Efficiency & Role
EPA = expected points added per play. Compared with every FBS WR/TE who qualifies
Advanced
Computed from every play, garbage time excluded. FBS rank among players with enough volume
| Receiving | Value | FBS rank |
|---|---|---|
| Targets | 26 | — |
| Target share | 15.3% | 313th / 534 |
| Catch rate | 61.5% | 336th / 534 |
| Success rate per target | 42.3% | 371st / 534 |
| Yards per target | 7.8 | 284th / 534 |
| Explosive catches | 11.5% | 249th / 534 |
| Deep-target rate | 26.9% | — |
| 3rd-down targets | 3 | — |
| Red-zone targets | 1 | — |
Charting
Where Saunders's plays went: throw and catch spots, air yards and yards after the catch, read from the play-by-play
Where he's targeted27 targets charted
Career
4 seasons at 2 schools since 2014 · box-score totals, snap share estimated from play-by-play
| Season | Team | G | Snaps | Rec | Rec yds | Rec TD | Tgt share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 so far |  Southern Miss#121 · 3-5 | 6 | 37% | 16 | 211 | 0 | 15.3% |
| 2024 |  Penn State#4 · 13-3 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — |
| 2023 | Penn State#6 · 10-3 | 7 | 11% | 6 | 56 | 1 | 4.5% |
| 2022 | Penn State#6 · 11-2 | 1 | 1% | 2 | 21 | 0 | — |
Past seasons are summed from ESPN box scores; success rates and snap shares come from the play-by-play. Kaden Saunders's team rank is that season's final TDC rank. A dash means the stat wasn't recorded.
Game Log
Kaden Saunders's box score, game by game, from ESPN, with a 0–10 game score for each (hover it for how it works). Click a result for the full game
| Receiving | Returns | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk | Opponent | Result | Game score | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD | Long | KR | KR yds | PR | PR yds | TD |
| 1 |  Alcorn State | W 49–3 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||||
| 2 | @ Auburn | L 8–43 | — | no stats recorded | |||||||||
| 3 |  UConn | L 20–48 | 4.2 | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 0 | 8 | · | · | · | · | · |
| 4 | @ Tulane | L 21–24 | 5.3 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 | 0 | 14 | · | · | · | · | · |
| 6 | @ Troy | L 34–55 | 8.7 | 7 | 138 | 19.7 | 0 | 38 | · | · | · | · | · |
| 7 |  Arkansas State | L 13–23 | 6.0 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 18 | · | · | 2 | 31 | · |
| 8 |  Louisiana | W 35–31 | 2.8 | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 0 | 8 | · | · | 2 | 1 | · |
| 9 | @ UL Monroe | W 35–21 | 6.4 | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 0 | 14 | · | · | 2 | 50 | · |
| 2026 · 6 games | 5.6 | 16 | 211 | 13.2 | 0 | 38 | · | · | 6 | 82 | · | ||
2026 Season Stats
FBS rank among qualifying players
| Receiving | 2026 | FBS rank |
|---|---|---|
| Receptions | 16 | 434th / 2089 |
| Yards | 211 | 416th / 2074 |
| Yards / catch | 13.2 | 191st / 460 |
| Touchdowns | 0 | — |
| Long | 38 | — |
| Punt returns | 2026 | FBS rank |
|---|---|---|
| Returns | 6 | — |
| Yards | 82 | — |
| Average | 13.7 | — |
| Touchdowns | 0 | — |
| Long | 41 | — |
Snaps by Game
Estimated snaps from a model trained on real NFL snap counts. Ranges in brackets are where the real number lands 80% of the time: wide for a single game, tighter over the season. How it works
| Game | Start | Team plays | Est. snaps | Plays involved | Special teams | Snap share |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wk 3 · UConn | — | 78 | ~7 (2–11) | 1 | · | 9% |
| Wk 4 · Tulane | — | 64 | ~23 (7–31) | 3 | · | 36% |
| Wk 6 · Troy | — | 66 | ~54 (35–66) | 9 | · | 82% |
| Wk 7 · Arkansas State | ✓ WR | 60 | ~44 (29–54) | 6 | 2 | 73% |
| Wk 8 · Louisiana | ✓ WR | 81 | ~56 (37–68) | 5 | 2 | 69% |
| Wk 9 · UL Monroe | — | 72 | ~24 (8–33) | 3 | 2 | 33% |
| Season | 2 GS | 563 | 208 (129–253) | 27 | 6 | 37% |
Position Room
14 WRs on the Southern Miss roster, ordered by rec
| # | Player | Pos | Class | Rec | Yds | TD | Tgt share | EPA/play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mario Sanders | WR | SR | 44 | 600 | 5 | 26% | +0.45 |
| 8 | AJ Little | WR | JR | 18 | 275 | 1 | 11% | +0.48 |
| 7 | Kaden Saunders | WR | JR | 16 | 211 | 0 | 12% | +0.02 |
| 3 | MJ Johnson | WR | JR | 11 | 145 | 0 | 6% | +0.59 |
| 11 | Davis Dalton | WR | SR | 10 | 133 | 1 | 12% | -0.11 |
| 13 | Grant Page | WR | SR | 7 | 78 | 1 | 6% | +0.67 |
| 9 | Jaylen Himes | WR | SO | 6 | 42 | 1 | 8% | -0.10 |
| 0 | Eelijah Singleton | WR | JR | 3 | 17 | 0 | 6% | -0.62 |
| 19 | Cace Reed | WR | SO | — | — | — | — | — |
| 23 | Trey Horne | WR | JR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 38 | Nehemiah Taylor | WR | SO | — | — | — | — | — |
| 80 | King David Aboya | WR | FR | — | — | — | — | — |
| 83 | Dillon Rowley | WR | SO | — | — | — | — | — |
| 86 | Israel Leamon | WR | FR | — | — | — | — | — |
Stats, EPA and usage come from CollegeFootballData.com and refresh daily. FBS ranks only count players with enough volume for the stat to mean something. Qualifying for EPA takes 4+ plays per team game. Southern Miss depth chart →