#87

Donovan Brown

Freshman wide receiver for Syracuse. 2023: 27 catches, 321 receiving yards, 1 TD.

WR · Syracuse · Fr. · #87

6′1″ · 178 lb · Montgomery Village, MD

CFB Index 37 · #351 of 497 WRsHigh confidenceSyracuse 2023 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1659 nationally · Signed with Syracuse

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

1 wide receiver for Syracuse. 2023: 27 catches, 321 receiving yards, 1 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Syracuse in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Two seasons at Syracuse, 321 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

The week the volume broke through — put up 89 yds vs Western Michigan.Western Michigan · W 48-72023

2022

Signed with Syracuse3-star out of Quince Orchard

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1659 national

CFB

College

Syracuse

2022–2023

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2022–2023

2 coaches

2022

Dino Babers

Syracuse

2023

Nunzio Campanile

Syracuse

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Dino Babers → Nunzio Campanile. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

2023 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Syracuse7-6HC: Dino Babers · Run-leaning, slow tempo

2023Syracuse6-7HC: Nunzio Campanile · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

37Below cohort / limited sample #351 of 497?

High confidence12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: long catch (98th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (15th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#267 / 639 · 58th pct

12.9

EPA / target#418 / 639 · 35th pct

0.61

Catch rate#453 / 639 · 28th pct

75.0%

TD rate#461 / 639 · 28th pct

3.1%

Explosive rate#543 / 639 · 15th pct

6.2%

Box-score rates (7)

Long catch#9 / 566 · 98th pct

Receptions#316 / 566 · 43rd pct

Rush TDs#54 / 294 · 41st pct

Rec yards#351 / 566 · 38th pct

321

Yards / catch#365 / 566 · 35th pct

11.9

Rec TDs#375 / 566 · 23rd pct

Rush yards#271 / 294 · 7th pct

-3

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 · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.8	38.8	13.6	0.2
Road5g	2.0	17.6	7.6	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-78g	3.0	38.8	12.8	0.1
Weeks 8+3g	1.0	3.7	4.5	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Fran Brown

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

37 · #351 of 497 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #351 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2023	Syracuse	27	321	11.9	1	--
2022	Syracuse	--	--	--	--	--
Career		27	321	11.9	1	--

Season	Team
2023	Syracuse	1	-3	--	39	--
2022	Syracuse	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	-3	--	39	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2023

W 65–0

vs Colgate

5 rec · 65 yds

Dominant 65-point win at home against Colgate.

With G. Shrader — 257 yds · 4 TD · 1 INT · QBR 69.8 · 40 rush yds (8 car) · C. Del Rio-Wilson — 149 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 96.3 · 2 rush yds (1 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 2 · Western Michigan · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.66G.Shrader pass complete to SYR 14. Catch made by D.Brown at SYR 14. Gain of 86 yards. D.Brown for 86 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Week 3 · Purdue · 3&11 · Q3 · EPA +3.33Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 26 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Army · 3&4 · Q3 · EPA +2.34Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 14 yds to the SYR 45 for a 1ST down
Week 5 · Clemson · 3&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.08Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 12 yds to the SYR 37 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · North Carolina · 2&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.83Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 13 yds to the SYR 38 for a 1ST down
Week 3 · Purdue · 2&9 · Q1 · EPA +1.52Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 13 yds to the SYR 34 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Colgate · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +1.28Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 14 yds to the SYR 27 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Colgate · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.19Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 13 yds to the COLG 49 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Colgate · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +1.09Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 15 yds to the COLG 25 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Army · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +0.97Garrett Shrader pass complete to Donovan Brown for 13 yds to the ARMY 28 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2023 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 65-0vs Colgate	5	65	13.0	0	15
Wk 2	W 48-7vs Western Michigan	3	89	29.7	1	86	Season-high 89 yds
Wk 3	W 35-20@ Purdue	4	52	13.0	0	26
Wk 4	W 29-16vs Army	3	33	11.0	0	14
Wk 5	L 14-31vs Clemson	4	34	8.5	0	12
Wk 6	L 7-40@ North Carolina	3	25	8.3	0	13
Wk 7	L 3-41@ Florida State	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 9	L 10-38@ Virginia Tech	1	7	7.0	0	7
Wk 10	L 10-17vs Boston College	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 12	L 22-31@ Georgia Tech	2	4	2.0	0	2
Bowl	L 0-45vs South Florida	2	12	6.0	0	10
Total		27	321	10.9	1	86

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

Donovan Brown

2022

2023 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Possession Receiver