9 receptions against Air Force — Week 14, 2025.

Style of play

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

Similar players

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Lyndon RavareKennesaw State · 2025 · 77% season match
Leyton SmithsonWashington State · 2022 · 75% season match
Matthew ColemanSan José State · 2025 · 73% season match
Charles RossSan José State · 2021 · 72% season match
Bryson GravesCoastal Carolina · 2025 · 71% season match

Where to follow

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2025	Colorado State	35	315	9.0	2	39
Career		35	315	9.0	2	39

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 21-38@ Washington	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 2	W 21-17vs Northern Colorado	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 4	L 16-17vs UTSA	3	17	5.7	0	6
Wk 5	L 3-20vs Washington State	2	12	6.0	0	9
Wk 6	L 24-45@ San Diego State	1	14	14.0	0	14
Wk 7	W 49-21vs Fresno State	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 8	L 19-31vs Hawai'i	2	56	28.0	0	37
Wk 9	L 0-28@ Wyoming	3	56	18.7	0	39
Wk 11	L 10-42vs UNLV	3	6	2.0	0	6
Wk 12	L 17-20@ New Mexico	5	41	8.2	0	15
Wk 13	L 21-49@ Boise State	5	26	5.2	1	8
Wk 14	L 21-42vs Air Force	9	73	8.1	1	20	Season-high 73 yds
Total		35	315	9.0	2	39

Signature game

Week 14 · 2025

L 21-42

vs Air Force

9 rec · 73 yds · 1 TD

With J. Brousseau — 323 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 56.0 · B. Hansen — 53.3 yards per punt · 3 punts · 67 long

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 8 · Hawai'i · 4th and 11 · Q4 · EPA +4.12Jackson Brousseau pass complete to Tay Lanier for 37 yds to the HAW 11 for a
Week 8 · Hawai'i · 2nd and 19 · Q3 · EPA +3.42Jackson Brousseau pass complete to Tay Lanier for 19 yds to the HAW 38 for a
Week 14 · Air Force · 3rd and 2 · Q2 · EPA +2.86Brousseau to Lanier: a 20-yard touchdown pass.
Week 13 · Boise State · 3rd and 1 · Q4 · EPA +2.50Curry to Lanier: a 6-yard touchdown pass.
Week 9 · Wyoming · 2nd and 10 · Q4 · EPA +2.43Curry to Lanier: a 39-yard pass.
Week 1 · Washington · 3rd and 6 · Q2 · EPA +2.42Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi pass complete to Tay Lanier for 10 yds to the CSU 48 for a

4 more plays

Week 14 · Air Force · 1st and 10 · Q2 · EPA +2.15Brousseau to Lanier: a 22-yard pass.
Week 14 · Air Force · 2nd and 9 · Q3 · EPA +2.08Brousseau to Lanier: a 12-yard pass.
Week 14 · Air Force · 2nd and 8 · Q4 · EPA +1.95Brousseau to Lanier: a 12-yard pass.
Week 4 · UTSA · 3rd and 4 · Q2 · EPA +1.83Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi pass complete to Tay Lanier for 5 yds to the UTSA 49 for a

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

35 rec · 315 yds · 2 TD

35 of 35 receptions matched to play-by-play

29 of 45 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

4512% of team targets

Catch rate

78%35 of 45 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

28% of targets (8)

100%catch rate

Air -1.6 · YAC 9.4 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

52% of targets (15)

87%catch rate

Air 4.7 · YAC 3.4 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

14% of targets (4)

75%catch rate

Air 14.0 · YAC 0.3 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

7% of targets (2)

50%catch rate

Air 23.5 · YAC 0.0 avg

78% catch rate on 45 targets · 12% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

19%8 of his 43 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Teams and coaches

2025Colorado State2-10HC: Jay Norvell and Tyson Summers · Balanced

Our ratings

CFB Zeitgeist Score 38 (#325 of 485). Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles · 2025 season

38Below cohort / limited sample #325 of 485 · 2025?

11 metrics · season cumulative

2025 score: the 2026 sample is not big enough yet. The rows below are 2026 so far. Elite: catch rate (80th percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#156 / 798 · 80th pct

76.7%

EPA / target#452 / 798 · 43rd pct

0.37

Explosive rate#540 / 798 · 32nd pct

7.0%

Yards / catch#582 / 798 · 27th pct

9.6

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (6)

Receptions#230 / 558 · 58th pct

Rec TDs#276 / 558 · 42nd pct

Rec yards#346 / 558 · 38th pct

315

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Long catch#393 / 558 · 29th pct

Yards / catch#508 / 558 · 9th pct

9.0

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 in 2025. 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

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.9	24.0	9.0	0.1
Road5g	3.0	29.4	11.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.3	9.5	7.9	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	43.0	11.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2025 season

Head Coach

Tyson Summers

Pass share

52.1%

393 pass / 362 run

Plays / game

62.9

12 games

Team sack rate

7.9%

442 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

35 catches and 1 pass attempt in 12 games

About as many catches a game as a typical FBS receiver who plays every week.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Zeitgeist Score

38 · #325 of 485 WRs · 2025

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Pac-12

Based on 2025: #21 of 41 Mountain West WRs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026

How the All-Pac-12 base rate is computed

A base rate for the rank, not a forecast of this player: 15% of returning players who ranked #21 or lower at their position in their conference made an all-conference team the next season (95% confidence interval 13–17%). It was measured on players who stayed in the same conference and is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.

Starter

Returning starter at receiver for a 2-10 Colorado State team that went -6 in the portal.

Tay Lanier

Where Lanier comes from

Where Lanier fits

Colorado State receivers with a game this season

Similar players

Also from Long Beach, CA

Style of play

Similar players

Where to follow

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Receiving profile

Situational

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

35 catches and 1 pass attempt in 12 games

Starter

Three seasons, two schools