Tay Lanier

Senior wide receiver for Colorado State. 2025: 35 catches, 315 receiving yards, 2 TD.

WR · Colorado State · Sr. · #6

6′1″ · 165 lb · Long Beach, CA

CFB Index 38 · #325 of 485 WRsHigh confidence

How he plays

Moves the chains on third down.

Catch rate: 80th percentile.

The full scouting read

The numbers

315

receiving yards · 2025

Best game: 9 rec, 73 yds, 1 TD, vs Air Force

His career numbers, season by season

The story

Senior wide receiver for Colorado State. 2025: 35 catches, 315 receiving yards, 2 TD.

The full story, with sources

Next upSat Sep 26 · 12 pm ETat UTSAAlamodomeUTSA by 13

Tay Lanier

WR · Colorado State · Sr · #6

Moves the chains on third down. One game to point at: 73 rec yds, 9 receptions against Air Force — Week 14, 2025.

Low coverage — composed from the verified record.

positional archetype classification
game log

Career stats

Season	Team
2025	Colorado State	35	315	9.0	2	--
Career		35	315	9.0	2	--

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2025 season · 12 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG	Note
Wk 1	L 21-38@ Washington	1	10	10.0	0	10
Wk 2	W 21-17vs Northern Colorado	—	—	—	—	—
Wk 4	L 16-17vs UTSA	3	17	5.7	0	6
Wk 5	L 3-20vs Washington State	2	12	6.0	0	9
Wk 6	L 24-45@ San Diego State	1	14	14.0	0	14
Wk 7	W 49-21vs Fresno State	1	4	4.0	0	4
Wk 8	L 19-31vs Hawai'i	2	56	28.0	0	37
Wk 9	L 0-28@ Wyoming	3	56	18.7	0	39
Wk 11	L 10-42vs UNLV	3	6	2.0	0	6
Wk 12	L 17-20@ New Mexico	5	41	8.2	0	15
Wk 13	L 21-49@ Boise State	5	26	5.2	1	8
Wk 14	L 21-42vs Air Force	9	73	8.1	1	20	Season-high 73 yds
Total		35	315	10.0	2	39

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 2 · 2025

W 21–17

vs Northern Colorado

9 yds · 0 TD · 0 INT · QBR 92.6

A wire-to-wire battle — won by 4 at home.

With B. Fowler-Nicolosi — 132 yds · 0 TD · 1 INT · QBR 40.1 · 22 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · B. Hansen — 57 yards per punt · 2 punts · 58 long

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 8 · Hawai'i · 4&11 · Q4 · EPA +4.12Jackson Brousseau pass complete to Tay Lanier for 37 yds to the HAW 11 for a 1ST down
Week 8 · Hawai'i · 2&19 · Q3 · EPA +3.42Jackson Brousseau pass complete to Tay Lanier for 19 yds to the HAW 38 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Air Force · 3&2 · Q2 · EPA +2.86(08:51) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 J.Brousseau pass complete deep left to #6 T.Lanier caught at AFA00, for 20 yards to the AFA00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:48, 1ST DOWN #98 I.Hankins kick attempt good (H: #83 B.Hansen, LS: #46 C.Pettitt)
Week 13 · Boise State · 3&1 · Q4 · EPA +2.50No Huddle-Shotgun #3 D.Curry pass complete short middle to #6 T.Lanier caught at BOI00, for 6 yards to the BOI00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 09:32, 1ST DOWN #98 I.Hankins kick attempt good (H: #83 B.Hansen, LS: #56 W.Himebauch)
Week 9 · Wyoming · 2&10 · Q4 · EPA +2.43No Huddle-Shotgun #3 D.Curry pass complete short left to #6 T.Lanier caught at WYO50, for 39 yards to the WYO11 (#25 B.Cheek), 1ST DOWN
Week 1 · Washington · 3&6 · Q2 · EPA +2.42Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi pass complete to Tay Lanier for 10 yds to the CSU 48 for a 1ST down
Week 14 · Air Force · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA +2.15(00:14) Shotgun #7 J.Brousseau pass complete short left to #6 T.Lanier caught at CSU23, for 22 yards to the CSU47 lateral to #25 L.Avant for 24 yards gain to the CSU47 (#6 B.Fletcher; #99 A.Swartz), 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Air Force · 2&9 · Q3 · EPA +2.08(04:30) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 J.Brousseau pass complete short left to #6 T.Lanier caught at CSU50, for 12 yards to the CSU50, End Of Play, 1ST DOWN
Week 14 · Air Force · 2&8 · Q4 · EPA +1.95(08:03) No Huddle-Shotgun #7 J.Brousseau pass complete short left to #6 T.Lanier caught at CSU48, for 12 yards to the CSU50 (#9 L.Brown), 1ST DOWN
Week 4 · UTSA · 3&4 · Q2 · EPA +1.83Brayden Fowler-Nicolosi pass complete to Tay Lanier for 5 yds to the UTSA 49 for a 1ST down

2025 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

2025Colorado State2-10HC: Tyson Summers · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

38Below cohort / limited sample #325 of 485?

High confidence11 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: catch rate (80th percentile). Concern: td rate (18th percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Catch rate#156 / 798 · 80th pct

76.7%

EPA / target#452 / 798 · 43rd pct

0.37

Explosive rate#540 / 798 · 32nd pct

7.0%

Yards / catch#582 / 798 · 27th pct

9.6

TD rate#507 / 798 · 18th pct

0.0%

Box-score rates (6)

Receptions#230 / 558 · 58th pct

Rec TDs#276 / 558 · 42nd pct

Rec yards#346 / 558 · 38th pct

315

Fumbles lost#86 / 218 · 36th pct

Long catch#393 / 558 · 29th pct

Yards / catch#508 / 558 · 9th pct

9.0

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).

Receiving profile

Receiver profile · Targets, catch rate, and throw depth

How often he's targeted, and how well it works

35 rec · 315 yds · 2 TD

35 of 35 receptions matched to play-by-play

29 of 45 targets charted for true throw depth

Targets

4512% of team targets

Catch rate

78%35 of 45 targets

Behind LOS · Negative air yds

28% of targets (8)

100%catch rate

Air -1.6 · YAC 9.4 avg

Short · 0–9 air yds

52% of targets (15)

87%catch rate

Air 4.7 · YAC 3.4 avg

Middle · 10–19 air yds

14% of targets (4)

75%catch rate

Air 14.0 · YAC 0.3 avg

Deep · 20+ air yds

7% of targets (2)

50%catch rate

Air 23.5 · YAC 0.0 avg

78% catch rate on 45 targets · 12% of the team's targets.

Situational

Situational · Share of own targets (PBP, 2025)

Third-down role

19%8 of his 43 targets came on third down · Receiver median is 24%

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2025 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	2.9	24.0	9.0	0.1
Road5g	3.0	29.4	11.2	0.2

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-76g	1.3	9.5	7.9	0.0
Weeks 8+6g	4.5	43.0	11.7	0.3

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Jim Mora

Pass share

56.9%

112 pass / 85 run

Plays / game

65.7

3 games

Team sack rate

1.0%

105 dropbacks · PBP

Scheme: Pass-leaning.

Awards

Player standing · 2025

Rotational

Earning real snaps in the rotation without a starting job.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

38 · #325 of 485 WRs

2026 outlook

Outside shot for All-Pac-12

Based on 2025: #21 of 41 Mountain West WRs — his program moves to the Pac-12 for 2026

How the All-Pac-12 estimate is computed

15% estimated, 95% confidence interval 13–17%. 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. The base rate was measured on players who stayed in the same conference; this estimate is not adjusted for the move to the Pac-12.

How he plays

Play style

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

CFB Index positional classification

Starter

Returning starter at receiver for a 2-10 Colorado State team that went -6 in the portal.

DNA match

Player DNA

Possession Receiver

Reliable target who converts on critical downs. Not flashy; consistently productive.

His 2025 production profile sits closest to Lyndon Ravare’s 2025 season.

Lyndon Ravare

77%match

Kennesaw State · 2025

Leyton Smithson

Washington State · 2022

75%

Matthew Coleman

San José State · 2025

73%

Charles Ross

San José State · 2021

72%

Bryson Graves

Coastal Carolina · 2025

71%

Matches Lyndon on

Yards / reception

Total EPA (college ability)

Height

Differs from Lyndon on

Class year (higher)

Reception volume (higher)

Through 1 college season, his career arc tracks closest to Cyrus Wallace’s path through Idaho State.

Cyrus Wallace

100%match

Idaho State · 2023

C.J. Hutton

UC Davis · 2024

99%

Cutrell Haywood

Gardner-Webb · 2022

97%

Bo Belquist

North Dakota · 2024

96%

Ryan Miller

Furman · 2022

96%

Matches Cyrus on

Yards per reception

As a sophomore, his production profile tracks closest to Lyndon Ravare's sophomore season at Kennesaw State (2025).

Lyndon Ravare

78%match

Kennesaw State · 2025

Troy Stellato

Clemson · 2023

77%

Skyler Bell

Wisconsin · 2023

Consensus All-AmericanNFL Rd 4

77%

Charles Ross

San José State · 2021

76%

Jose Barbon

Temple · 2021

75%

Matches Lyndon on

Yards / reception

Total EPA (college ability)

Height

Differs from Lyndon on

Class year (higher)

Reception volume (higher)

Player DNA

Players who play like Tay Lanier

Lyndon Ravare

Kennesaw State · 2025

77%

The receiver room · Colorado State

#10Tommy MaherWR · Jr.358 receiving yards · 2025
#6Tay LanierWR · Sr.315 receiving yards · 2025
#4Lavon BrownWR · R-Jr.244 receiving yards · 2025
#9Jordan MosleyWR · Gr.168 receiving yards · 2025
#6Jackson HarperWR · R-Jr.51 receiving yards · 2025

20 more on the roster · Colorado State team page

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