Usage / Role
19%
Rotational offensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2014-2019SMU
CJ Sanders
WR • 5'9" • 183 lbs • Granada Hills, CA, USA
Vertical playmakerExplosive finisher
CJ Sanders reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Impact Production
36
Developing production for a receiver
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
37
Limited ceiling signals so far
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Notre Dame
141515161717181919
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 2
- Unique Seasons
- 6
- Program Path
- Notre Dame • SMU
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: Navy
Player Story
CJ Sanders built his college career from 2014 through 2019 as a wide receiver from Granada Hills, CA wearing No. 1, spending time with Notre Dame and SMU. The clearest part of CJ Sanders' career was his return-game...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Notre Dame
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2015
CJ Sanders, WR. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2016 Regular Season · Notre Dame. CJ Sanders reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Receiving yards
- 486
- Receptions
- 42
- Touchdowns
- 12
Quick Answers
CJ Sanders quick answers
- Latest team and position
- SMU · WR
- Career Receiving Yards
- 486
- Tracked sample
- 6 unique seasons · 9 entries · 53 games
- Best season
- 2016 Regular Season · Notre Dame
- Top game
- Navy
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Notre Dame · Notre Dame
- High school pipeline
- Notre Dame · 31 FBS recruits · 1 drafted player
- Latest roster
- No. 1 · Senior
- 2019 Receiving yards rank
- 154 receiving yards · WR 539th (top 53%) · American Athletic 65th (top 36%) · National 733rd (top 37%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2015 Postseason | Notre Dame | 12 | - | 0 | 0 | 39.6 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 39.6 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 12 | 24 | 293 | 6 | 62.4 |
| 2017 Postseason | Notre Dame | 12 | - | 0 | 0 | 41.2 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 41.2 |
| 2018 Regular Season | SMU | 4 | 5 | 39 | 0 | 38.1 |
| 2019 Postseason | SMU | 13 | 4 | 37 | 0 | 41.7 |
| 2019 Regular Season | SMU | 13 | 7 | 117 | 4 | 41.7 |
Related Context
Keep exploring CJ Sanders
CJ Sanders played WR for Notre Dame and SMU. Across 6 tracked seasons, CJ Sanders recorded 28 rushing yards, 486 receiving yards, and 3 tackles. His top tracked season came in 2016 with Notre Dame.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2016 Regular Season
Notre Dame paired 293 primary output with 63.7 efficiency.
Supporting note
2019 Postseason role shape
target-driven usage with 73.6 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2019 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Multi-stop career journey
Production spans 2 team stops, with role shifts visible across Notre Dame, SMU.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: Navy
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.
2019 Postseason · SMU
Games
13
Receiving Yards / G
11.8
Efficiency
73.6
Usage
8.3
Consistency
12.8
Best Game by takeover score
Navy
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. Florida Atlantic: 37. Arkansas State: 0. North Texas: 0. Texas State: 0. TCU: 0. South Florida: 0. Tulsa: 0. Temple: 0. Houston: 0. Memphis: 32. East Carolina: 12. Navy: 51. Tulane: 22
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. Florida Atlantic: 4 by 61.7. South Florida: 1 by 0. Memphis: 1 by 100. East Carolina: 1 by 80. Navy: 3 by 100. Tulane: 1 by 100
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins3.4 · Games = 10 · -36.6 vs Losses
Losses40 · Games = 3 · +36.6 vs Wins
Game Log
Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.
13 games
Featured metric
Receiving Yards
Top game by takeover score
Navy
Best efficiency game
100 vs Tulane
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/21 | @ Florida Atlantic | L 28-52 | — | 4 | 37 | 9.3 | 9.30 | 0 | 15 |
| Sat 11/30 | vs Tulane | W 37-20 | — | 1 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| Sat 11/23 | @ Navy | L 28-35 | — | 3 | 51 | 17 | 17 | 0 | 33 |
| Sat 11/9 | vs East Carolina | W 59-51 | — | 1 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Sat 11/2 | @ Memphis | L 48-54 | — | 1 | 32 | 32 | 32 | 0 | 32 |
| Thu 10/24 | @ Houston | W 34-31 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sat 10/19 | vs Temple | W 45-21 | — | — | — | 1 | — | — | — |
| Sat 10/5 | vs Tulsa | W 43-37 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sat 9/28 | @ South Florida | W 48-21 | — | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Sat 9/21 | @ TCU | W 41-38 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sat 9/14 | vs Texas State | W 47-17 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Sat 9/7 | vs North Texas | W 49-27 | — | — | — | 3 | — | — | — |
| Sat 8/31 | @ Arkansas State | W 37-30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Player Story
CJ Sanders story
CJ Sanders built his college career from 2014 through 2019 as a wide receiver from Granada Hills, CA wearing No. 1, spending time with Notre Dame and SMU. The clearest part of CJ Sanders' career was his return-game role: 3,488 return yards and 6 return touchdowns across 53 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2016 with Notre Dame. Those numbers show where he fit, how often the ball or action found him, and how his role developed over time.
The value of the career arc is that it connects production to role, not just a name on a roster. His career also includes 28 rushing yards, 486 receiving yards, and 3 tackles, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 53 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Notre Dame and SMU.
The arc is straightforward: CJ Sanders moved through the depth chart, found a larger role, and turned that opportunity into production that can be understood through standard football numbers.
Career Arc
Track team changes, role shifts, and season-to-season movement.
- 1
Notre Dame
2014-2017
Opening stop
- 2
SMU
2018-2019
Final stop
Season Value Progression
201420152015201620172017201820192019
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2015 Postseason | Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 |
| 2015 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 5.6 | 0 |
| 2016 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 293 | 63.7 | 14.1 | 293 |
| 2017 Postseason | Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | -293 |
| 2017 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 7.1 | 0 |
| 2018 Regular Season | SMU | 39 | 50 | 9 | 39 |
| 2019 Postseason | SMU | 154 | 73.6 | 8.3 | 115 |
| 2019 Regular Season | SMU | 154 | 73.6 | 8.3 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
@ Navy
Week 13 · L 28-35 · Conference game
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
51
Receiving Yards
87.6 takeover
51 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#2
@ Texas
Week 1 · L 47-50
55
Receiving Yards
83 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
55 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#3
vs Duke
Week 4 · L 35-38
61
Receiving Yards
81.8 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
61 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#4
vs Nevada
Week 2 · W 39-10
46
Receiving Yards
74.8 takeover
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
46 receiving yards with a 61.3 efficiency score.
#5
vs Michigan State
Week 3 · L 28-36
53
Receiving Yards
73.4 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
53 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2016 Regular Season · Notre Dame
293 primary output · 63.7 efficiency · 14.1 usage
62.4
#2
2019 Postseason · SMU
41.7
154 primary · 73.6 efficiency · 8.3 usage
#3
2019 Regular Season · SMU
41.7
154 primary · 73.6 efficiency · 8.3 usage
Milestones
0
100+ receiving yards
0
8+ catch outings
0
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring CJ Sanders
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