Jacob Hillyer

WR · Iowa 2015 · #17

Last confirmed: Iowa, 2015. No 2026 box-score games on record.

6′4″ · Somerset, TX

Jacob Hillyer: WR · Iowa · #17.

Players he’s like

Closest statistical matches, adjusted for opponent strength.

Adrian FlemmingSyracuse · 2014 · 96% season match
Dwayne Early Jr.Buffalo · 2026 · 89% season match
Ashton BroyldSyracuse · 2014 · 86% season match
Obi ObialoMarshall · 2019 · 86% season match
Jaylen SmithLouisville · 2015 · 82% season match

Jacob Hillyer

WR · Iowa · #17

Moves the chains on third down. Second year in the Iowa receiving corps. On tape: 53 receiving yards and 4 receptions against Indiana, Week 10, 2015.

How he plays

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

News and fans

No outlet on our list has written about him by name this season.

Iowa in the news

Iowa QB1 named for Week 8Oct 19
Iowa State WR Overby out for seasonThe Des Moines Register Oct 15
QB Brown medically cleared but playing status uncertainOct 9

Where to follow him

Career stats

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Season	Team
2015	Iowa	16	212	13.2	0
2014	Iowa	11	105	9.5	1
Career		27	317	11.7	1

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2015 season · 8 games

Box score · CFBD

Swipe the table sideways for more columns.

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 31-14vs Illinois State	2	38	19.0	20
Wk 3	W 27-24vs Pittsburgh	2	52	26.0	32
Wk 4	W 62-16vs North Texas	2	22	11.0	16
Wk 7	W 40-10@ No. 20 Northwestern	1	8	8.0	8
Wk 9	W 31-15vs Maryland	2	15	7.5	12
Wk 10	W 35-27@ Indiana	4	53	13.3	20	Season-high 53 yds
Wk 14	L 13-16vs No. 5 Michigan State	1	8	8.0	8
Bowl	L 16-45vs No. 5 Stanford	2	16	8.0	9
Total		16	212	13.2	32

Signature game

Week 3 · 2015

W 27-24

vs Pittsburgh

2 rec · 52 yds

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 3 at home.

With C. Beathard — 258 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · QBR 72.6 · 39 rush yds (8 car) · 1 TD · M. Koehn — 64 yards per punt · 1 punts · 64 long

Signature plays

The plays that mattered most

Week 14 · Michigan State · 3rd and 7 · Q1 · EPA +2.82C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 8 yds to the MchSt 41 for a MICHIGAN ST Penalty, Personal Foul (Montez Sweat) to the MchSt 26 for a
Week 3 · Pittsburgh · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +2.56C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 32 yds to the Pitt 37 for a
Week 1 · Stanford · 3rd and 4 · Q1 · EPA +1.71C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 7 yds to the Iowa 39 for a
Week 3 · Pittsburgh · 1st and 20 · Q2 · EPA +1.47C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 20 yds to the Iowa 29 for a
Week 1 · Illinois State · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +1.14C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 20 yds to the IllSt 32 for a
Week 10 · Indiana · 3rd and 9 · Q2 · EPA +1.10C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 11 yds to the Ind 7 for a

4 more plays

Week 1 · Illinois State · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +1.09C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 18 yds to the Iowa 31 for a
Week 10 · Indiana · 1st and 10 · Q1 · EPA +0.97C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 15 yds to the Iowa 31 for a
Week 10 · Indiana · 2nd and 8 · Q2 · EPA +0.80C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 20 yds to the Ind 13 for a
Week 1 · Stanford · 1st and 10 · Q4 · EPA +0.68C.J. Beathard pass complete to Jacob Hillyer for 9 yds to the Stanf 20

Teams and coaches

2 seasons under Kirk Ferentz, all run-leaning offenses — 19-8 over that span.

2014Iowa7-6HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

2015Iowa12-2HC: Kirk Ferentz · Run-leaning

Our ratings

Show the ratings

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

10 metrics · season cumulative

Concern: td rate (10th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#154 / 684 · 77th pct

15.4%

Yards / catch#248 / 684 · 64th pct

13.2

Catch rate#489 / 684 · 28th pct

61.5%

EPA / target#512 / 684 · 25th pct

0.32

TD rate#553 / 684 · 10th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (5)

Yards / catch#237 / 521 · 54th pct

13.3

Rec yards#425 / 521 · 19th pct

212

Long catch#432 / 521 · 17th pct

Receptions#440 / 521 · 14th pct

Rec TDs#466 / 521 · 5th 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

Home and road splits, scheme and staff

Splits · Per-game

2015 season · 8 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home4g	2.0	31.8	15.9	0.0
Road2g	2.5	30.5	10.7	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	1.8	27.2	14.4	0.0
Weeks 8+3g	2.3	25.3	9.6	0.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2015 season

Head Coach

Kirk Ferentz

Pass share

40.0%

367 pass / 550 run

Plays / game

65.5

14 games

Team sack rate

7.3%

410 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Run-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2015

16 catches in 8 games

Fewer catches a game than most FBS receivers who play every week.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Jacob Hillyer

Players he’s like

How he plays

News and fans

Iowa in the news

Where to follow him

Career stats

Game log

Signature game

Signature plays

Teams and coaches

Our ratings

Splits

Awards

16 catches in 8 games

Five seasons at Iowa

His moves

2011