#21

Harrison Waylee

Senior running back for Virginia. 2025: 556 rushing yards, 6 rushing TD, 9 catches.

RB · Virginia · Sr. · #21

5′10″ · 212 lb · Johnston, IA

CFB Index 46 · #166 of 326 RBsHigh confidenceReturning to Virginia for 2026

The numbers

556

rushing yards · 2025

6 TD · 4.7 per carry · 9 catches

Backed by 30 car · 230 yds · 3 TD -- top 1% rushing yards game. -- Best game: 151 rush yds, 3 TD, vs William & Mary

The play that turned itSwung Wyoming from 31% to 70% to win.Boise State at Wyoming · 17-13

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 running back for Virginia. 2025: 556 rushing yards, 6 rushing TD, 9 catches.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Northern Illinois in 2020.
Transferred from Wyoming to Virginia in 2025.

His career, year by year

How he plays

Does a little of everything without one standout trait.

TD rate: 82nd percentile.

The full scouting read

Harrison Waylee

RB · Virginia · Sr · #21

Does a little of everything without one standout trait. Harrison Waylee has played for four head coaches across six seasons and three programs. In 2022 the league put his name on paper for the first time: All-MAC. The receipt on tape: 151 rush yds, 3 rush TD against William & Mary, Week 3, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
recognition record
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2020Northern Illinois0-6HC: Thomas Hammock · Balanced

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

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

2023Wyoming9-4HC: Craig Bohl · Run-heavy, slow tempo

2024Wyoming3-9HC: Jay Sawvel · Run-leaning

2025Virginia11-3HC: Tony Elliott · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the RB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

46Rotational starter #166 of 326?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (82nd percentile). Strength: long run (100th percentile). Concern: rec yards (22nd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#80 / 456 · 82nd pct

5.1%

EPA / carry#230 / 456 · 50th pct

0.11

Success rate#269 / 456 · 41st pct

41.8%

Yards / carry#275 / 456 · 40th pct

4.7

Explosive rate#288 / 456 · 37th pct

5.1%

Box-score rates (8)

Long run#2 / 349 · 100th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 201 · 87th pct

Rush TDs#83 / 349 · 72nd pct

Carries#121 / 349 · 65th pct

118

Rush yards#137 / 349 · 61st pct

556

Yards / carry#200 / 349 · 41st pct

4.7

Receptions#214 / 338 · 35th pct

Rec yards#262 / 338 · 22nd pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / carry

61st → 50th percentile

Success rate

92nd → 41st percentile

Explosive rate

27th → 37th percentile

Yards / carry

47th → 40th percentile

TD rate

12th → 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).

Situational

Situational · Carry shape (PBP, full season)

Yardage DNA

118 carries

16%

Stuffed (≤0)

40%

Grind (1–3)

31%

Chunk (4–9)

14%

Explosive (10+)

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Home8g	47.6	5.8	0.6
Road5g	35.0	2.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	YPC	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	48.5	4.5	0.8
Weeks 8+7g	37.9	4.4	0.1

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Tony Elliott

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Starter

A locked-in starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

46 · #166 of 326 RBs

Three-star recruit. Now #166 at the position.

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #27 of 38 ACC RBs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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.

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Virginia	118	556	4.7	6	--
2024	Wyoming	63	323	5.1	1	--
2023	Wyoming	164	947	5.8	5	--
2022	Northern Illinois	165	899	5.4	5	--
2021	Northern Illinois	101	574	5.7	4	--
2020	Northern Illinois	107	456	4.3	1	--
Career		718	3,755	5.2	22	--

Season	Team
2025	Virginia	9	39	4.3	0	--
2024	Wyoming	2	5	2.5	0	--
2023	Wyoming	12	66	5.5	0	--
2022	Northern Illinois	17	119	7.0	0	--
2021	Northern Illinois	1	6	6.0	0	--
2020	Northern Illinois	8	61	7.6	1	--
Career		49	296	6.0	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 18 · 2025

W 13–7

at Missouri

68 rush yds (20 car) · 1 TD

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 6 on the road.

With C. Morris — 198 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 78.2 · D. Sparks — 41 AVG · 2 IN 20 · 48 LONG

