Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | L 21-66@ Florida | 7 | 73 | 10.4 | 0 | 25 | |
| Wk 2 | W 38-30vs Navy | 8 | 179 | 22.4 | 2 | 76 | Season-high 179 yds |
| Wk 3 | W 16-10vs Florida International | 7 | 83 | 11.9 | 0 | 38 | |
| Total | 22 | 335 | 14.9 | 2 | 76 |
#8
Easton Messer
Senior wide receiver for Florida Atlantic. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
5′9″ · 190 lb · Louisville, KY · Christian Academy of Louisville
CFB Index 88 · #10 of 485 WRsHigh confidence
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
335
receiving yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Backed by 15 rec · 87 yds -- top 0.1% catches game. -- Best game: 8 rec, 179 yds, 2 TD, vs Navy
The play that turned itSwung Florida Atlantic from 10% to 41% to win.UConn at Florida Atlantic · 48-45
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Senior wide receiver for Florida Atlantic. 2026: 3 games with a box-score line.
- Signed as a 2-star recruit to Western Kentucky in 2022.
- Transferred from Western Kentucky to Florida Atlantic in 2025.
How he plays
Wins underneath on volume and route precision.
Yards / catch: 72nd percentile.
The full scouting readEaston Messer
Wins underneath on volume and route precision. Across five seasons and two programs, two head coaches: Tyson Helton and Zach Kittley. Three straight seasons of it now: All-AAC again in 2025. One game to point at: 179 rec yds, 8 receptions against Navy — Week 2, 2026.
335 REC YDS · 22 REC · 2 REC TD
Low coverage — composed from the verified record.
- season totals
- positional archetype classification
- head-coach lineage
- recognition record
- game log
His career
Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.
The week the volume broke through — put up 133 yds at Tulane.Tulane · L 24-352025
2022
- Signed with Western Kentucky2-star out of Christian Academy Of Louisville
202312 games
The role got bigger.
- All-Conference USAhonorable_mention
202414 games
- All-Conference USAhonorable_mention
202512 games
- Entered the portal
- All-AACsecond
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-AAC · 2ND TEAM
All-AAC 2nd team (2025)
Badges
- Program Benchmark
Coaching lineage · 2022–2026
4 coaches2022
Florida Atlantic
2025–2026era →
Zach Kittley
Florida Atlantic
Played under 4 different head coaches: Willie Taggart, Tom Herman, Chad Lunsford, and Zach Kittley. Multi-era developmental context.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Florida Atlantic | 22 | 335 | 15.2 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Florida Atlantic | 100 | 1,029 | 10.3 | 6 | -- |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | 55 | 793 | 14.4 | 4 | -- |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 42 | 484 | 11.5 | 4 | -- |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | 1 | 44 | 44.0 | 1 | -- |
| Career | 220 | 2,685 | 12.2 | 17 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Florida Atlantic | -- | -- | -- | 30 | -- |
| 2025 | Florida Atlantic | 3 | 51 | 3 | 250 | -- |
| 2024 | Western Kentucky | 8 | 39 | 435 | -- | -- |
| 2023 | Western Kentucky | 2 | 16 | 333 | -- | -- |
| 2022 | Western Kentucky | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Career | 13 | 106 | 771 | 280 | -- |
Game log
Game by game
Easton Messer's 2026 production
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 38–30
vs Navy
8 rec · 179 yds · 2 TD
Edged out Navy at home in a shootout.
With C. Veltkamp — 386 yds · 5 TD · 0 INT · QBR 83.4 · -22 rush yds (5 car) · K. Valsin — 8 rec · 115 yds · 1 TD
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 2 · Navy · 2&11 · Q1 · EPA +6.88(14:25) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep middle to #8 E.Messer caught at Navy35, for 76 yards to the Navy00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:18, 1ST DOWN #41 C.Rogers kick attempt good (H: #91 R.Chandley, LS: #54 W.Adkinson)
- Week 3 · Florida International · 2&8 · Q3 · EPA +3.17(05:38) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep left to #8 E.Messer caught at FIU28, for 38 yards to the FIU25 (#6 L.Johnson), 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Navy · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.01(07:01) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep middle to #8 E.Messer caught at Navy08, for 36 yards to the Navy00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 06:59, 1ST DOWN #41 C.Rogers kick attempt good (H: #91 R.Chandley, LS: #54 W.Adkinson)
- Week 1 · Florida · 4&1 · Q3 · EPA +2.69(02:54) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short right to #8 E.Messer caught at FLA42, for 12 yards to the FLA36 (#10 C.Dooley), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Florida · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.65(08:48) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep right to #8 E.Messer caught at FLA23, for 25 yards to the FLA23, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Florida International · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +1.99(08:06) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short left to #8 E.Messer caught at FAU38, for 13 yards to the FIU46 (#6 L.Johnson; #22 B.Littlejohn), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Navy · 2&1 · Q1 · EPA +1.53(07:23) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete deep middle to #8 E.Messer caught at Navy40, for 27 yards to the Navy36 (#8 A.Rose), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Florida · 3&1 · Q2 · EPA +1.50(00:19) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short left to #8 E.Messer caught at FAU40, for 7 yards to the FAU43 (#1 B.Thornton), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
- Week 2 · Navy · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +1.33(07:43) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short right to #8 E.Messer caught at Navy45, for 9 yards to the Navy39 (#47 H.Beacham), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Florida · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.32(01:02) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 C.Veltkamp pass complete short middle to #8 E.Messer caught at FLA44, for 18 yards to the FLA39 (#10 C.Dooley), 1ST DOWN
2026 snapshot
Since week 2: +83 receiving yards, +7 catches.
