#88

Justin Holmes

Senior tight end for Pittsburgh. 2025: 28 catches, 301 receiving yards, 4 TD.

TE · Pittsburgh · Sr. · #88

6′3″ · 245 lb · Kutztown, PA

CFB Index 52 · #62 of 156 TEsMedium-low confidenceReturning to Pittsburgh for 2026

How he plays

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment.

TD rate: 84th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

301

receiving yards · 2025

28 catches · 4 TD · 10.8 per catch

Swing playSwung Pittsburgh from 54% to 76% to win.Miami at Pittsburgh · 38-7

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 tight end for Pittsburgh. 2025: 28 catches, 301 receiving yards, 4 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Kent State in 2022.
Transferred from Marshall to Pittsburgh in 2025.

His career, year by year

Justin Holmes

TE · Pittsburgh · Sr · #88

Shows up in the passing game from any alignment. Across four seasons and three programs, four head coaches: Sean Lewis, Kenni Burns, Charles Huff and Pat Narduzzi. The receipt on tape: 100 rec yds, 6 receptions against East Carolina, Bowl, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
head-coach lineage
game log

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2022Kent State5-7HC: Sean Lewis · Run-leaning

2023Kent State1-11HC: Kenni Burns · Run-leaning

2024Marshall10-3HC: Charles Huff · Run-leaning

2025Pittsburgh8-5HC: Pat Narduzzi · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the TE cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

52Rotational starter #62 of 156?

Medium-low confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (84th percentile). Strength: rec tds (80th percentile). Concern: long catch (15th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#122 / 798 · 84th pct

5.4%

Catch rate#486 / 798 · 39th pct

64.9%

EPA / target#492 / 798 · 38th pct

0.34

Explosive rate#496 / 798 · 38th pct

8.1%

Yards / catch#501 / 798 · 37th pct

10.5

Box-score rates (6)

Rec TDs#27 / 175 · 80th pct

Fumbles lost#1 / 33 · 74th pct

Receptions#63 / 175 · 64th pct

Rec yards#70 / 175 · 60th pct

301

Yards / catch#81 / 175 · 53rd pct

10.8

Long catch#148 / 175 · 15th 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).

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

11%4 of his 37 targets came on third down · TE median is 22%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	2.3	22.3	9.7	0.5
Road5g	2.8	33.4	10.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	2.7	32.7	9.7	0.3
Weeks 8+5g	2.4	21.0	10.2	0.4

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Pat Narduzzi

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

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

52 · #62 of 156 TEs

Three-star recruit. Now #62 at the position.

2026 outlook

In the mix for All-ACC

Based on 2025: #8 of 22 ACC TEs

How the All-ACC estimate is computed

35% estimated, 95% confidence interval 31–38%. 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	Pittsburgh	28	301	10.8	4	--
2024	Marshall	1	11	11.0	0	--
2023	Kent State	20	188	9.4	0	--
2022	Kent State	--	--	--	--	--
Career		49	500	10.2	4	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2025

W 42–28

at Georgia Tech

1 rec · 19 yds · 1 TD

Edged out Georgia Tech on the road in a shootout.

With M. Heintschel — 226 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · QBR 77.8 · -29 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD · J. Turner — 201 rush yds (21 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 13 · Georgia Tech · 1&15 · Q1 · EPA +2.89(03:19) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short middle to #88 J.Holmes caught at GT03, for 19 yards to the GT00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 03:13, 1ST DOWN #94 S.Carpenter kick attempt good (H: #91 C.Junko, LS: #48 N.Crawford)
Week 9 · NC State · 4&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.62(01:26) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short right to #88 J.Holmes caught at NC ST24, for 19 yards to the NC ST23 (#2 R.Royal, III), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · East Carolina · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.60(06:28) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short left to #88 J.Holmes caught at Pitt36, for 21 yards to the Pitt46 (#20 K.McKinley), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN
Week 6 · Boston College · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +2.55Mason Heintschel pass complete to Justin Holmes for 14 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK)
Week 2 · Central Michigan · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.53Eli Holstein pass complete to Justin Holmes for 12 yds for a TD (Trey Butkowski KICK)
Week 14 · Miami · 2&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.53(14:20) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short right to #88 J.Holmes caught at Miami05, for 6 yards to the Miami00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:20 #93 T.Butkowski kick attempt good (H: #91 C.Junko, LS: #48 N.Crawford)
Week 10 · Stanford · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.93No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short middle to #88 J.Holmes caught at PITT39, for 14 yards to the PITT39 (#0 J.Galvan), 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · East Carolina · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +1.28(00:56) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short middle to #88 J.Holmes caught at ECU36, for 23 yards to the ECU30 (#3 T.Wilk), 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · East Carolina · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +1.25(05:51) No Huddle-Shotgun #6 M.Heintschel pass complete short middle to #88 J.Holmes caught at ECU38, for 20 yards to the ECU34 (#7 S.Dankah; #20 K.McKinley), 1ST DOWN
Week 3 · West Virginia · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.23Eli Holstein pass complete to Justin Holmes for 9 yds to the WVU 46

