Zachary Palmer-Smith

Senior running back for UL Monroe. 2025: 660 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 7 catches.

RB · UL Monroe · Sr. · #6

6′0″ · 210 lb · Delran, NJ

CFB Index 50 · #125 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to UL Monroe for 2026

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

Explosive rate: 85th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

660

rushing yards · 2025

4 TD · 5.7 per carry · 7 catches

Swing playSwung UL Monroe from 42% to 72% to win.UL Monroe at Louisiana · 30-27

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for UL Monroe. 2025: 660 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD, 7 catches.

His career, year by year

Zachary Palmer-Smith

RB · UL Monroe · Sr · #6

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. One game to point at: 114 rush yds, 22 rec yds against Louisiana — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025UL Monroe3-9HC: Bryant Vincent · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

50Rotational starter #125 of 326?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: explosive rate (85th percentile). Concern: td rate (15th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#71 / 456 · 85th pct

9.7%

Yards / carry#125 / 456 · 73rd pct

5.7

EPA / carry#226 / 456 · 51st pct

0.12

Success rate#277 / 456 · 39th pct

41.6%

TD rate#389 / 456 · 15th pct

0.9%

Box-score rates (7)

Yards / carry#68 / 349 · 79th pct

5.7

Rush yards#101 / 349 · 71st pct

660

Long run#116 / 349 · 66th pct

Carries#127 / 349 · 64th pct

115

Rush TDs#153 / 349 · 50th pct

Receptions#240 / 338 · 27th pct

Rec yards#250 / 338 · 26th pct

Season trend

EPA / carry— first qualifying season

Success rate— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Yards / carry— first qualifying season

TD rate— 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 · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

113 carries

21%

Stuffed (≤0)

31%

Grind (1–3)

30%

Chunk (4–9)

18%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home5g	58.8	5.9	0.2
Road7g	52.3	4.4	0.4

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	27.7	4.0	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	82.3	6.1	0.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bryant Vincent

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

50 · #125 of 326 RBs

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-Sun Belt

Based on 2025: #10 of 36 Sun Belt RBs

How the All-Sun Belt estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. 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	UL Monroe	115	660	5.7	4	--
Career		115	660	5.7	4	--

Season	Team
2025	UL Monroe	7	47	6.7	0	--
Career		7	47	6.7	0	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2025

W 29–0

vs Saint Francis

21 rush yds (6 car)

Dominant 29-point win at home against Saint Francis.

With B. McReynolds — 113 rush yds (11 car) · M. Ryan — 48 AVG · 51 LONG · 2 NO

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 5 · Arkansas State · 3&10 · Q4 · EPA +4.43Zach Palmer-Smith run for 56 yds to the ARST 31 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Southern Miss · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +3.37(02:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush right for 21 yards gain to the USM00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:47, 1ST DOWN #98 J.Chambliss kick attempt good (H: #33 A.Wells, LS: #48 N.Wilson)
Week 13 · Texas State · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.25(11:17) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush left for 29 yards gain to the TXST36 (#7 R.Nolan), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 9 · Southern Miss · 1&15 · Q4 · EPA +2.90(12:54) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush middle for 29 yards gain to the ULM49 (#33 A.Sledge; #41 A.Foster), 1ST DOWN. #53 J.Harper injured on the play
Week 10 · Old Dominion · 4&1 · Q2 · EPA -2.89(11:42) Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush middle for 0 yards to the ODU31 (#34 J.Culbreath; #12 J.Carter), TURNOVER ON DOWNS
Week 13 · Texas State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.86(07:21) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush middle for 14 yards gain to the TXST00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 07:15, 1ST DOWN #98 J.Chambliss kick attempt good (H: #33 A.Wells, LS: #48 N.Wilson)
Week 8 · Troy · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.46Zach Palmer-Smith run for 28 yds to the TROY 47 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Southern Miss · 2&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.41(12:23) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 Z.Palmer-Smith rush left for 27 yards gain to the USM33 (#1 J.Moten; #41 A.Foster), 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Louisiana · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.27(14:12) Shotgun #10 A.Armenta pass complete short left to #6 Z.Palmer-Smith caught at ULM37, for 13 yards to the ULM50 (#8 K.Jackson), 1ST DOWN
Week 2 · Alabama · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA -2.24Zach Palmer-Smith run for a loss of 6 yards to the 50 yard line

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 29-0vs Saint Francis	6	21	3.5	0	11
Wk 2	L 0-73@ Alabama	4	8	2.0	0	7
Wk 4	W 31-25@ UTEP	6	12	2.0	0	5
Wk 5	W 28-16vs Arkansas State	8	84	10.5	1	56
Wk 6	L 7-42@ Northwestern	3	4	1.3	0	3
Wk 7	L 8-23@ Coastal Carolina	8	37	4.6	0	20
Wk 8	L 14-37vs Troy	10	78	7.8	0	28
Wk 9	L 21-49@ Southern Miss	11	111	10.1	1	29
Wk 10	L 6-31vs Old Dominion	18	96	5.3	0	20
Wk 12	L 14-26vs South Alabama	6	15	2.5	0	8
Wk 13	L 14-31@ Texas State	15	80	5.3	1	29
Wk 14	L 27-30@ Louisiana	20	114	5.7	1	22	Season-high 114 yds
Total		115	660	5.0	4	56

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

113Carries

639Yards

26.4%Top-5 share

21.2%Stuffed rate

Just 26.4% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 21.2% of his carries. 3 carries for 4 yds vs Northwestern; 11 for 111 vs Southern Miss.

2026 Outlook

UL Monroe

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · UL Monroe

Returning around him