Player Dossier

2017-2021

Michigan State

Connor Heyward

RB • 6'0" • 230 lbs • Duluth, GA, USA

Balanced backfield optionSteady chain mover

Connor Heyward leans balanced backfield option traits and 61.9 efficiency.

Usage / Role

11%

Rotational offensive role

lowfeatured

Impact Production

31

Developing production for a back

lowelite

Reliability

22

Sporadic game-to-game production

lowhigh

Star Power

48

Limited ceiling signals so far

limitedstar

Career Arc

Value trend by season

Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Michigan State

1717181819202121

Snapshot

Career Teams
1
Unique Seasons
5
Program Path
Michigan State
Peak Game
Peak game by takeover score: Maryland

Player Story

Connor Heyward built his college career from 2017 through 2021 as a running back from Duluth, GA wearing No. 11, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Connor Heyward's career was his backfield work:...

Read the story
4★

Recruit Profile

Class 2024 · Rating 0.899

St. John Bosco · Bellflower, CA

Committed To
Texas A&M
Commit Date
Jan 1, 2024

NFL Draft

Draft Year
2022
Selection
Round 6 · Pick 30
Overall
No. 208
NFL Team
Pittsburgh Steelers

Connor Heyward, RB. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2018 Postseason · Michigan State. Connor Heyward leans balanced backfield option traits and 61.9 efficiency.

Stat Footprint

Career production snapshot

Scrimmage yards
1,536
Rushing yards
825
Receiving yards
711
Touchdowns
11

Quick Answers

Connor Heyward quick answers

Latest team and position
Michigan State · RB
Career Scrimmage Yards
1,536
Tracked sample
5 unique seasons · 8 entries · 45 games
Best season
2018 Postseason · Michigan State
Top game
Maryland
Recruit profile
4-star · St. John Bosco · Texas A&M
High school pipeline
St. John Bosco · 96 FBS recruits · 4 drafted players
NFL Draft
2022 · Round 6 · Pick 30 · Pittsburgh Steelers
Latest roster
No. 11 · Junior
2021 Scrimmage yards rank
333 scrimmage yards · RB 280th (top 41%) · Big Ten 69th (top 24%) · National 708th (top 28%)

Season Ledger

Crawlable season-by-season stats

SeasonTeamGamesScrimmageRush YdsRec YdsTDOverall
2017 PostseasonMichigan State9000010.3
2017 Regular SeasonMichigan State9231013110.3
2018 PostseasonMichigan State13990061.8
2018 Regular SeasonMichigan State13769520249561.8
2019 Regular SeasonMichigan State41317952136.5
2020 Regular SeasonMichigan State727120071243.9
2021 PostseasonMichigan State1244737144
2021 Regular SeasonMichigan State122890289144

Related Context

Connor Heyward played RB for Michigan State. Across 5 tracked seasons, Connor Heyward recorded 36 passing yards, 825 rushing yards, and 711 receiving yards. His top tracked season came in 2018 with Michigan State.

Player insights

Lead takeaway

Best season by value score: 2018 Postseason

Michigan State paired 778 primary output with 43.2 efficiency.

Supporting note

2019 Regular Season role shape

backfield-heavy usage with 41.5 efficiency.

Supporting note

Career value stayed steady

2021 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.

Supporting note

Peak game by takeover score: Tulsa

Win with 71 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value. 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 Regular Season · Michigan State

Games

4

Scrimmage Yards / G

32.8

Efficiency

41.5

Usage

12.8

Consistency

51.2

Best Game by takeover score

Tulsa

Hover a point or expand a game row to keep the active game context visible here.

Active game

Hover over a point

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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.

1234

Chronological game order.

Game by game trend chart. Tulsa: 71. Western Michigan: 20. Arizona State: 12. Northwestern: 28

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. Tulsa: 18 by 34.4. Western Michigan: 4 by 47.9. Arizona State: 4 by 25. Northwestern: 5 by 58.8

Split Comparison

Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.

Wins39.7 · Games = 3 · +27.7 vs Losses
Losses12 · Games = 1 · -27.7 vs Wins

Game Log

Dense stat lines with inline explanations and season-linked highlights.

4 games

Featured metric

Scrimmage Yards

Top game by takeover score

Tulsa

Best efficiency game

58.8 vs Northwestern

Result
Sat 9/21@ NorthwesternW 31-103175.7002115.6
Sat 9/14vs Arizona StateL 7-103620163
Sat 9/7vs Western MichiganW 51-173134.300175
Fri 8/30vs TulsaW 28-715432.9003283.9

Player Story

Connor Heyward story

Connor Heyward built his college career from 2017 through 2021 as a running back from Duluth, GA wearing No. 11, spending time with Michigan State. The clearest part of Connor Heyward's career was his backfield work: 825 rushing yards, 211 carries, 5 rushing touchdowns, and 711 receiving yards across 45 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2018 with Michigan State. 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 36 passing yards, 711 receiving yards, and 3 tackles, giving the story more than a single-category snapshot. With 45 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Michigan State.

The arc is straightforward: Connor Heyward 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. 1

    Michigan State

    2017-2021

    Opening stop

Season Value Progression

20172017201820182019202020212021
SeasonTeamPrimaryEfficiencyUsageDelta
2017 PostseasonMichigan State2327.51.2
2017 Regular SeasonMichigan State2327.51.20
2018 PostseasonMichigan State77843.221755
2018 Regular SeasonMichigan State77843.2210
2019 Regular SeasonMichigan State13141.512.8-647
2020 Regular SeasonMichigan State27132.721.8140
2021 PostseasonMichigan State33361.95.662
2021 Regular SeasonMichigan State33361.95.60

Signature Performances

Top Games

#1 Featured game

@ Maryland

Week 10 · W 24-3 · Conference game

Win with 159 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.

159

Scrimmage Yards

90.6 takeover

159 scrimmage yards and 28.1 usage.

#2

@ Nebraska

Week 12 · L 6-9 · Conference game

158

Scrimmage Yards

82.8 takeover

Loss driven by a workhorse rushing load.

158 scrimmage yards and 49.1 usage.

#3

vs Northwestern

Week 13 · W 29-20 · Conference game

105

Scrimmage Yards

80.2 takeover

Win driven by a workhorse rushing load.

105 scrimmage yards and 48.3 usage.

#4

vs Penn State

Week 13 · W 30-27 · Conference game

60

Scrimmage Yards

72.5 takeover

Win with 60 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.

60 scrimmage yards and 6.1 usage.

#5

vs Tulsa

Week 1 · W 28-7

71

Scrimmage Yards

72.4 takeover

Win with 71 yards from scrimmage and efficient touch value.

71 scrimmage yards and 29 usage.

Top Seasons

#1 Season by Season Value

2018 Postseason · Michigan State

778 primary output · 43.2 efficiency · 21 usage

61.8

#2

2018 Regular Season · Michigan State

61.8

778 primary · 43.2 efficiency · 21 usage

#3

2021 Postseason · Michigan State

44

333 primary · 61.9 efficiency · 5.6 usage

Milestones

1

100+ rush yards

2

150+ scrimmage yards

3

2+ TD games