Nathaniel Dell

Former wide receiver at Houston. 2022: 109 catches, 1,398 receiving yards, 17 TD.

WR · Houston · Jr. · #1

5′10″ · 165 lb · Daytona Beach, FL

CFB Index 97 · #1 of 488 WRsHigh confidenceAll-Conf 1st teamHouston — drafted 2023, Rd 3, Pick 6, #69 overall

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 159 nationally · Joined Houston

Career night9 rec · 165 yds · 3 TDvs SMU (FBS) · W 44-37

Top 1% receiving yards game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former wide receiver at Houston. 2022: 109 catches, 1,398 receiving yards, 17 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Houston in 2020.
Drafted round 3 by the Houston in 2023.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at Houston, 3,155 receiving yards, a first-team All-Conference season (2021) — drafted at #69 overall by Houston.

His career

Nobody recruited him. He earned the honors anyway.

20207 games

Signed with Houston3-star out of Independence C.C.

202113 games

All-AACfirst

202213 games

All-AACfirst

2023

Drafted by Houstonround 3, pick 69

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#159 national

CFB

College

Houston

2020–2022

NFL

NFL Draft

R3 · #69

Houston · 2023

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

5 honors · 1 category

🥈

ALL-AAC · 1ST TEAM

All-AAC 1st team (2022)

Coaching lineage · 2020–2022

1 coach

2020–2022

Dana Holgorsen

Houston

Played his entire career under Dana Holgorsen.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

HoustonEntering 4th NFL season

#69Rd 3 · Pick 6

HoustonEntering 4th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2022 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Dana Holgorsen — 23-12 over that span.

2020Houston3-5HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced, fast tempo

2021Houston12-2HC: Dana Holgorsen · Balanced

2022Houston8-5HC: Dana Holgorsen · Pass-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

97All-America level #1 of 488?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: td rate (93rd percentile). Strength: epa / target (91st percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

TD rate#46 / 636 · 93rd pct

13.9%

EPA / target#60 / 636 · 91st pct

1.09

Catch rate#121 / 636 · 81st pct

88.5%

Explosive rate#191 / 636 · 70th pct

17.2%

Yards / catch#251 / 636 · 61st pct

12.9

Box-score rates (8)

Rec yards#1 / 550 · 100th pct

1398

Rec TDs#1 / 550 · 100th pct

Receptions#2 / 550 · 100th pct

109

Long catch#137 / 550 · 75th pct

Rush yards#135 / 275 · 50th pct

Yards / catch#281 / 550 · 48th pct

12.8

Rush TDs#48 / 275 · 41st pct

Fumbles lost#71 / 223 · 41st pct

Season trend

Last seasonThis season

EPA / target

93rd → 91st percentile

Explosive rate

85th → 70th percentile

Catch rate

67th → 81st percentile

TD rate

81st → 93rd percentile

Yards / catch

76th → 61st 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

2022 season · 13 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	8.1	99.7	12.4	1.3
Road6g	8.7	117	13.4	1.3

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-77g	7.0	82.6	11.9	1.1
Weeks 8+6g	10.0	137	13.9	1.5

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Willie Fritz

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

Awards

Player standing · 2022

All-Conference 1st team

First team in his league at the position.

our read the All-Conference 1st team honor is earned — and the box score backs it up emphatically: #1 of 488 FBS receivers by CFB Index Score.2022 profile

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

97 · #1 of 488 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #1 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2022	Houston	109	1,398	12.8	17	--
2021	Houston	90	1,329	14.8	12	--
2020	Houston	29	428	14.8	3	--
Career		228	3,155	13.8	32	--

Season	Team
2022	Houston	4	9	--	153	1
2021	Houston	1	5	201	--	--
2020	Houston	--	--	129	7	--
Career		5	14	330	160	1

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 1 · 2022

W 37–35

at UTSA

5 rec · 50 yds · 2 TD

Edged out UTSA on the road in a shootout.

With C. Tune — 206 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 82.3 · 51 rush yds (15 car) · 1 TD · L. Wilkins — 46 AVG · 53 LONG · 5 NO

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 12 · East Carolina · 3&14 · Q1 · EPA +4.35Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 47 yds to the ECaro 34 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Rice · 3&15 · Q4 · EPA +4.05Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 28 yds to the Rice 32 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · South Florida · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +4.01Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 52 yds for a TD, (Kyle Ramsey KICK)
Week 13 · Tulsa · 3&9 · Q1 · EPA +3.83Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 30 yds to the Tulsa 36 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Texas Tech · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.74Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 63 yds to the TexTc 4 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · East Carolina · 2&15 · Q3 · EPA +3.26Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 27 yds to the ECaro 28 for a 1ST down
Week 4 · Rice · 1&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.19Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 40 yds for a TD, (Bubba Baxa KICK)
Week 1 · UTSA · 3&10 · Q4 · EPA +3.08Nathaniel Dell 10 Yd pass from Clayton Tune (Bubba Baxa Kick)
Week 10 · SMU · 2&10 · Q3 · EPA +3.08Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 41 yds to the SMU 2 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · East Carolina · 1&20 · Q3 · EPA +2.99Clayton Tune pass complete to Nathaniel Dell for 23 yds to the 50 yard line for a 1ST down

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week