#88

Jason Pirtle

Senior tight end for North Texas. 2021: 41 catches, 380 receiving yards, 2 TD.

TE · North Texas · Sr. · #88

6′2″ · 232 lb · Locust Grove, OK

CFB Index 57 · #31 of 119 TEsMedium-low confidenceAll-ConferenceNorth Texas 2021 alumnus

The story

4 tight end for North Texas. 2021: 41 catches, 380 receiving yards, 2 TD.

Signed as a 2-star recruit to Locust Grove in 2016.

His career, year by year

Recruiting

2★

WR recruit

No. 3036 nationally · Signed with Locust Grove

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

How it ended

Five seasons at North Texas, 864 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 60 yds vs UTEP.UTEP · W 20-172021

2016

Recruited2-star out of Locust Grove

20206 games

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

202112 games

The role got bigger.

All-Conference USAhonorable_mention

Career arc

Recruit

★★

#3036 national

CFB

College

North Texas

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-CONFERENCE USA

All-Conference USA mention (2021)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Seth Littrell

North Texas

Played his entire career under Seth Littrell.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

5 seasons under Seth Littrell — 32-30 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

2021North Texas6-7HC: Seth Littrell · Run-heavy, fast tempo

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

57Quality starter #31 of 119?

Medium-low confidence10 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: catch rate (96th percentile). Strength: epa / target (87th percentile). Concern: explosive rate (4th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#27 / 655 · 96th pct

92.9%

EPA / target#88 / 655 · 87th pct

0.99

TD rate#543 / 655 · 17th pct

2.4%

Yards / catch#558 / 655 · 15th pct

9.0

Explosive rate#627 / 655 · 4th pct

2.4%

Box-score rates (5)

Receptions#21 / 146 · 86th pct

Rec yards#36 / 146 · 76th pct

380

Rec TDs#70 / 146 · 41st pct

Long catch#86 / 146 · 40th pct

Yards / catch#116 / 146 · 21st pct

9.3

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

25th → 87th percentile

Explosive rate

17th → 4th percentile

Catch rate

56th → 96th percentile

TD rate

38th → 17th percentile

Yards / catch

13th → 15th 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

2021 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	3.3	32.0	10.9	0.2
Road6g	3.0	26.5	8.7	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	3.3	28.8	9.4	0.2
Weeks 8+6g	3.0	29.7	10.2	0.2

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 · 2021

All-Conference

Picked for an all-conference team by at least one selector.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

57 · #31 of 119 TEs

Two-star recruit. Now #31 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	North Texas	41	380	9.3	2	--
2020	North Texas	16	154	9.6	1	--
2019	North Texas	17	263	15.5	5	--
2018	North Texas	1	22	22.0	0	--
2017	North Texas	4	45	11.2	0	--
Career		79	864	10.9	8	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2021

W 44–14

vs Northwestern State

2 rec · 28 yds

Dominant 30-point win at home against Northwestern State.

With D. Torrey — 244 rush yds (25 car) · 3 TD · J. Ruder — 131 yds · 1 TD · 2 INT · QBR 23.4 · 23 rush yds (3 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 13 · UTSA · 3&15 · Q1 · EPA +3.43Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 19 yds to the TexSA 48 for a 1ST down
Week 10 · Southern Miss · 4&5 · Q1 · EPA +2.96Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 10 yds to the SoMis 35 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · UTEP · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.64Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 31 yds to the UTEP 42 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Miami (OH) · 3&11 · Q4 · EPA +2.61Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 14 yds to the MiaOh 28 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Liberty · 2&6 · Q3 · EPA +2.53Jason Pirtle 6 Yd pass from Austin Aune (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)
Week 10 · Southern Miss · 3&5 · Q3 · EPA +2.32Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 10 yds to the SoMis 44 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · SMU · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.27Jace Ruder pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 13 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down
Week 11 · UTEP · 3&6 · Q1 · EPA +2.27Austin Aune pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 10 yds to the UTEP 39 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Northwestern State · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.20Jace Ruder pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 15 yds to the NWSt 39 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Northwestern State · 3&8 · Q1 · EPA +1.84Jace Ruder pass complete to Jason Pirtle for 13 yds to the NWSt 24 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	W 44-14vs Northwestern State	2	28	14.0	0	15
Wk 2	L 12-35@ SMU	5	43	8.6	0	13
Wk 3	L 6-40vs UAB	2	12	6.0	0	8
Wk 4	L 17-24@ Louisiana Tech	4	26	6.5	0	10
Wk 6	L 35-48@ Missouri	2	29	14.5	1	22
Wk 7	L 21-49vs Marshall	5	35	7.0	0	10
Wk 8	L 26-35vs Liberty	5	38	7.6	1	11
Wk 9	W 30-24@ Rice	1	1	1.0	0	1
Wk 10	W 38-14@ Southern Miss	5	48	9.6	0	15
Wk 11	W 20-17vs UTEP	5	60	12.0	0	31	Season-high 60 yds
Wk 12	W 49-7@ Florida International	1	12	12.0	0	12
Wk 13	W 45-23vs UTSA	1	19	19.0	0	19
Total		38	351	9.8	2	31

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