Season context · Team result + system
2022Western Kentucky9-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2023Western Kentucky8-5HC: Tyson Helton · Pass-leaning
2024Western Kentucky8-6HC: Tyson Helton · Balanced
2025Florida Atlantic4-8HC: Zach Kittley · Pass-heavy, fast tempo
2026Florida Atlantic2-1HC: Zach Kittley · Balanced, fast tempo
Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
High confidence
Elite: long catch (98th percentile). Strength: rec yards (95th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Box-score rates (5)
Season trend
Last seasonThis season
EPA / target
55th → 56th percentile
Explosive rate
67th → 65th percentile
Catch rate
78th → 50th percentile
TD rate
37th → 50th percentile
Yards / catch
40th → 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).
Receiving profile
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
22 of 22 receptions matched to play-by-play
33 of 33 targets charted for true throw depth
Targets
3328% of team targetsCatch rate
67%22 of 33 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
24% of targets (8)
100%catch rate
Air -3.1 · YAC 8.5 avg
Short · 0–9 air yds
42% of targets (14)
50%catch rate
Air 3.2 · YAC 4.4 avg
Middle · 10–19 air yds
15% of targets (5)
40%catch rate
Air 13.6 · YAC 2.5 avg
Deep · 20+ air yds
18% of targets (6)
83%catch rate
Air 31.8 · YAC 10.0 avg
67% catch rate on 33 targets · 28% of the team's targets · 83% catch rate on 6 deep targets (20+ air yds).
Splits & context
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home2g | 7.5 | 131 | 17.1 | 1.0 |
| Road1g | 7.0 | 73.0 | 10.4 | 0.0 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 7.3 | 112 | 14.9 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Zach Kittley
Pass share
52.6%
122 pass / 110 run
Plays / game
77.3
3 games
Team sack rate
5.7%
140 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-AAC
Based on 2025: #2 of 51 American Athletic WRs
How the All-AAC estimate is computed
49% estimated, 95% confidence interval 43–54%. Base rate measured from players who finished at a comparable rank in their conference and came back the next season. It is an estimate from a small sample, not a forecast of this player.
One of 52 players who were elite at two different things in 2025. See the others ›
How he plays
Play style
Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.
CFB Index positional classification
Starter
The No. 2,977 recruit in the country is starting at receiver in the American Athletic as a senior.
DNA match
Player DNA
Slot Technician
Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.
WR
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Austin Duke’s 2016 season.
Matches Austin on
Height
TD rate
Yards / reception
Through 4 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Chance Peterson’s path through North Carolina Central.
Chance Peterson
97%match
#2
Max Tomczak
97%
#3
Deuce Oliver
96%
#4
Anthony Lowe
95%
#5
Neno Lemay
94%
Matches Chance on
Yards per reception
As a graduate, his production profile tracks closest to Bryce Bohanon's graduate season at Tulane (2025).
80%match
Matches Bryce on
Total EPA (college ability)
TD rate
Reception volume
Differs from Bryce on
Recruiting rating (lower)
Player DNA
Players who play like Easton Messer
Background
At Florida Atlantic Fifth Year (2026) Named to the preseason All-Conference First Teams for Phil Steele and Athlon Magazine Selected to the East-West Bowl 1,000 On the preseason Paul Hornung Award Watch List Named a preseason G6 All-American by HERO Sports Selected to Biletnikoff Award Watch…
The receiver room · Florida Atlantic
- #8Easton Messer1,029 receiving yards · 2025
- #9Dom Henry575 receiving yards · 2025
- #6RJ Garcia II283 receiving yards · 2025
- Branden Hoch177 receiving yards · 2025
- #3Tucker Holloway82 receiving yards · 2025
10 more on the roster · Florida Atlantic team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology