Game log · Week-by-week
2026 season · 3 games
| Wk | Opp | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LONG | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 | W 50-0vs Missouri State | 5 | 41 | 8.2 | 1 | 12 | |
| Wk 2 | W 48-20vs Arizona State | 3 | 34 | 11.3 | 1 | 33 | |
| Wk 3 | L 21-31vs Kentucky | 11 | 119 | 10.8 | 0 | 21 | Season-high 119 yds |
| Total | 19 | 194 | 10.1 | 2 | 33 |
#1
Mario Craver
Mario Craver is 5-9, 165 pounds, and a nightmare for safeties. He dropped 207 yards on Notre Dame in the Playoff and became the highest-paid receiver in Texas A&M history. Small, fast, and back for more.
5′9″ · 180 lb · Birmingham, AL · Clay-Chalkville
CFB Index 78 · #45 of 485 WRsHigh confidence
CFB Index
A single number blending on-field production (an EPA-based value lane) with box-score output for this player's position.
0-100, scaled within each position's own cohort — not directly comparable across positions.
The numbers
194
receiving yards · 2026 · through week 3
3 games into 2026 so far -- Best game: 11 rec, 119 yds, vs Kentucky
His career numbers, season by seasonThe story
Mario Craver is 5-9, 165 pounds, and a nightmare for safeties. He dropped 207 yards on Notre Dame in the Playoff and became the highest-paid receiver in Texas A&M history. Small, fast, and back for more.
- Signed as a 4-star recruit to Mississippi State in 2024.
- Transferred from Mississippi State to Texas A&M in 2025.
How he plays
Wins underneath on volume and route precision.
TD rate: 50th percentile.
The full scouting readBuzz vs Tape
Rivals warmer than fans
The rival fanbase is unexpectedly warm on him relative to his own.
24.3own fans
70rival fans
Texas A&M Aggies see true freshman Aaron Gregory electrify spring camp, raising hopes for a breakout season at wide receiver. With Ashton Bethel-Roman sidelined by injury, Matt Galatzan and Zach Dimmitt examine Gregory’s standout…
Also worth knowing:
In Their Words
104 windows · 2026 fan posts
mario×352.7texas×18.7coleman×29.8
“If we just run a boatload of PA/QB rollouts then Mario Craver is explosive enough that he still might find his way to NY.”
reddit/CFB · fan post, verbatim
The story
Craver's 2025 was a deep-ball highlight reel -- 59 catches for 917 yards, a 207-yard explosion against Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff, and a yards-per-route mark (3.25) that ranked third in the entire Power Four. At 5-9, 165, he wins the way small receivers have to: with separation speed and after-the-catch wiggle (22 forced missed tackles). Texas A&M made him the highest-paid receiver in program history to keep him. The forward stakes are a featured role in a passing game expected to throw more in 2026 -- the runway for a burner like this to go from very good to the SEC's most dangerous deep threat. For Craver, the size was always the doubt and the speed was always the answer; 2026 is where he settles it.
His career
He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.
The week the volume broke through — put up 207 yds at Notre Dame.Notre Dame · W 41-402025
Craver is pure juice -- a vertical and after-the-catch weapon whose tape and our data agree. The play-by-play is loud: a 94th-percentile yards-per-catch, a 93rd-percentile explosive-catch rate, and a 88th-percentile EPA per target -- the chunk-play profile of a true field-stretcher, backed by a solid (65th-percentile) catch rate that says he's more than a track guy running fly routes. The 22 forced missed tackles are the YAC element: catch a five-yard slant, make the first man miss, and it's a 40-yard touchdown. At his size he's not a contested-catch or red-zone bully -- he's the speed that bends a defense's whole structure, the receiver a safety has to honor on every snap. Give him a step, and the game changes.
Written by our staff.
