Darrell Harding Jr.

Senior wide receiver for Buffalo. 2023: 23 catches, 451 receiving yards, 3 TD.

WR · Buffalo · Sr. · #3

6′4″ · 222 lb · Winter Garden, FL

CFB Index 44 · #262 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceBuffalo 2023 alumnus

The story

4 wide receiver for Buffalo. 2023: 23 catches, 451 receiving yards, 3 TD.

The record fills in as he plays.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at Buffalo, 886 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 62 yds vs Eastern Michigan.Eastern Michigan · L 11-242023

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

2 teams

2019–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2019–2023

2 coaches

2019–2020

Lance Leipold

Buffalo

2021–2023

Maurice Linguist

Buffalo

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Lance Leipold → Maurice Linguist. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2019Duke5-7HC: David Cutcliffe · Run-leaning

2020Duke2-9HC: David Cutcliffe · Balanced

2021Duke3-9HC: David Cutcliffe · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2022Duke9-4HC: Mike Elko · Run-leaning

2023Buffalo3-9HC: Maurice Linguist · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

44Rotational starter #262 of 497?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (98th percentile). Strength: explosive rate (98th percentile). Concern: catch rate (19th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#12 / 639 · 98th pct

20.2

Explosive rate#12 / 639 · 98th pct

32.3%

EPA / target#52 / 639 · 92nd pct

1.25

TD rate#140 / 639 · 78th pct

9.7%

Catch rate#519 / 639 · 19th pct

71.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#20 / 566 · 96th pct

19.6

Long catch#221 / 566 · 60th pct

Rec yards#232 / 566 · 59th pct

451

Rec TDs#204 / 566 · 59th pct

Receptions#366 / 566 · 34th pct

Season trend

EPA / target— first qualifying season

Explosive rate— first qualifying season

Catch rate— first qualifying season

TD rate— first qualifying season

Yards / catch— 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).

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2023 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.2	46.3	24.9	0.5
Road6g	1.7	28.8	20.7	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	2.0	34.1	18.9	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	1.8	42.4	28.2	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pete Lembo

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

44 · #262 of 497 WRs

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Buffalo	23	451	19.6	3	--
2022	Duke	3	21	7.0	0	--
2021	Duke	12	141	11.8	0	--
2020	Duke	11	143	13.0	0	--
2019	Duke	8	130	16.2	0	--
Career		57	886	15.5	3	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 6 · 2023

W 37–13

vs Central Michigan

3 rec · 51 yds

Dominant 24-point win at home against Central Michigan.

With C. Snyder — 232 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 41.7 · 20 rush yds (6 car) · A. Venneri — 40 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 48 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Wisconsin · 3&4 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 51 yds to the WIS 8 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Miami (OH) · 4&4 · Q3 · EPA +3.49Tadd Barr pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 27 yds to the M-OH 22 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Ohio · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.41Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 52 yds to the OHIO 23 for a 1ST down
Week 13 · Eastern Michigan · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.03Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 37 yds to the EMU 43 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Liberty · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.92Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 20 yds to the BUFF 48 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Liberty · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.80Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 21 yds to the LIB 41 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Liberty · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.79Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 7 yds for a TD (Alex McNulty KICK)
Week 7 · Bowling Green · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +2.68CJ Ogbonna pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 24 yds for a TD (Alex McNulty KICK)
Week 2 · Fordham · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.56C.Snyder pass complete to FOR 15. Catch made by D.Harding at FOR 15. Gain of 15 yards. D.Harding for 15 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Week 7 · Bowling Green · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +2.45Cole Snyder pass complete to Darrell Harding Jr. for 15 yds to the BGSU 39 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	L 17-38@ Wisconsin	1	51	51.0	0	51
Wk 2	L 37-40vs Fordham	1	15	15.0	1	15
Wk 3	L 27-55vs Liberty	4	59	14.8	1	21
Wk 4	L 38-45@ Louisiana	2	18	9.0	0	12
Wk 5	W 13-10@ Akron	1	6	6.0	0	6
Wk 6	W 37-13vs Central Michigan	3	51	17.0	0	24
Wk 7	L 14-24vs Bowling Green	2	39	19.5	1	24
Wk 8	W 24-6@ Kent State	3	27	9.0	0	16
Wk 10	L 13-31@ Toledo	2	44	22.0	0	32
Wk 11	L 10-20vs Ohio	1	52	52.0	0	52
Wk 12	L 10-23@ Miami (OH)	1	27	27.0	0	27
Wk 13	L 11-24vs Eastern Michigan	2	62	31.0	0	37	Season-high 62 yds
Total		23	451	22.8	3	52

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

Darrell Harding Jr.

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver

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