Braden Smith

Former wide receiver at Cincinnati. 2023: 43 catches, 557 receiving yards, 4 TD.

WR · Cincinnati · Sr.

5′10″ · 185 lb · Flowood, MS

CFB Index 53 · #184 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceIndianapolis — drafted 2018, Rd 2, Pick 5, #37 overall

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 107 nationally · Joined Louisville

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Cincinnati. 2023: 43 catches, 557 receiving yards, 4 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Louisville in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Cincinnati, 1,210 receiving yards — drafted at #37 overall by Indianapolis.

His career

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

The week the volume broke through — put up 114 yds vs UCF.UCF · L 26-282023

202011 games

Signed with Louisville3-star out of Northwest Mississippi C.C.

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#107 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2020–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted (yet)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2023

2 coaches

2020–2022

Luke Fickell

Cincinnati

2023

Scott Satterfield

Cincinnati

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Luke Fickell → Scott Satterfield. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

IndianapolisEntering 9th NFL season

#37Rd 2 · Pick 5

IndianapolisEntering 9th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Louisville4-7HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning

2021Louisville6-7HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Louisville8-5HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning

2023Cincinnati3-9HC: Scott Satterfield · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

53Rotational starter #184 of 497?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: fumbles lost (6th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / target#182 / 639 · 72nd pct

0.94

TD rate#216 / 639 · 66th pct

8.0%

Explosive rate#237 / 639 · 63rd pct

16.0%

Catch rate#252 / 639 · 61st pct

86.0%

Yards / catch#265 / 639 · 59th pct

13.0

Box-score rates (8)

Receptions#156 / 566 · 72nd pct

Rec TDs#146 / 566 · 69th pct

Rec yards#176 / 566 · 69th pct

557

Yards / catch#278 / 566 · 50th pct

13.0

Long catch#276 / 566 · 50th pct

Rush TDs#54 / 294 · 41st pct

Rush yards#241 / 294 · 16th pct

Fumbles lost#203 / 227 · 6th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

24th → 72nd percentile

Explosive rate

7th → 63rd percentile

Catch rate

18th → 61st percentile

TD rate

7th → 66th percentile

Yards / catch

18th → 59th 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

2023 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.6	47.0	14.9	0.3
Road5g	3.6	45.6	11.5	0.4

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.7	51.2	17.0	0.5
Weeks 8+6g	3.5	41.7	10.0	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Scott Satterfield

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

Awards

Player standing · 2023

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

53 · #184 of 497 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #184 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Cincinnati	43	557	13.0	4	--
2022	Louisville	21	215	10.2	1	--
2021	Louisville	11	68	6.2	1	--
2020	Louisville	27	370	13.7	0	--
Career		102	1,210	11.9	6	--

Season	Team
2023	Cincinnati	2	--	21	36	--
2022	Louisville	--	6	--	141	--
2021	Louisville	1	3	--	60	1
2020	Louisville	--	--	81	--	--
Career		3	9	102	237	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2023

W 66–13

vs Eastern Kentucky

4 rec · 72 yds · 1 TD

Dominant 53-point win at home against Eastern Kentucky.

With E. Jones — 345 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 96.6 · 26 rush yds (9 car) · 2 TD · X. Henderson — 7 rec · 149 yds · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Eastern Kentucky · 3&15 · Q2 · EPA +6.30Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 48 yds for a TD (Carter Brown KICK)
Week 5 · BYU · 3&12 · Q4 · EPA +4.44Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 31 yds for a TD (Carter Brown KICK)
Week 3 · Miami (OH) · 3&4 · Q4 · EPA +3.38Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 37 yds to the M-OH 48 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Pittsburgh · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.96Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 21 yds for a TD (Carter Brown KICK)
Week 10 · UCF · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.52Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 11 yds for a TD (Carter Brown KICK)
Week 2 · Pittsburgh · 2&9 · Q1 · EPA +2.43Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 20 yds to the CIN 45 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Baylor · 4&4 · Q1 · EPA +2.18Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 7 yds to the BAY 29 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · BYU · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.95Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 23 yds to the BYU 42 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · BYU · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +1.94Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 5 yds to the CIN 46 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Oklahoma State · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +1.87Emory Jones pass complete to Braden Smith for 13 yds to the OKST 48 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 66-13vs Eastern Kentucky	4	72	18.0	1	48
Wk 2	W 27-21@ Pittsburgh	5	59	11.8	1	21
Wk 3	L 24-31vs Miami (OH)	1	37	37.0	0	37
Wk 4	L 6-20vs Oklahoma	3	30	10.0	0	14
Wk 5	L 27-35@ BYU	4	72	18.0	1	31
Wk 7	L 10-30vs Iowa State	5	37	7.4	0	19
Wk 8	L 29-32vs Baylor	3	24	8.0	0	17
Wk 9	L 13-45@ Oklahoma State	2	24	12.0	0	13
Wk 10	L 26-28vs UCF	6	114	19.0	1	37	Season-high 114 yds
Wk 11	W 24-14@ Houston	5	69	13.8	0	19
Wk 12	L 21-42@ West Virginia	2	4	2.0	0	5
Wk 13	L 16-49vs Kansas	3	15	5.0	0	8
Total		43	557	13.5	4	48

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