#14

Will Sheppard

Former wide receiver at Colorado. 2024: 48 catches, 621 receiving yards, 6 TD.

WR · Colorado · Sr. · #14

6′3″ · 205 lb · Mandeville, LA

CFB Index 59 · #147 of 466 WRsHigh confidenceColorado 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 905 nationally · Signed with Mandeville

Statement game10 rec · 171 yds · 2 TDat Northern Illinois (FBS) · W 38-28

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

Will Sheppard is like the Race for the Heisman player you make in NCAA Football 06 and just spam pass to himr/CFB game thread · ▲ 5His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Colorado. 2024: 48 catches, 621 receiving yards, 6 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Mandeville in 2020.
Transferred from Vanderbilt to Colorado in 2024.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Colorado, 2,688 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 171 yds at Northern Illinois.Northern Illinois · W 38-282022

20203 games

Recruited3-star out of Mandeville

202212 games

The role got bigger.

All-SECsecond

202413 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#905 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

1 honor

🎖

ALL-SEC · 2ND TEAM

All-SEC 2nd team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2024

3 coaches

2020–2021

Karl Dorrell

Colorado

2022

Mike Sanford Jr.

Colorado

era →

2023–2024

Deion Sanders

Colorado

era →

Played under 3 different head coaches: Karl Dorrell, Mike Sanford Jr., and Deion Sanders. Multi-era developmental context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Vanderbilt0-9HC: Derek Mason · Balanced

2021Vanderbilt2-10HC: Clark Lea · Balanced

2022Vanderbilt5-7HC: Clark Lea · Run-leaning

2023Vanderbilt2-10HC: Clark Lea · Balanced, slow tempo

2024Colorado9-4HC: Deion Sanders · Pass-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

59Quality starter #147 of 466?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (83rd percentile). Strength: rec tds (85th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#102 / 610 · 83rd pct

11.1%

Yards / catch#220 / 610 · 64th pct

12.9

Explosive rate#229 / 610 · 62nd pct

16.7%

Catch rate#330 / 610 · 45th pct

88.9%

EPA / target#361 / 610 · 41st pct

0.80

Box-score rates (6)

Rec TDs#65 / 541 · 85th pct

Receptions#129 / 541 · 76th pct

Rec yards#147 / 541 · 73rd pct

621

Yards / catch#276 / 541 · 49th pct

12.9

Long catch#288 / 541 · 46th pct

Fumbles lost#90 / 221 · 36th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

76th → 41st percentile

Explosive rate

84th → 62nd percentile

Catch rate

41st → 45th percentile

TD rate

86th → 83rd percentile

Yards / catch

79th → 64th 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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.0	37.0	9.8	0.4
Road6g	4.5	60.3	14.4	0.5

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	3.3	47.7	12.9	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	4.2	47.8	10.8	0.7

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Deion Sanders

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

59 · #147 of 466 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #147 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Colorado	48	621	12.9	6	--
2023	Vanderbilt	47	684	14.6	8	--
2022	Vanderbilt	60	776	12.9	9	--
2021	Vanderbilt	43	577	13.4	4	--
2020	Vanderbilt	2	30	15.0	0	--
Career		200	2,688	13.4	27	--

Season	Team
2024	Colorado	--	--	--	--	--
2023	Vanderbilt	--	--	--	89	--
2022	Vanderbilt	--	--	--	42	--
2021	Vanderbilt	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Vanderbilt	--	--	--	--	--
Career		--	--	--	131	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2024

W 31–26

vs North Dakota State

2 rec · 23 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 5 at home.

With S. Sanders — 445 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 81.8 · 17 rush yds (6 car) · J. Horn Jr. — 7 rec · 198 yds · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 5 · UCF · 3&15 · Q1 · EPA +6.23Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 47 yds for a TD (Alejandro Mata KICK)
Week 12 · Utah · 4&5 · Q1 · EPA +5.49Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 40 yds for a TD (Alejandro Mata KICK)
Week 8 · Arizona · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.57Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 16 yds for a TD (Alejandro Mata KICK)
Week 2 · Nebraska · 2&15 · Q2 · EPA +2.47Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 19 yds to the NEB 27 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Oklahoma State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.39Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 27 yds to the OKST 46 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Kansas State · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.24Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 25 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Kansas State · 1&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.20Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 7 yds for a TD (Alejandro Mata KICK)
Week 11 · Texas Tech · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.20Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 19 yds to the TTU 37 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Utah · 1&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.05Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 6 yds for a TD (Alejandro Mata KICK)
Week 7 · Kansas State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.98Shedeur Sanders pass complete to Will Sheppard for 22 yds to the COLO 47 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 31-26vs North Dakota State	2	23	11.5	0	12
Wk 2	L 10-28@ Nebraska	3	59	19.7	0	30
Wk 3	W 28-9@ Colorado State	7	61	8.7	0	22
Wk 4	W 38-31vs Baylor	1	5	5.0	0	5
Wk 5	W 48-21@ UCF	4	99	24.8	1	47	Season-high 99 yds
Wk 7	L 28-31vs Kansas State	5	83	16.6	1	25
Wk 8	W 34-7@ Arizona	4	54	13.5	1	20
Wk 9	W 34-23vs Cincinnati	1	6	6.0	0	6
Wk 11	W 41-27@ Texas Tech	8	79	9.9	1	19
Wk 12	W 49-24vs Utah	5	71	14.2	2	40	2 TD catches
Wk 13	L 21-37@ Kansas	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 14	W 52-0vs Oklahoma State	6	67	11.2	0	27
Bowl	L 14-36vs BYU	1	4	4.0	0	4
Total		48	621	11.9	6	47

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

Will Sheppard

20203 games

202212 games

202413 games

2024 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

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