Jaelon Darden

Former wide receiver at North Texas. 2020: 74 catches, 1,190 receiving yards, 19 TD.

WR · North Texas · Sr. · #1

5′9″ · 174 lb · Houston, TX

All-AmericanTampa Bay — drafted 2021, Rd 4, Pick 24, #129 overall

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1718 nationally · Signed with North Texas

Career night13 rec · 244 yds · 3 TDvs Charlotte (FBS) · L 21-49

Top 0.1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at North Texas. 2020: 74 catches, 1,190 receiving yards, 19 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to North Texas in 2017.
Drafted round 4 by the Tampa Bay in 2021.
Named All-America (ESPN) in 2020.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at North Texas, 2,782 receiving yards, an All-American season (2020) — drafted at #129 overall by Tampa Bay.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 244 yds vs Charlotte.Charlotte · L 21-492020

201713 games

Signed with North Texas3-star out of Aldine Eisenhower

20209 games

All-Americafirst · 3 selectors
Conference USA Player of the Yearwinner
All-Conference USAfirst

2021

Drafted by Tampa Bayround 4, pick 129

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1718 national

CFB

College

North Texas

2017–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #129

Tampa Bay · 2021

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

6 honors · 2 categories

🥇

ALL-AMERICA

Named All-American (2020)

3 selectors honored him

🥈

ALL-CONFERENCE USA · 1ST TEAM

All-Conference USA 1st team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2020

1 coach

2017–2020

Seth Littrell

North Texas

Played his entire career under Seth Littrell.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

Tampa BayEntering 6th NFL season

#129Rd 4 · Pick 24

Tampa BayEntering 6th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Seth Littrell — 26-23 over that span.

2017North Texas9-5HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2018North Texas9-4HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced, fast tempo

2019North Texas4-8HC: Seth Littrell · Balanced

2020North Texas4-6HC: Seth Littrell · Run-leaning, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

12 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (93rd percentile). Strength: rec tds (100th percentile). Concern: catch rate (30th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#5 / 65 · 93rd pct

16.5%

Yards / catch#16 / 65 · 76th pct

16.1

Explosive rate#20 / 65 · 69th pct

17.4%

EPA / target#27 / 65 · 59th pct

0.66

Catch rate#46 / 65 · 30th pct

64.3%

Box-score rates (7)

Rec TDs#2 / 421 · 100th pct

Rec yards#3 / 421 · 99th pct

1190

Receptions#5 / 421 · 99th pct

Long catch#36 / 421 · 90th pct

Yards / catch#77 / 421 · 82nd pct

16.1

Rush TDs#38 / 202 · 41st pct

Rush yards#179 / 202 · 11th 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

2020 season · 9 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	8.0	112	13.9	2.2
Road3g	8.7	173	20.0	2.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	9.2	138	14.9	2.0
Weeks 8+4g	7.0	125	17.2	2.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Neal Brown

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

All-American

Named to an All-America team by a recognized selector.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Selector Grid · 2020

AP—

FWAA1st

AFCA—

WCFF—

SN—

SI—

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	North Texas	74	1,190	16.1	19	--
2019	North Texas	76	736	9.7	12	--
2018	North Texas	48	575	12.0	4	--
2017	North Texas	32	281	8.8	3	--
Career		230	2,782	12.1	38	--

Season	Team
2020	North Texas	1	-3	--	21	--
2019	North Texas	2	13	4	108	--
2018	North Texas	3	16	--	62	--
2017	North Texas	1	1	295	119	1
Career		7	27	299	310	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2020

W 57–31

vs Houston Christian

5 rec · 71 yds · 3 TD

Dominant 26-point win at home against Houston Christian.

With J. Bean — 217 yds · 3 TD · 1 INT · 48 rush yds (3 car) · 1 TD · O. Adaway III — 118 rush yds (5 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 13 · UTSA · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +6.08Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 75 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 15 · UTEP · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +6.08Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 75 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 15 · UTEP · 3&6 · Q4 · EPA +5.50Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 50 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 7 · Middle Tennessee · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +5.44Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 55 yds for a TD, (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 6 · Charlotte · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +3.73Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 30 yds to the Charl 32 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Houston Christian · 3&4 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 33 yds for a TD, (Zach Williams KICK)
Week 6 · Charlotte · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 37 yds to the Charl 38 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Rice · 3&8 · Q2 · EPA +3.58Jason Bean pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 25 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 3 · SMU · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.54Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 33 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)
Week 6 · Charlotte · 2&4 · Q3 · EPA +3.43Austin Aune pass complete to Jaelon Darden for 43 yds for a TD (Ethan Mooney KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week