#45

Samson Nacua

Senior wide receiver for BYU. 2021: 21 catches, 329 receiving yards, 3 TD.

WR · BYU · Sr. · #45

6′3″ · 195 lb · Provo, UT

CFB Index 38 · #319 of 468 WRsHigh confidenceBYU 2021 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 1056 nationally · Signed with Utah

No college snaps yet.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

4 wide receiver for BYU. 2021: 21 catches, 329 receiving yards, 3 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to Utah in 2016.
Transferred from Utah to BYU in 2021.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Five seasons at BYU, 1,338 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 5 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 107 yds vs Virginia.Virginia · W 66-492021

2016

Signed with Utah3-star out of Timpview

202110 games

Entered the portal

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#1056 national

CFB

College

2 teams

2017–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2017–2021

1 coach

2017–2021

Kalani Sitake

BYU

Played his entire career under Kalani Sitake.

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2017Utah7-6HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-leaning

2018Utah9-5HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-leaning

2019Utah11-3HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-heavy

2020Utah3-2HC: Kyle Whittingham · Run-leaning

2021BYU10-3HC: Kalani Sitake · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

38Below cohort / limited sample #319 of 468?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: yards / catch (83rd percentile). Strength: td rate (81st percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Yards / catch#111 / 655 · 83rd pct

15.7

TD rate#120 / 655 · 81st pct

10.7%

Explosive rate#161 / 655 · 75th pct

17.9%

EPA / target#287 / 655 · 56th pct

0.71

Catch rate#336 / 655 · 48th pct

75.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush TDs#10 / 273 · 88th pct

Yards / catch#120 / 557 · 78th pct

15.7

Rush yards#82 / 273 · 70th pct

Rec TDs#196 / 557 · 58th pct

Long catch#240 / 557 · 56th pct

Rec yards#325 / 557 · 42nd pct

329

Fumbles lost#89 / 223 · 36th pct

Receptions#373 / 557 · 32nd pct

Season trend

EPA / target— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Catch rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

TD rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Yards / catch— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

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 · 10 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home6g	1.7	28.3	15.0	0.5
Road4g	2.0	29.5	13.8	0.0

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-75g	1.0	10.4	11.8	0.4
Weeks 8+5g	2.6	47.2	16.7	0.2

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Kalani Sitake

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

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

38 · #319 of 468 WRs

Three-star recruit. Now #319 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	BYU	21	329	15.7	3	--
2020	Utah	4	29	7.2	1	--
2019	Utah	17	324	19.1	4	--
2018	Utah	31	362	11.7	5	--
2017	Utah	29	294	10.1	1	--
Career		102	1,338	13.1	14	--

Season	Team
2021	BYU	7	29	--	--	--
2020	Utah	--	--	--	18	--
2019	Utah	--	--	--	--	--
2018	Utah	--	--	--	--	--
2017	Utah	1	3	--	--	--
Career		8	32	--	18	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2021

W 26–17

vs Utah

2 rec · 10 yds · 1 TD

With R. Rehkow — 53 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 68 LONG · J. Hall — 149 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.8 · 92 rush yds (8 car)

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 9 · Virginia · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +3.69Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 52 yds to the Virg 31 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Virginia · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +3.19Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 40 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 1 · UAB · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA -3.16Baylor Romney pass complete to Samson Nacua for 22 yds Samson Nacua fumbled, recovered by UAB Mac McWilliams
Week 12 · Georgia Southern · 1&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.53Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 29 yds to the GeoSo 46 for a 1ST down
Week 6 · Boise State · 2&3 · Q1 · EPA +2.32Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 14 yds for a TD, (Jake Oldroyd KICK)
Week 3 · Arizona State · 3&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.27Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 11 yds to the ArzSt 29 for a 1ST down
Week 12 · Georgia Southern · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.78Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 25 yds to the GeoSo 35 for a 1ST down
Week 1 · UAB · 2&7 · Q3 · EPA +1.42Baylor Romney pass complete to Samson Nacua for 10 yds to the BYU 38 for a 1ST down
Week 9 · Virginia · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +1.37Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 15 yds to the Virg 2 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Utah · 1&2 · Q2 · EPA +1.21Jaren Hall pass complete to Samson Nacua for 2 yds for a TD (Jake Oldroyd KICK) (Jake Oldroyd PAT MISSED)

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 10 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 2	W 26-17vs Utah	2	10	5.0	1	8
Wk 3	W 27-17vs Arizona State	1	11	11.0	0	11
Wk 4	W 35-27vs South Florida	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 5	W 34-20@ Utah State	1	17	17.0	0	17
Wk 6	L 17-26vs Boise State	1	14	14.0	1	14
Wk 8	W 21-19@ Washington State	1	7	7.0	0	7
Wk 9	W 66-49vs Virginia	3	107	35.7	1	52	Season-high 107 yds
Wk 10	W 59-14vs Idaho State	3	28	9.3	0	10
Wk 12	W 34-17@ Georgia Southern	3	68	22.7	0	29
Wk 13	W 35-31@ USC	3	26	8.7	0	13
Total		18	288	14.5	3	52

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