Wesley Grimes

Senior wide receiver for NC State. 2025: 31 catches, 458 receiving yards, 3 TD.

WR · NC State · Sr. · #6

6′2″ · 193 lb · Raleigh, NC

CFB Index 47 · #252 of 485 WRsHigh confidenceReturning to NC State for 2026

How he plays

Moves the chains on third down.

Explosive rate: 86th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

458

receiving yards · 2025

31 catches · 3 TD · 14.8 per catch

Best game: 4 rec, 121 yds, 1 TD, vs East Carolina

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for NC State. 2025: 31 catches, 458 receiving yards, 3 TD.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to Wake Forest in 2022.
Transferred from Wake Forest to NC State in 2024.

His career, year by year

Wesley Grimes

WR · NC State · Sr · #6

Moves the chains on third down. Two head coaches in four seasons, at two different programs. One game to point at: 121 rec yds, 4 receptions against East Carolina — Week 1, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Wake Forest8-5HC: Dave Clawson · Balanced

2023Wake Forest4-8HC: Dave Clawson · Run-leaning

2024NC State6-7HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced, slow tempo

2025NC State8-5HC: Dave Doeren · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

47Rotational starter #252 of 485?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (86th percentile). Strength: fumbles lost (81st percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#108 / 798 · 86th pct

17.1%

Yards / catch#195 / 798 · 76th pct

13.9

EPA / target#285 / 798 · 64th pct

0.51

Catch rate#453 / 798 · 43rd pct

65.9%

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Fumbles lost#1 / 218 · 81st pct

Yards / catch#144 / 558 · 74th pct

14.8

Rec TDs#205 / 558 · 57th pct

Rec yards#250 / 558 · 55th pct

458

Long catch#260 / 558 · 52nd pct

Receptions#268 / 558 · 51st pct

Rush TDs#67 / 287 · 39th pct

Rush yards#256 / 287 · 10th pct

-3

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

76th → 64th percentile

Explosive rate

86th → 86th percentile

Catch rate

59th → 43rd percentile

TD rate

34th → 18th percentile

Yards / catch

59th → 76th 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%10 of his 41 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	3.0	49.2	16.0	0.4
Road3g	2.3	21.3	8.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.4	41.6	16.3	0.3
Weeks 8+4g	3.5	41.8	11.9	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Dave Doeren

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

47 · #252 of 485 WRs

Former four-star. Now #252 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #35 of 64 ACC WRs

How the All-ACC 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	NC State	31	458	14.8	3	--
2024	NC State	24	319	13.3	1	--
2023	Wake Forest	20	339	16.9	4	--
2022	Wake Forest	4	33	8.2	1	--
Career		79	1,149	14.5	9	--

Season	Team
2025	NC State	1	-3	--	--	--
2024	NC State	--	--	--	--	--
2023	Wake Forest	--	--	40	--	--
2022	Wake Forest	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	-3	40	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 35–31

vs Virginia

2 rec · 33 yds

Edged out Virginia at home in a shootout.

With C. Bailey — 200 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 90.0 · 44 rush yds (6 car) · 2 TD · C. Noonkester — 49 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 58 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · East Carolina · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +4.76Wesley Grimes 48 Yd pass from CJ Bailey (Nick Konieczynski Kick)
Week 1 · Memphis · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.22Wesley Grimes 31 Yd pass from CJ Bailey (Kanoah Vinesett Kick)
Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +3.41CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 27 yds to the VT 49 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Virginia Tech · 3&7 · Q4 · EPA +3.15CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 20 yds to the VT 37 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Campbell · 2&19 · Q3 · EPA +2.89CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 27 yds to the CAM 2 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · North Carolina · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.88(10:16) No Huddle-Shotgun #11 C.Bailey pass complete short left to #6 W.Grimes caught at UNC15, for 15 yards to the UNC00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 10:10, 1ST DOWN #94 K.Vinesett kick attempt good (H: #98 C.Noonkester, LS: #95 J.Mann)
Week 1 · East Carolina · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.64CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 46 yds to the ECU 19 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · East Carolina · 2&11 · Q2 · EPA +2.02CJ Bailey pass complete to Wesley Grimes for 15 yds to the NCSU 39 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · North Carolina · 2&5 · Q1 · EPA +1.98(14:35) No Huddle-Shotgun #11 C.Bailey pass complete short right to #6 W.Grimes caught at NCSU44, for 18 yards to the NCSU48 (#29 M.Allen), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · Memphis · 3&7 · Q3 · EPA +1.94(04:41) No Huddle-Shotgun #11 C.Bailey pass complete short left to #6 W.Grimes caught at NC St.39, for 7 yards to the NC St.39 (#1 O.Cooper), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 24-17vs East Carolina	4	121	30.3	1	48	Season-high 121 yds
Wk 2	W 35-31vs Virginia	2	33	16.5	0	21
Wk 3	W 34-24@ Wake Forest	3	19	6.3	0	14
Wk 5	L 21-23vs Virginia Tech	3	36	12.0	0	27
Wk 6	W 56-10vs Campbell	2	34	17.0	0	27
Wk 7	L 7-36@ Notre Dame	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 9	L 34-53@ Pittsburgh	4	45	11.3	0	37
Wk 10	W 48-36vs Georgia Tech	4	49	12.3	0	24
Wk 13	W 21-11vs Florida State	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 14	W 42-19vs North Carolina	5	61	12.2	1	18
Bowl	W 31-7vs Memphis	3	48	16.0	1	31
Total		31	458	14.6	3	48

How he plays

Play style

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

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

NC State

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Wide receiver · NC State

Returning around him

60% of 2024 offensive production back (Solid continuity)
2 NC State players drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -2 net (20 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

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

NC State · Last season: 8-5 · Talent rank #32 · 2026 recruiting class #49

DNA match

Player DNA

Possession Receiver

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

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Latreal Jones’s 2023 season.

Latreal Jones

82%match

Southern Miss · 2023

Javon Ivory

Memphis · 2021

81%

Louis Brown

San Diego State · 2024

81%

Tre Mosley

Michigan State · 2021

80%

AJ Wilson

UTSA · 2025

80%

Matches Latreal on

Total EPA (college ability)

TD rate

Yards / reception

Differs from Latreal on

EPA / play (adj) (higher)

Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Stephon Johnson Jr.’s path through Houston.

Stephon Johnson Jr.

98%match

Houston · 2025

Jermaine Jackson

Idaho · 2023

98%

Dai'Jean Dixon

Nicholls · 2021

97%

JJ Jenkins

Buffalo · 2024

96%

Jalen Kelsey

Campbell · 2022

95%

Matches Stephon on

Height

Yards per reception

Weight

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Keyshawn Smith's senior season at SMU (2023).

Keyshawn Smith

81%match

SMU · 2023

Titus Mokiao-Atimalala

UCLA · 2025

81%

Jadon Jackson

Kansas State · 2023

77%

Mudia Reuben

South Florida · 2025

76%

Beaux Collins

Notre Dame · 2024

74%

Matches Keyshawn on

Total EPA (college ability)

Yards / reception

Height

Player DNA

Players who play like Wesley Grimes

Stephon Johnson Jr.

Houston · 2024

85%

Tory Horton

Colorado State · 2024

84%

Titus Mokiao-Atimalala

UCLA · 2024

82%

Andrew McElroy

Northern Illinois · 2024

78%

Robert Williams

Louisiana · 2025

78%

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

Wesley Grimes

20223 games

202410 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

Players who play like Wesley Grimes