#15

Kawaan Baker

Former wide receiver at South Alabama. 2020: 50 catches, 656 receiving yards, 8 TD.

WR · South Alabama · Sr. · #15

6′1″ · 215 lb · Atlanta, GA

All-ConferenceNew Orleans — drafted 2021, Rd 7, Pick 28, #255 overall

Recruiting

WR recruit

Signed with South Alabama

Statement game6 rec · 154 yds · 3 TDvs UL Monroe (FBS) · W 38-14

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at South Alabama. 2020: 50 catches, 656 receiving yards, 8 TD.

Signed with South Alabama in 2016.
Drafted round 7 by the New Orleans in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Four seasons at South Alabama, 1,826 receiving yards — drafted at #255 overall by New Orleans.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

The week the volume broke through — put up 154 yds vs UL Monroe.UL Monroe · W 38-142020

2016

Signed with South Alabamaout of Hapeville Charter

202010 games

All-Sun Beltsecond

2021

Drafted by New Orleansround 7, pick 255

Career arc

Recruit

—

2016 class

CFB

College

South Alabama

2017–2020

NFL

NFL Draft

R7 · #255

New Orleans · 2021

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

3 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-SUN BELT · 2ND TEAM

All-Sun Belt 2nd team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2017–2020

2 coaches

2017

Joey Jones

South Alabama

2018–2020

Steve Campbell

South Alabama

era →

Coaching transition mid-career: Joey Jones → Steve Campbell. Worth noting in scheme + development context.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

New OrleansEntering 6th NFL season

#255Rd 7 · Pick 28

New OrleansEntering 6th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2020 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017South Alabama4-8HC: Joey Jones · Balanced

2018South Alabama3-9HC: Steve Campbell · Run-heavy

2019South Alabama2-10HC: Steve Campbell · Run-heavy

2020South Alabama4-7HC: Steve Campbell · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (87th percentile). Strength: rec tds (95th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#9 / 65 · 87th pct

11.4%

Catch rate#22 / 65 · 67th pct

72.9%

EPA / target#26 / 65 · 61st pct

0.68

Explosive rate#29 / 65 · 56th pct

15.7%

Yards / catch#34 / 65 · 48th pct

12.9

Box-score rates (8)

Rec TDs#14 / 421 · 95th pct

Long catch#25 / 421 · 94th pct

Receptions#42 / 421 · 90th pct

Rec yards#49 / 421 · 88th pct

656

Fumbles lost#1 / 146 · 80th pct

Rush yards#42 / 202 · 79th pct

Yards / catch#210 / 421 · 49th pct

13.1

Rush TDs#38 / 202 · 41st 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 & context

Splits · Per-game

2020 season · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home5g	5.4	79.0	13.6	1.0
Road5g	4.6	52.2	11.5	0.6

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-74g	5.0	71.5	13.9	0.8
Weeks 8+6g	5.0	61.7	11.7	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Major Applewhite

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

Awards

Player standing · 2020

All-Conference

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

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2020	South Alabama	50	656	13.1	8	--
2019	South Alabama	35	574	16.4	3	--
2018	South Alabama	33	494	15.0	4	--
2017	South Alabama	7	102	14.6	1	--
Career		125	1,826	14.6	16	--

Season	Team
2020	South Alabama	13	42	264	--	--
2019	South Alabama	20	83	35	--	--
2018	South Alabama	60	258	94	--	--
2017	South Alabama	--	--	150	--	--
Career		93	383	543	--	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 13 · 2020

W 38–31

at Arkansas State

14 rush yds (3 car)

Edged out Arkansas State on the road in a shootout.

With J. Tolbert — 10 rec · 252 yds · 3 TD · D. Trotter — 242 yds · 2 TD · 0 INT · -13 rush yds (6 car) · 1 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · UL Monroe · 2&8 · Q1 · EPA +6.82Desmond Trotter pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 80 yds for a TD (Diego Guajardo KICK)
Week 1 · Southern Miss · 3&3 · Q4 · EPA +5.26Chance Lovertich pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 52 yds for a TD (Diego Guajardo PAT MISSED)
Week 2 · Tulane · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +4.49Chance Lovertich pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 34 yds for a TD (Diego Guajardo KICK)
Week 10 · Coastal Carolina · 4&1 · Q3 · EPA -4.21Kawaan Baker run for no gain to the CCaro 1
Week 2 · Tulane · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +3.38Chance Lovertich pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 27 yds to the Tulan 43 for a 1ST down
Week 11 · Louisiana · 4&7 · Q3 · EPA -3.37Desmond Trotter pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 6 yds to the LaLaf 10
Week 9 · Georgia Southern · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA -3.16Kawaan Baker run for 1 yd to the SAlab 49 SOUTH ALABAMA Penalty, Personal Foul (-15 Yards) to the SAlab 34
Week 8 · UL Monroe · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +3.15Desmond Trotter pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 32 yds to the LaMon 45 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · Southern Miss · 4&3 · Q3 · EPA -3.13Desmond Trotter pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 12 yds to the SoMis 25 SOUTH ALABAMA Penalty, Offensive Holding (Jalen Tolbert) to the SoMis 35
Week 8 · UL Monroe · 4&5 · Q4 · EPA +3.05Desmond Trotter pass complete to Kawaan Baker for 5 yds for a TD (Diego Guajardo KICK)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2020 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	W 32-21@ Southern Miss	4	82	20.5	1	52
Wk 2	L 24-27vs Tulane	7	129	18.4	1	34
Wk 4	L 10-42vs UAB	4	32	8.0	0	17
Wk 7	W 30-20vs Texas State	5	43	8.6	1	15
Wk 8	W 38-14vs UL Monroe	6	154	25.7	3	80	Season-high 154 yds
Wk 9	L 17-24@ Georgia Southern	5	65	13.0	0	24
Wk 10	L 6-23@ Coastal Carolina	3	20	6.7	0	11
Wk 11	L 10-38@ Louisiana	6	43	7.2	1	15
Wk 12	L 14-31vs Georgia State	5	37	7.4	0	11
Wk 13	W 38-31@ Arkansas State	5	51	10.2	1	26
Total		50	656	12.6	8	80

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

Kawaan Baker

2016

202010 games

2021

2020 snapshot

Splits & context

Awards

All-Conference

Career stats

Signature game

Signature plays

Game log

DNA match

Players who play like Kawaan Baker

Heisman trajectory

#84