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Wk 2	W 45-17vs Central Michigan	2	25	12.5	1	13
Wk 3	L 24-31@ West Virginia	2	14	7.0	0	9
Wk 5	L 27-34vs Louisville	2	17	8.5	0	11
Wk 6	W 48-7vs Boston College	3	40	13.3	1	22
Wk 7	W 34-31@ Florida State	1	0	0.0	0	0
Wk 9	W 53-34vs NC State	2	22	11.0	0	19
Wk 10	W 35-20@ Stanford	4	34	8.5	0	14
Wk 12	L 15-37vs Notre Dame	2	16	8.0	0	12
Wk 13	W 42-28@ Georgia Tech	1	19	19.0	1	19
Wk 14	L 7-38vs Miami	3	14	4.7	1	6
Bowl	L 17-23@ East Carolina	6	100	16.7	0	23
Total		28	301	9.9	4	23

How he plays

Play style

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

CFB Index positional classification

2026 Outlook

Pittsburgh

2026 Depth chart

Projected starter

Tight end · Pittsburgh

Returning around him

40% of 2024 offensive production back (Moderate turnover)
1 Pittsburgh player drafted to NFL
Transfer portal: -5 net (16 in / 21 out)

2026 Award watch

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

Pittsburgh · Last season: 8-5 (AP #24) · Talent rank #64 · 2026 recruiting class #44

DNA match

Player DNA

Complete TE

No single go-to route — the receiving numbers show up inline and split out alike.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Christian Trahan’s 2022 season.

Christian Trahan

78%match

Houston · 2022

Tristen Tewes

Northern Illinois · 2022

78%

Lance Mason

Wisconsin · 2025

All-Big Ten

76%

Henry Pearson

App State · 2022

All-Sun Belt

75%

Kamari Morales

North Carolina · 2022

75%

Matches Christian on

Weight

Reception volume

TD rate

Differs from Christian on

Yards / reception (higher)

Through 2 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Daniel Barker’s path through Michigan State.

Daniel Barker

73%match

Michigan State · 2022

Joey Beljan

Western Kentucky · 2022

All-Conference USA

74%

Tyrick James

Tulane · 2022

All-AAC

70%

Grayson Gunter

Southern Miss · 2021

67%

Ben Yurosek

Georgia · 2024

66%

Matches Daniel on

Recruiting rating

Yards per reception

Weight

Differs from Daniel on

Height (lower)

As a senior, his production profile tracks closest to Lance Mason's senior season at Wisconsin (2025).

Lance Mason

89%match

Wisconsin · 2025

All-Big Ten

Dallas Payne

Florida International · 2025

78%

Shane Calhoun

East Carolina · 2023

77%

Justin Joly

NC State · 2025

All-ACCNFL Rd 5

76%

Josh Kattus

Kentucky · 2025

75%

Matches Lance on

Reception volume

TD rate

Total EPA (college ability)

Player DNA

Players who play like Justin Holmes

Trace Bruckler

New Mexico · 2023

73%

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

Justin Holmes

2022

20243 games

202511 games

2025 snapshot

Situational

Splits & context

Awards

Rotational

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

How he plays

DNA match

Complete TE

Players who play like Justin Holmes