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 3 · William & Mary · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +6.96Harrison Waylee run for 97 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK)
Week 14 · Virginia Tech · 4&1 · Q4 · EPA -3.90(10:10) Shotgun #21 H.Waylee rush right for 1 yard loss to the VAT15 (#94 E.Fall), TURNOVER ON DOWNS
Week 1 · Missouri · 3&7 · Q2 · EPA +2.87(05:07) No Huddle-Shotgun #21 H.Waylee rush left for 18 yards gain to the MIZ34 (#20 N.Rodriguez), 1ST DOWN
Week 3 · William & Mary · 2&8 · Q2 · EPA +2.68Harrison Waylee run for 8 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK)
Week 3 · William & Mary · 3&1 · Q2 · EPA +2.46Harrison Waylee run for 2 yds for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK)
Week 1 · Coastal Carolina · 3&1 · Q2 · EPA +2.45Harrison Waylee run for 1 yd for a TD (Will Bettridge KICK)
Week 1 · Missouri · 4&3 · Q3 · EPA +2.42(09:12) No Huddle-Shotgun #4 C.Morris pass complete short right to #21 H.Waylee caught at MIZ47, for 5 yards to the MIZ38 (#15 S.Banner), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 11 · Wake Forest · 4&1 · Q3 · EPA +2.41(06:37) No Huddle-Shotgun #21 H.Waylee rush middle for 5 yards gain to the WFU46 (#45 N.Andersen; #7 N.Gatkuoth), 1ST DOWN
Week 15 · Duke · 3&2 · Q4 · EPA +2.19No Huddle-Shotgun #21 H.Waylee rush middle for 19 yards gain to the DUKE33 (#8 D.Stone), 1ST DOWN. #3 C.Weaver injured on the play
Week 12 · Duke · 2&5 · Q4 · EPA +2.06(08:50) No Huddle-Shotgun #21 H.Waylee rush middle for 19 yards gain to the UVA49 (#24 B.Gompers), 1ST DOWN

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 13 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 48-7vs Coastal Carolina	7	18	2.6	1	7
Wk 3	W 55-16vs William & Mary	10	151	15.1	3	97	Season-high 151 yds
Wk 4	W 48-20vs Stanford	9	45	5.0	0	14
Wk 5	W 46-38vs Florida State	4	15	3.8	0	4
Wk 6	W 30-27@ Louisville	2	-6	-3.0	0	0
Wk 8	W 22-20vs Washington State	4	30	7.5	1	22
Wk 9	W 17-16@ North Carolina	3	12	4.0	0	5
Wk 10	W 31-21@ California	14	39	2.8	0	10
Wk 11	L 9-16vs Wake Forest	3	10	3.3	0	5
Wk 12	W 34-17@ Duke	16	62	3.9	0	19
Wk 14	W 27-7vs Virginia Tech	15	46	3.1	0	10
Wk 15	L 20-27vs Duke	11	66	6.0	0	19
Bowl	W 13-7@ Missouri	20	68	3.4	1	18
Total		118	556	4.4	6	97

How he plays

Play style

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

CFB Index positional classification

Boom vs consistent · carry-yardage shape

Feast or famine

~ our read

118Carries

556Yards

31.5%Top-5 share

16.1%Stuffed rate

31.5% of his season rushing yards came on his 5 best carries — and he's stuffed on 16.1% of his carries. 2 carries for -6 yds vs Louisville; 10 for 151 vs William & Mary.

Short-yardage / goal-line · enumeration

Who gets the tough yard

fact

11/133rd/4th & short

9/26Inside-5 share

11 of 13 on 3rd/4th-and-2-or-less (84.6%). 9 of the team's 26 inside-the-5 carries (34.6%).

2026 Outlook

Virginia

Preseason read · May 27

2026 Depth chart

Returning starter

Running back · Virginia

Returning around him

10% of 2024 offensive production back (Heavy turnover)
Transfer portal: +9 net (31 in / 22 out)

2026 Award watch

No preseason watch lists yet (most drop June 15 – July 15)

Virginia · Last season: 11-3 (AP #20) · Talent rank #53 · 2026 recruiting class #111

DNA match

Player DNA

Balanced Back

Plays within the scheme — consistent production without a dominant dimension.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Nasjza Bryant’s 2022 season.

Nasjza Bryant

85%match

Hawai'i · 2022

Nelson Smith

Navy · 2020

81%

Jevyon Ducker

Sam Houston · 2024

80%

Justice Ellison

Wake Forest · 2021

80%

Emmanuel Michel

Air Force · 2023

All-Mountain West

79%

Matches Nasjza on

Weight

Height

Total rush EPA (college ability)

Differs from Nasjza on

Class year (higher)

Through 6 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Scottre Humphrey’s path through New Mexico.

Scottre Humphrey

94%match

New Mexico · 2025

All-Mountain West

Demetric Felton

UCLA · 2020

All-Pac-12NFL Rd 6

94%

Bryson Kuzdzal

Michigan · 2025

92%

Peytton Pickett

Jackson State · 2021

91%

Nathaniel Peat

Missouri · 2023

90%

Matches Scottre on

Height

Yards per carry

Weight

Player DNA

Players who play like Harrison Waylee

Abu Sama III

Iowa State · 2025

84%

Zylan Perry

Louisiana · 2024

80%

Billy Lucas

Liberty · 2024

79%

Treyson Potts

Minnesota · 2021

79%

Daelen Alexander

Rice · 2025

79%

Heisman trajectory

Heisman Trajectory · 2025

Peak #198

Final rank

#208

Avg #210.0

Finalist prob 0%

Peaked at #198 this season.

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

Harrison Waylee

20206 games

202211 games

202310 games

202513 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Starter

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Balanced Back

Players who play like Harrison Waylee

Heisman trajectory

Peak #198