20248 games
- Signed with Mississippi State4-star out of Clay-Chalkville
202512 games
- Entered the portal
- All-SECthird
Career arc
HS
Recruit
★★★★
CFB
College
2 teams
NFL
NFL Draft
—
Trophy case · Confirmed honors
What the selectors said
🎖
ALL-SEC
All-SEC mention (2025)
Coaching lineage · 2024–2026
1 coach2024–2026
Texas A&M
Played his entire career under Mike Elko.
Career stats
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Texas A&M | 19 | 194 | 10.2 | 2 | -- |
| 2025 | Texas A&M | 58 | 911 | 15.7 | 4 | -- |
| 2024 | Mississippi State | 17 | 368 | 21.6 | 3 | -- |
| Career | 94 | 1,473 | 15.7 | 9 | -- |
| Season | Team | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Texas A&M | -- | -- | -- | 27 | -- |
| 2025 | Texas A&M | 11 | 81 | -- | -- | -- |
| 2024 | Mississippi State | 3 | 7 | -- | -- | 1 |
| Career | 14 | 88 | -- | 27 | 1 |
Game log
Game by game
Mario Craver's 2026 production
Point color shows the opponent's defensive strength that week (red = weaker defense, blue = stronger) — dashed line is this player's own season average.
Signature game
SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2026
W 48–20
Signature plays
Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|
The plays that mattered most
- Week 2 · Arizona State · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.90(14:28) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete deep right to #1 M.Craver caught at ASU10, for 33 yards to the ASU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 14:20, 1ST DOWN #24 D.Olano kick attempt good (H: #37 T.White, LS: #31 S.Freibaum)
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 3&6 · Q4 · EPA +2.75(14:59) Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short middle to #1 M.Craver caught at TAMU35, for 18 yards to the TAMU47 (#5 J.Castell; #20 T.Nichols), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Missouri State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.53Mario Craver 12 Yd pass from Marcel Reed (David Olano Kick)
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 3&5 · Q2 · EPA +2.08(09:03) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short right to #1 M.Craver caught at UK39, for 13 yards to the UK33 (#3 A.Gates), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 4&4 · Q4 · EPA +2.03(04:59) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short right to #1 M.Craver caught at UK23, for 17 yards to the UK15 (#14 T.Bryant; #0 B.Barnes), 1ST DOWN
- Week 1 · Missouri State · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +1.90(14:55) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short right to #1 M.Craver caught at TAMU34, for 11 yards to the TAMU41 (#8 J.Kpassou), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.71(06:08) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete deep middle to #1 M.Craver caught at UK42, for 21 yards to the UK41 (#14 T.Bryant), 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 2&2 · Q1 · EPA +0.90(12:17) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete deep right to #1 M.Craver caught at UK31, for 21 yards to the UK31, out of bounds at UK31, 1ST DOWN
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +0.74(04:47) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short left to #1 M.Craver caught at UK41, for 8 yards to the UK32 (#90 M.Humphrey-Grace; #5 J.Castell)
- Week 3 · Kentucky · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA -0.67(05:28) No Huddle-Shotgun #10 M.Reed pass complete short right to #1 M.Craver caught at UK43, for 1 yard to the UK40 (#90 M.Humphrey-Grace; #0 B.Barnes)
2026 snapshot
Since week 2: +119 receiving yards, +11 catches.
Season context · Team result + system
2024Mississippi State2-10HC: Jeff Lebby · Run-leaning
2025Texas A&M11-2HC: Mike Elko · Run-leaning
2026Texas A&M2-1HC: Mike Elko · Balanced, fast tempo
Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort
Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles
High confidence
Elite: fumbles lost (81st percentile). Concern: epa / target (24th percentile).
Real play-by-play efficiency
Box-score rates (6)
Season trend
Last seasonThis season
EPA / target
88th → 24th percentile
Explosive rate
86th → 45th percentile
Catch rate
65th → 47th percentile
TD rate
80th → 50th percentile
Yards / catch
89th → 28th 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).
