#84

Jake Ferguson

Former tight end at Wisconsin. 2021: 46 catches, 450 receiving yards, 3 TD.

TE · Wisconsin · Sr. · #84

6′5″ · 242 lb · Madison, WI

CFB Index 62 · #23 of 119 TEsMedium-low confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamDallas — drafted 2022, Rd 4, Pick 24, #129 overall

The story

Former tight end at Wisconsin. 2021: 46 catches, 450 receiving yards, 3 TD.

Drafted round 4 by the Dallas in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at Wisconsin, 1,614 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2020) — drafted at #129 overall by Dallas.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 92 yds vs Nebraska.Nebraska · W 35-282021

20206 games

All-Big Tenfirst

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-Big Tenfirst

2022

Drafted by Dallasround 4, pick 129

Career arc

Recruit

—

No recruit profile

CFB

College

Wisconsin

2018–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R4 · #129

Dallas · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

2 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-BIG TEN · 1ST TEAM

All-Big Ten 1st team (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2018–2021

1 coach

2018–2021

Paul Chryst

Wisconsin

Played his entire career under Paul Chryst.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

DallasEntering 5th NFL season

#129Rd 4 · Pick 24

DallasEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

4 seasons under Paul Chryst — 31-16 over that span.

2018Wisconsin8-5HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

2019Wisconsin10-4HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

2020Wisconsin4-3HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy, fast tempo

2021Wisconsin9-4HC: Paul Chryst · Run-heavy

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

62Quality starter #23 of 119?

Medium-low confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: receptions (90th percentile). Strength: rec yards (83rd percentile). Concern: explosive rate (7th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#137 / 655 · 79th pct

84.6%

EPA / target#222 / 655 · 66th pct

0.78

TD rate#453 / 655 · 30th pct

3.8%

Yards / catch#515 / 655 · 21st pct

10.1

Explosive rate#610 / 655 · 7th pct

3.8%

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#14 / 146 · 90th pct

Rec yards#26 / 146 · 83rd pct

450

Rec TDs#44 / 146 · 62nd pct

Long catch#61 / 146 · 56th pct

Yards / catch#107 / 146 · 26th pct

9.8

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home8g	4.2	39.2	9.7	0.2
Road4g	2.2	25.8	12.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	29.8	10.7	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	3.8	39.7	10.8	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Luke Fickell

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

62 · #23 of 119 TEs

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	Wisconsin	46	450	9.8	3	--
2020	Wisconsin	30	305	10.2	4	--
2019	Wisconsin	33	407	12.3	2	--
2018	Wisconsin	35	452	12.9	4	--
Career		144	1,614	11.2	13	--

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 11 · Northwestern · 3&7 · Q3 · EPA +2.96Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 11 yds for a TD (Collin Larsh KICK)
Week 8 · Purdue · 3&15 · Q1 · EPA +2.85Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 17 yds to the Wisc 44 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Northwestern · 3&9 · Q2 · EPA +2.72Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 13 yds to the Nwest 35 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Nebraska · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.67Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 35 yds to the Neb 34 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Arizona State · 2&7 · Q1 · EPA +2.61Jake Ferguson 7 Yd pass from Graham Mertz (Collin Larsh Kick)
Week 7 · Army · 3&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.44Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 18 yds to the Wisc 43 for a 1ST down
Week 7 · Army · 3&7 · Q1 · EPA +2.31Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 12 yds to the Wisc 42 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Arizona State · 3&3 · Q2 · EPA +2.25Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 12 yds to the ArzSt 46 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Illinois · 3&12 · Q3 · EPA +2.06Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 13 yds to the Wisc 36 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Rutgers · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.98Graham Mertz pass complete to Jake Ferguson for 29 yds to the Rutgr 32 for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 10-16vs Penn State	9	52	5.8	0	10
Wk 2	W 34-7vs Eastern Michigan	3	17	5.7	0	7
Wk 4	L 13-41vs Notre Dame	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 5	L 17-38vs Michigan	2	28	14.0	0	19
Wk 6	W 24-0@ Illinois	1	13	13.0	0	13
Wk 7	W 20-14vs Army	4	58	14.5	0	18
Wk 8	W 30-13@ Purdue	2	23	11.5	0	17
Wk 9	W 27-7vs Iowa	3	13	4.3	1	7
Wk 10	W 52-3@ Rutgers	2	40	20.0	0	29
Wk 11	W 35-7vs Northwestern	4	43	10.8	1	13
Wk 12	W 35-28vs Nebraska	8	92	11.5	0	35	Season-high 92 yds
Wk 13	L 13-23@ Minnesota	4	27	6.8	0	11
Total		43	417	10.7	2	35

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