#10

Zahir Abdus-Salaam

Former running back at Western Michigan. 2024: 600 rushing yards, 3 rushing TD, 31 catches.

RB · Western Michigan · Sr. · #10

5′9″ · 195 lb · Newark, NJ

CFB Index 50 · #125 of 310 RBsHigh confidenceWestern Michigan 2024 — college career complete

Recruiting

3★

RB recruit

No. 2057 nationally · Signed with Western Michigan

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former running back at Western Michigan. 2024: 600 rushing yards, 3 rushing TD, 31 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Western Michigan in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Western Michigan, 1,260 rushing yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 4 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

20217 games

Signed with Western Michigan3-star out of Union City

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#2057 national

CFB

College

Western Michigan

2021–2024

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2021–2024

2 coaches

2021–2022

Tim Lester

Western Michigan

2023–2024

Lance Taylor

Western Michigan

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Tim Lester → Lance Taylor. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2024 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2021Western Michigan8-5HC: Tim Lester · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Western Michigan5-7HC: Tim Lester · Run-leaning

2023Western Michigan4-8HC: Lance Taylor · Run-leaning

2024Western Michigan6-7HC: Lance Taylor · Run-leaning, slow tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

50Rotational starter #125 of 310?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (93rd percentile). Strength: rec yards (90th percentile). Concern: epa / carry (24th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Success rate#160 / 442 · 64th pct

47.6%

Yards / carry#186 / 442 · 58th pct

5.4

Explosive rate#244 / 442 · 45th pct

6.3%

TD rate#331 / 442 · 25th pct

2.7%

EPA / carry#336 / 442 · 24th pct

0.06

Box-score rates (7)

Receptions#23 / 330 · 93rd pct

Rec yards#32 / 330 · 90th pct

250

Long run#59 / 335 · 82nd pct

Yards / carry#115 / 335 · 63rd pct

5.3

Rush yards#126 / 335 · 62nd pct

600

Carries#143 / 335 · 57th pct

113

Rush TDs#186 / 335 · 38th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

33rd → 24th percentile

Success rate

21st → 64th percentile

Explosive rate

13th → 45th percentile

Yards / carry

7th → 58th percentile

TD rate

46th → 25th 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 · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

111 carries

11%

Stuffed (≤0)

32%

Grind (1–3)

44%

Chunk (4–9)

13%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2024 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home6g	73.2	7.4	0.5
Road7g	23.0	3.1	0.0

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	43.9	4.1	0.3
Weeks 8+6g	48.8	6.3	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Lance Taylor

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

Awards

Player standing · 2024

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

50 · #125 of 310 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #125 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2024	Western Michigan	113	600	5.3	3	--
2023	Western Michigan	123	470	3.8	5	--
2022	Western Michigan	46	100	2.2	0	--
2021	Western Michigan	20	90	4.5	0	--
Career		302	1,260	4.2	8	--

Season	Team
2024	Western Michigan	31	250	8.1	1	--
2023	Western Michigan	14	57	4.1	0	--
2022	Western Michigan	1	-2	-2.0	0	--
2021	Western Michigan	--	--	--	--	--
Career		46	305	6.6	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 3 · 2024

W 59–31

vs Bethune-Cookman

104 rush yds (18 car) · 2 TD

Dominant 28-point win at home against Bethune-Cookman.

With H. Wolff — 305 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · QBR 87.1 · -2 rush yds (2 car) · J. Nixon — 189 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 9 · Kent State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +4.43Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 70 yds to the KENT 10 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Akron · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +3.05Hayden Wolff pass complete to Zahir Abdus-Salaam for 22 yds to the AKR 48 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Buffalo · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +2.97Hayden Wolff pass complete to Zahir Abdus-Salaam for 21 yds to the WMU 46 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Central Michigan · 2&18 · Q4 · EPA +2.67Hayden Wolff pass complete to Zahir Abdus-Salaam for 17 yds to the CMU 38
Week 3 · Bethune-Cookman · 3&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.61Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 8 yds for a TD (Luka Zurak KICK)
Week 7 · Akron · 3&11 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 17 yds to the WMU 41 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Bethune-Cookman · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.23Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 13 yds to the BCU 45 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Akron · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +1.93Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 11 yds to the WMU 35 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Bethune-Cookman · 2&1 · Q3 · EPA +1.90Zahir Abdus-Salaam run for 1 yd for a TD Western Michigan Penalty, Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Yards) to the BCU 0 (Luka Zurak KICK)
Week 1 · South Alabama · 2&9 · Q1 · EPA +1.88Hayden Wolff pass complete to Zahir Abdus-Salaam for 11 yds to the WMU 43 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2024 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 14-28@ Wisconsin	5	22	4.4	0	9
Wk 2	L 0-56@ Ohio State	4	8	2.0	0	4
Wk 3	W 59-31vs Bethune-Cookman	18	104	5.8	2	23
Wk 5	L 20-27@ Marshall	16	46	2.9	0	7
Wk 6	W 45-42@ Ball State	10	45	4.5	0	17
Wk 7	W 34-24vs Akron	9	49	5.4	0	17
Wk 8	W 48-41@ Buffalo	5	22	4.4	0	7
Wk 9	W 52-21vs Kent State	6	83	13.8	0	70
Wk 11	L 28-42vs Northern Illinois	4	35	8.8	0	19
Wk 12	L 13-31@ Bowling Green	6	16	2.7	0	7
Wk 13	L 14-16@ Central Michigan	2	2	1.0	0	4
Wk 14	W 26-18vs Eastern Michigan	19	135	7.1	1	22	Season-high 135 yds
Bowl	L 23-30vs South Alabama	9	33	3.7	0	12
Total		113	600	5.1	3	70

How he plays

Play style

Deployed as a receiver as much as a runner. Value is in space, not between the tackles.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Steady, not spectacular

~ our read

111Carries

602Yards

25.9%Top-5 share

10.8%Stuffed rate

Just 25.9% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — remarkably even — and he's stuffed on 10.8% of his carries. 2 carries for 2 yds vs Central Michigan; 19 for 135 vs Eastern Michigan.

Closer · Q4-with-lead carry share

The closer

~ our read

25.0%Carry share

24.3%Q4-lead share

88.2%In competitive games

25.0% of carries overall (111/444) → 24.3% of Q4-with-lead carries (17/70) — 88.2% of those in competitive (≤16-pt) games.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

4/29Inside-5 share

4 of the team's 29 inside-the-5 carries (13.8%).