Receiving profile
Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth
How often he's targeted, and how well it works
19 of 19 receptions matched to play-by-play
28 of 29 targets charted for true throw depth
Targets
2927% of team targetsCatch rate
66%19 of 29 targetsBehind LOS · Negative air yds
32% of targets (9)
89%catch rate
Air -3.4 · YAC 7.8 avg
Short · 0–9 air yds
36% of targets (10)
70%catch rate
Air 4.4 · YAC 6.1 avg
Middle · 10–19 air yds
11% of targets (3)
0%catch rate
Air 16.3 avg
Deep · 20+ air yds
21% of targets (6)
50%catch rate
Air 27.5 · YAC 3.7 avg
66% catch rate on 29 targets · 27% of the team's targets · 50% catch rate on 6 deep targets (20+ air yds).
Splits & context
Splits · Per-game
2026 season · 3 games
Home vs Road
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home3g | 6.3 | 64.7 | 10.1 | 0.7 |
First half vs Second half
| REC/g | YDS/g | YPR | TD/g | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weeks 1-73g | 6.3 | 64.7 | 10.1 | 0.7 |
Supporting cast · Scheme
Staff and system around the player
Head Coach
Mike Elko
Pass share
49.3%
112 pass / 115 run
Plays / game
75.7
3 games
Team sack rate
3.2%
124 dropbacks · PBP
Scheme: Balanced, fast tempo.
Awards
Player standing · 2026
Backup
On the two-deep and pushing for snaps.
Recognition
Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex
2026 outlook
In the mix to repeat All-SEC
Based on 2025: #8 of 58 SEC WRs
How the All-SEC 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.
How he plays
Play style
Craver is pure juice -- a vertical and after-the-catch weapon whose tape and our data agree. The play-by-play is loud: a 94th-percentile yards-per-catch, a 93rd-percentile explosive-catch rate, and a 88th-percentile EPA per target -- the chunk-play profile of a true field-stretcher, backed by a solid (65th-percentile) catch rate that says he's more than a track guy running fly routes. The 22 forced missed tackles are the YAC element: catch a five-yard slant, make the first man miss, and it's a 40-yard touchdown. At his size he's not a contested-catch or red-zone bully -- he's the speed that bends a defense's whole structure, the receiver a safety has to honor on every snap. Give him a step, and the game changes.
Our classifier reads him the same way: wins underneath on volume and route precision.
DNA match
Player DNA
Slot Technician
Runs precise routes in tight quarters. Volume player who keeps chains moving.
WR
His 2026 production profile sits closest to Corey Jones’s 2015 season.
Matches Corey on
TD rate
Yards / reception
Reception volume
Through 3 college seasons, his career arc tracks closest to Jermaine Jackson’s path through Idaho.
Matches Jermaine on
Yards per reception
As a junior, his production profile tracks closest to Mikey Matthews's junior season at UCLA (2025).
Matches Mikey on
EPA / play (adj)
Yards / reception
Total EPA (college ability)
Differs from Mikey on
Reception volume (lower)
TD rate (higher)
Player DNA
Players who play like Mario Craver
Heisman trajectory
Heisman Trajectory · 2026
Peak #187
Peaked at #187 this season.
Background
PRIOR TO TEXAS A&M: Ranked No. 2 in the SEC with 21.6 yards per catch among players with at least 15 catches in his freshman season at Mississippi State in nine games, while making three starts ... Caught 17 passes for 368 yards and three touchdowns, while averaging 40.9 yards per game ...…
The receiver room · Texas A&M
- #1Mario Craver911 receiving yards · 2025
- #7Isaiah Horton511 receiving yards · 2025
- #8Ashton Bethel-Roman503 receiving yards · 2025
- #6Terry Bussey195 receiving yards · 2025
- #18TK Norman39 receiving yards · 2025
11 more on the roster · Texas A&M team page
Stats from CFBD · ESPN · fan discourse. Every figure computed from source tables — not invented. Methodology