#15

Cole Tucker

Senior wide receiver for Northern Illinois. 2022: 46 catches, 630 receiving yards, 4 TD.

WR · Northern Illinois · Sr. · #15

6′2″ · 195 lb · DeKalb, IL

CFB Index 58 · #144 of 488 WRsHigh confidenceNorthern Illinois 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1600 nationally · Signed with Northern Illinois

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for Northern Illinois. 2022: 46 catches, 630 receiving yards, 4 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Northern Illinois in 2017.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Northern Illinois, 1,998 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 123 yds at Tulsa.Tulsa · L 35-382022

2017

Signed with Northern Illinois3-star out of DeKalb

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1600 national

CFB

College

Northern Illinois

2018–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2018–2022

2 coaches

2018

Rod Carey

Northern Illinois

2019–2022

Thomas Hammock

Northern Illinois

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Rod Carey → Thomas Hammock. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2018Northern Illinois8-6HC: Rod Carey · Run-leaning

2019Northern Illinois5-7HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

2020Northern Illinois0-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Balanced

2021Northern Illinois9-5HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2022Northern Illinois3-9HC: Thomas Hammock · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

58Quality starter #144 of 488?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: long catch (84th percentile). Concern: catch rate (13th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#178 / 636 · 72nd pct

14.0

TD rate#344 / 636 · 46th pct

5.8%

Explosive rate#369 / 636 · 42nd pct

11.6%

EPA / target#379 / 636 · 40th pct

0.60

Catch rate#552 / 636 · 13th pct

65.2%

Box-score rates (5)

Long catch#84 / 550 · 84th pct

Rec yards#138 / 550 · 75th pct

630

Receptions#146 / 550 · 73rd pct

Rec TDs#155 / 550 · 66th pct

Yards / catch#230 / 550 · 58th pct

13.7

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

79th → 40th percentile

Explosive rate

36th → 42nd percentile

Catch rate

25th → 13th percentile

TD rate

45th → 46th percentile

Yards / catch

69th → 72nd 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

2022 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	3.6	51.2	13.4	0.4
Road6g	4.7	62.3	13.3	0.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	5.0	76.3	15.9	0.4
Weeks 8+4g	2.8	24.0	8.9	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Rob Harley

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

58 · #144 of 488 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #144 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Northern Illinois	46	630	13.7	4	--
2021	Northern Illinois	41	575	14.0	3	--
2020	Northern Illinois	11	106	9.6	2	--
2019	Northern Illinois	38	531	14.0	1	--
2018	Northern Illinois	18	156	8.7	0	--
Career		154	1,998	13.0	10	--

Season	Team
2022	Northern Illinois	--	--	--	10	--
2021	Northern Illinois	--	--	--	9	--
2020	Northern Illinois	--	--	25	8	--
2019	Northern Illinois	--	--	17	60	--
2018	Northern Illinois	--	--	--	69	--
Career		--	--	42	156	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 34–27

vs Eastern Illinois

4 rec · 67 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 7 at home.

With R. Lombardi — 192 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 67.2 · H. Waylee — 83 rush yds (14 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 3 · Vanderbilt · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +6.74Ethan Hampton pass complete to Cole Tucker for 70 yds for a TD, (John Richardson KICK)
Week 2 · Tulsa · 3&4 · Q4 · EPA +3.69Rocky Lombardi pass complete to Cole Tucker for 33 yds for a TD, (John Richardson KICK)
Week 1 · Eastern Illinois · 2&25 · Q3 · EPA +3.47Rocky Lombardi pass complete to Cole Tucker for 29 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Tulsa · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +3.08Rocky Lombardi pass complete to Cole Tucker for 28 yds to the NoIll 49 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Western Michigan · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +3.04Nevan Cremascoli pass complete to Cole Tucker for 16 yds for a TD, (John Richardson KICK)
Week 7 · Eastern Michigan · 3&11 · Q1 · EPA +2.54Rocky Lombardi pass complete to Cole Tucker for 14 yds to the NoIll 42 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Kentucky · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +2.51Ethan Hampton pass complete to Cole Tucker for 16 yds to the NoIll 42 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Western Michigan · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +2.39Nevan Cremascoli pass complete to Cole Tucker for 11 yds to the NoIll 43 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Eastern Michigan · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.24Rocky Lombardi pass complete to Cole Tucker for 12 yds to the NoIll 41 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Ball State · 2&11 · Q3 · EPA +2.22Ethan Hampton pass complete to Cole Tucker for 16 yds to the BalSt 35 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 34-27vs Eastern Illinois	4	67	16.8	0	29
Wk 2	L 35-38@ Tulsa	7	123	17.6	1	33	Season-high 123 yds
Wk 3	L 28-38vs Vanderbilt	4	88	22.0	2	70	2 TD catches
Wk 4	L 23-31@ Kentucky	3	55	18.3	0	20
Wk 5	L 38-44@ Ball State	8	87	10.9	0	22
Wk 6	L 32-52vs Toledo	4	56	14.0	0	25
Wk 7	W 39-10@ Eastern Michigan	5	58	11.6	0	14
Wk 8	L 17-24@ Ohio	3	24	8.0	0	10
Wk 10	L 22-35vs Central Michigan	2	12	6.0	0	12
Wk 11	W 24-21@ Western Michigan	2	27	13.5	1	16
Wk 13	L 12-44vs Akron	4	33	8.3	0	23
Total		46	630	13.4	4	70

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

Cole Tucker

2017

2022 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Slot Technician

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