Usage / Role
32%
Rotational offensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2008-2011Duke
Donovan Varner
WR • 5'9" • Miami, FL, USA
Vertical playmakerExplosive finisher
Donovan Varner reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Impact Production
92
Top-tier box-score impact for a receiver
lowelite
Reliability
72
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
83
High-upside career profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2009 Regular Season · Duke
08091011
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 4
- Program Path
- Duke
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Wake Forest
Player Story
Donovan Varner built his college career from 2008 through 2011 as a wide receiver from Miami, FL wearing No. 26, spending time with Duke. The clearest part of Donovan Varner's career was his receiving role: 207...
Read the story2★
- Committed To
- Northern Iowa
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2020
Donovan Varner, WR. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2009 Regular Season · Duke. Donovan Varner reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Receiving yards
- 2,660
- Receptions
- 207
- Touchdowns
- 14
Quick Answers
Donovan Varner quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Duke · WR
- Career Receiving Yards
- 2,660
- Tracked sample
- 4 unique seasons · 4 entries · 44 games
- Best season
- 2009 Regular Season · Duke
- Top game
- Wake Forest
- Recruit profile
- 2-star · Blue Springs · Northern Iowa
- High school pipeline
- Blue Springs · 23 FBS recruits · 5 drafted players
- Latest roster
- No. 26 · Class 2011
- 2011 Receiving yards rank
- 713 receiving yards · WR 84th (top 11%) · ACC 13th (top 8%) · National 91st (top 6%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Regular Season | Duke | 8 | 21 | 164 | 1 | 29 |
| 2009 Regular Season | Duke | 12 | 65 | 1,047 | 8 | 80.3 |
| 2010 Regular Season | Duke | 12 | 60 | 736 | 2 | 71.4 |
| 2011 Regular Season | Duke | 12 | 61 | 713 | 3 | 67.1 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Donovan Varner
Donovan Varner played WR for Duke. Across 4 tracked seasons, Donovan Varner recorded 51 rushing yards, 2,660 receiving yards, and 14 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2009 with Duke.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2009 Regular Season
Duke paired 1,047 primary output with 88.6 efficiency.
Supporting note
2009 Regular Season role shape
target-driven usage with 88.6 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2011 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Wake Forest
Loss with an explosive receiving profile. It landed in the 100th percentile of the selected season.
Analysis workspace
Season Workbench
Filter the strongest season sample, inspect game-level shape, and then drop into the full log without losing the story of the year.
Season Explorer
Understand the selected season before dropping into the full game log.
2009 Regular Season · Duke
Games
12
Receiving Yards / G
87.3
Efficiency
88.6
Usage
20.9
Consistency
63
Best Game by takeover score
Wake Forest
Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.
Active game
Hover over a point
Hover or select a game to keep its context visible here without the page shifting around.
Game-by-Game Trend
Follow how the selected stat changes from one game to the next. Spikes mark standout outings, while dips show quieter weeks.
Chronological game order.
Game by game trend chart. Richmond: 39. Army: 31. Kansas: 40. North Carolina Central: 76. Virginia Tech: 87. NC State: 154. Maryland: 120. Virginia: 113. North Carolina: 14. Georgia Tech: 34. Miami: 165. Wake Forest: 174
Volume vs Efficiency
Each dot is a game. Farther right means the player carried more of the workload, and higher means they were more efficient with those chances.
Low volumeHigh quality
High volumeHigh quality
Low volumeLower quality
High volumeLower quality
Volume on the x-axis, quality on the y-axis.
Volume versus efficiency scatter chart. Richmond: 6 by 43.3. Army: 1 by 100. Kansas: 3 by 88.9. North Carolina Central: 6 by 84.4. Virginia Tech: 4 by 100. NC State: 7 by 100. Maryland: 8 by 100. Virginia: 7 by 100. North Carolina: 2 by 46.7. Georgia Tech: 2 by 100. Miami: 8 by 100. Wake Forest: 11 by 100
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins98.8 · Games = 5 · +19.8 vs Losses
Losses79 · Games = 7 · -19.8 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
12 games
Featured metric
Receiving Yards
Top game by takeover score
Wake Forest
Best efficiency game
100 vs Wake Forest
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 11/28 | vs Wake Forest100 receiving yards · High volume | L 34-45 | — | 11 | 174 | 15.8 | 15.80 | 2 | 56 |
| Sat 11/21 | @ Miami100 receiving yards · High volume | L 16-34 | — | 8 | 165 | 20.6 | 20.60 | 1 | 64 |
| Sat 11/14 | vs Georgia Tech | L 10-49 | — | 2 | 34 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 29 |
| Sat 11/7 | @ North Carolina | L 6-19 | — | 2 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Sat 10/31 | @ Virginia100 receiving yards | W 28-17 | — | 7 | 113 | 16.1 | 16.10 | 0 | 40 |
| Sat 10/24 | vs Maryland100 receiving yards · High volume | W 17-13 | — | 8 | 120 | 15 | 15 | 1 | 25 |
| Sat 10/10 | @ NC State100 receiving yards | W 49-28 | — | 7 | 154 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 48 |
| Sat 10/3 | vs Virginia Tech | L 26-34 | — | 4 | 87 | 21.8 | 21.80 | 0 | 55 |
| Sat 9/26 | vs North Carolina Central2+ TD | W 49-14 | — | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | 12.70 | 2 | 18 |
| Sat 9/19 | @ Kansas | L 16-44 | — | 3 | 40 | 13.3 | 13.30 | 1 | 16 |
| Sat 9/12 | @ Army | W 35-19 | — | 1 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 1 | 31 |
| Sat 9/5 | vs Richmond | L 16-24 | — | 6 | 39 | 6.5 | 6.50 | 0 | 24 |
Player Story
Donovan Varner story
Donovan Varner built his college career from 2008 through 2011 as a wide receiver from Miami, FL wearing No. 26, spending time with Duke. The clearest part of Donovan Varner's career was his receiving role: 207 catches, 2,660 receiving yards, 13 touchdowns, and 51 rushing yards across 44 career games in the available record. His career also includes 51 rushing yards and 25 return yards, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. That gives Donovan Varner's career enough real context without stretching the story beyond the available production.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Duke
2008-2011
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2008200920102011
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 Regular Season | Duke | 164 | 38.1 | 11.2 | — |
| 2009 Regular Season | Duke | 1,047 | 88.6 | 20.9 | 883 |
| 2010 Regular Season | Duke | 736 | 75.2 | 20.8 | -311 |
| 2011 Regular Season | Duke | 713 | 77.2 | 19.1 | -23 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs Wake Forest
Week 13 · L 34-45 · Conference game
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
174
Receiving Yards
100 takeover
174 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#2
@ Virginia
Week 11 · L 21-31 · Conference game
132
Receiving Yards
100 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
132 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#3
@ Maryland
Week 5 · L 16-21 · Conference game
128
Receiving Yards
98.4 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
128 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#4
@ Miami
Week 12 · L 16-34 · Conference game
165
Receiving Yards
98.3 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
165 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#5
vs Elon
Week 1 · W 41-27
123
Receiving Yards
90.5 takeover
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
123 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2009 Regular Season · Duke
1,047 primary output · 88.6 efficiency · 20.9 usage
80.3
#2
2010 Regular Season · Duke
71.4
736 primary · 75.2 efficiency · 20.8 usage
#3
2011 Regular Season · Duke
67.1
713 primary · 77.2 efficiency · 19.1 usage
Milestones
9
100+ receiving yards
7
8+ catch outings
2
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Donovan Varner
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