Usage Score
17.4
Player Dossier
2015-2018Illinois
Sam Mays
WR • 6'3" • 200 lbs • Missouri City, TX, USA
Vertical playmakerExplosive finisher
Sam Mays reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Efficiency
71.2
Consistency
61.5
Season Value
62.4
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by value score: 2018 Regular Season · Illinois
15161718
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Seasons Tracked
- 4
- Program Path
- Illinois
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
Scouting Read
Best season and peak-game context are pinned here so the rest of the page can stay analytical without losing the headline story.
Sam Mays, WR. Best season Best season by value score: 2018 Regular Season · Illinois. Sam Mays reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Sam Mays played WR for Illinois. Across 4 tracked seasons, Sam Mays recorded 563 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2018 with Illinois.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2018 Regular Season
Illinois paired 331 primary output with 71.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
2018 Regular Season role shape
target-driven usage with 71.2 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value is trending up
2018 Regular Season improved on the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Northwestern
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.
2018 Regular Season · Illinois
Games
11
Receiving Yards / G
30.1
Efficiency
71.2
Usage
17.4
Consistency
61.5
Best Game by takeover score
Northwestern
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. Kent State: 47. Unknown: 42. South Florida: 13. Penn State: 26. Rutgers: 11. Purdue: 37. Maryland: 16. Minnesota: 14. Nebraska: 32. Iowa: 24. Northwestern: 69
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. Kent State: 4 by 78.3. Unknown: 4 by 70. South Florida: 1 by 86.7. Penn State: 3 by 57.8. Rutgers: 2 by 36.7. Purdue: 2 by 100. Maryland: 2 by 53.3. Minnesota: 2 by 46.7. Nebraska: 2 by 100. Iowa: 3 by 53.3. Northwestern: 4 by 100
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins24 · Games = 3 · -7 vs Losses
Losses31 · Games = 7 · +7 vs Wins
First Half29.3 · Games = 6 · -1.7 vs Second Half
Second Half31 · Games = 5 · +1.7 vs First Half
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
11 games
Featured metric
Receiving Yards
Top game by takeover score
Northwestern
Best efficiency game
100 vs Northwestern
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 11/24 | @ Northwestern | L 16-24 | — | 4 | 69 | 17.3 | 17.30 | 0 | 28 |
| Sat 11/17 | vs Iowa | L 0-63 | — | 3 | 24 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 12 |
| Sat 11/10 | @ Nebraska | L 35-54 | — | 2 | 32 | 16 | 16 | 0 | 17 |
| Sat 11/3 | vs Minnesota | W 55-31 | — | 2 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 9 |
| Sat 10/27 | @ Maryland | L 33-63 | — | 2 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 10 |
| Sat 10/13 | vs Purdue | L 7-46 | — | 2 | 37 | 18.5 | 18.50 | 0 | 30 |
| Sat 10/6 | @ Rutgers | W 38-17 | — | 2 | 11 | 5.5 | 5.50 | 0 | 7 |
| Sat 9/22 | vs Penn State | L 24-63 | — | 3 | 26 | 8.7 | 8.70 | 0 | 11 |
| Sat 9/15 | vs South Florida | L 19-25 | — | 1 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 0 | 13 |
| Sat 9/8 | vs Unknown | — | — | 4 | 42 | 10.5 | 10.50 | 0 | 16 |
| Sat 9/1 | vs Kent State | W 31-24 | — | 4 | 47 | 11.8 | 11.80 | 0 | 17 |
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Illinois
2015-2018
Opening stop
Season Progression
2015201620172018
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 Regular Season | Illinois | 78 | 71.7 | 9.1 | — |
| 2016 Regular Season | Illinois | 158 | 73.6 | 16.2 | 80 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Illinois | -4 | — | 0 | -162 |
| 2018 Regular Season | Illinois | 331 | 71.2 | 17.4 | 335 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
Northwestern
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
69
Primary metric
69 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#2
Kent State
37
Primary metric
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
37 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#3
Minnesota
39
Primary metric
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
39 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#4
Michigan State
39
Primary metric
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
39 receiving yards with a 65 efficiency score.
#5
Northwestern
32
Primary metric
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
32 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by value score
2018 Regular Season · Illinois
331 primary output · 71.2 efficiency · 17.4 usage
62.4
#2
2016 Regular Season · Illinois
52.7
158 primary · 73.6 efficiency · 16.2 usage
#3
2015 Regular Season · Illinois
41.3
78 primary · 71.7 efficiency · 9.1 usage
Milestones
0
100+ receiving yards
0
8+ catch outings
0
2+ TD games
Bio, Recruit, and Data Context
Recruit Profile
2★
Class 2022 · Rating 0.7933
Faith Lutheran · Las Vegas, NV
- Committed To
- San José State
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2022
Career Facts
1
Career teams
4
Seasons tracked
563
Career Receiving Yards
Data Context
Coverage spans 4 tracked seasons, 22 games, and base opponent context only. Derived metrics fall back to raw production when share or rating context is missing.