Elijah Cooks

Senior wide receiver for San José State. 2022: 70 catches, 1,082 receiving yards, 10 TD.

WR · San José State · Sr. · #4

6′4″ · 215 lb · Atascadero, CA

CFB Index 87 · #16 of 488 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamSan José State 2022 alumnus

Recruiting

2★

WR recruit

No. 2786 nationally · Signed with Nevada

Statement game14 rec · 197 yds · 1 TDvs Ohio (FBS) · L 21-30

Top 0.1% catches game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for San José State. 2022: 70 catches, 1,082 receiving yards, 10 TD.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Nevada in 2017.
Transferred from Nevada to San José State in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Six seasons at San José State, 2,525 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2022) — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 197 yds vs Ohio.Ohio · L 21-302019

2017

Signed with Nevada2-star out of Atascadero

202212 games

The role got bigger.

Entered the portal
All-Mountain Westfirst

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#2786 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST · 1ST TEAM

All-Mountain West 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2022

1 coach

2017–2022

Brent Brennan

San José State

Played his entire career under Brent Brennan.

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Nevada3-9HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning

2018Nevada8-5HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2019Nevada7-6HC: Jay Norvell · Balanced

2020Nevada7-2HC: Jay Norvell · Pass-leaning, fast tempo

2021Nevada8-5HC: Vai Taua · Pass-heavy

2022San José State7-5HC: Brent Brennan · Pass-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

87All-Conference level #16 of 488?

High confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: epa / target (93rd percentile). Strength: explosive rate (90th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

EPA / target#47 / 636 · 93rd pct

1.12

Explosive rate#66 / 636 · 90th pct

23.2%

TD rate#82 / 636 · 87th pct

12.2%

Yards / catch#117 / 636 · 82nd pct

15.3

Catch rate#190 / 636 · 70th pct

84.1%

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#13 / 550 · 97th pct

Rec yards#19 / 550 · 97th pct

1082

Receptions#33 / 550 · 94th pct

Yards / catch#135 / 550 · 75th pct

15.5

Long catch#244 / 550 · 55th pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

29th → 93rd percentile

Explosive rate

31st → 90th percentile

Catch rate

14th → 70th percentile

TD rate

98th → 87th percentile

Yards / catch

45th → 82nd 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 · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	5.9	79.7	13.6	0.7
Road5g	5.8	105	16.7	1.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	5.1	91.6	16.3	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	6.8	88.2	13.0	1.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Ken Niumatalolo

Pass share

51.0%

106 pass / 102 run

Plays / game

69.3

3 games

Team sack rate

1.8%

110 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Balanced.

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

87 · #16 of 488 WRs

Two-star recruit. Now #16 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	San José State	70	1,082	15.5	10	--
2021	Nevada	13	157	12.1	4	--
2020	Nevada	2	24	12.0	0	--
2019	Nevada	76	926	12.2	8	--
2018	Nevada	22	313	14.2	6	--
2017	Nevada	2	23	11.5	0	--
Career		185	2,525	13.6	28	--

Season	Team
2022	San José State	--	--	--	--	--
2021	Nevada	--	--	--	--	--
2020	Nevada	--	--	--	--	--
2019	Nevada	--	--	--	--	--
2018	Nevada	1	40	--	--	--
2017	Nevada	--	--	--	--	--
Career		1	40	--	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 21–17

vs Portland State

6 rec · 123 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With T. Benham — 44 AVG · 3 IN 20 · 57 LONG · C. Cordeiro — 239 yds · 1 TD · 0 INT · QBR 25.4

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 1 · Eastern Michigan · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -4.03Elijah Cooks pass intercepted, touchback. Joshua Scott return for no gain
Week 1 · Portland State · 2&12 · Q2 · EPA +3.35Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 30 yds to the PrtSt 47 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Utah State · 2&4 · Q1 · EPA +3.02Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 36 yds for a TD, (Taren Schive PAT BLOCKED)
Week 6 · UNLV · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.99Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 20 yds for a TD, (Taren Schive KICK)
Week 10 · Colorado State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.97Elijah Cooks 35 Yd pass from Chevan Cordeiro (Taren Schive Kick), (T. Schive KICK), (T. Schive KICK)
Week 13 · Hawai'i · 4&4 · Q4 · EPA +2.89Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 29 yds to the Hawa 5 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Fresno State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.87Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 32 yds for a TD, (Taren Schive KICK)
Week 4 · Western Michigan · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +2.84Elijah Cooks 13 Yd pass from Chevan Cordeiro (Taren Schive Kick)
Week 12 · Utah State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.79Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 29 yds for a TD UTAH ST Penalty, Defensive Pass Interference (Michael Anyanwu) declined, (Taren Schive KICK)
Week 11 · San Diego State · 3&3 · Q1 · EPA +2.77Chevan Cordeiro pass complete to Elijah Cooks for 27 yds to the SDSt 28 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2022 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 21-17vs Portland State	6	123	20.5	0	34
Wk 2	L 16-24@ Auburn	4	46	11.5	0	24
Wk 4	W 34-6vs Western Michigan	2	21	10.5	1	13
Wk 5	W 33-16@ Wyoming	8	177	22.1	0	52	Season-high 177 yds
Wk 6	W 40-7vs UNLV	3	41	13.7	1	20
Wk 7	L 10-17@ Fresno State	7	140	20.0	1	39	140-yard receiving day
Wk 9	W 35-28vs Nevada	8	79	9.9	0	17
Wk 10	W 28-16vs Colorado State	6	80	13.3	1	35
Wk 11	L 27-43@ San Diego State	3	36	12.0	1	27
Wk 12	L 31-35@ Utah State	7	125	17.9	3	36	3 TD catches
Wk 13	W 27-14vs Hawai'i	10	121	12.1	2	29	2 TD catches
Bowl	L 27-41vs Eastern Michigan	6	93	15.5	0	25
Total		70	1082	14.9	10	52

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