Usage / Role
40%
Rotational offensive role
lowfeatured
Player Dossier
2011-2013Notre Dame
Troy Niklas
TE • 6'6" • Fullerton, CA, USA
Vertical playmakerExplosive finisher
Troy Niklas reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Impact Production
58
Solid production for a tight end
lowelite
Reliability
70
Reliable weekly contributor
lowhigh
Star Power
57
Useful peak profile
limitedstar
Career Arc
Value trend by season
Best season by Season Value: 2013 Postseason · Notre Dame
11121313
Snapshot
- Career Teams
- 1
- Unique Seasons
- 3
- Program Path
- Notre Dame
- Peak Game
- Peak game by takeover score: USC
Player Story
Troy Niklas built his college career from 2011 through 2013 as a tight end from Fullerton, CA wearing No. 85, spending time with Notre Dame. The clearest part of Troy Niklas' career was his receiving role: 37...
Read the story4★
- Committed To
- Notre Dame
- Commit Date
- Jan 1, 2011
NFL Draft
- Draft Year
- 2014
- Selection
- Round 2 · Pick 20
- Overall
- No. 52
- NFL Team
- Arizona Cardinals
Troy Niklas, TE. Best season Best season by Season Value: 2013 Postseason · Notre Dame. Troy Niklas reads as a vertical playmaker based on recent role and receiving efficiency.
Stat Footprint
Career production snapshot
- Receiving yards
- 573
- Receptions
- 37
- Touchdowns
- 6
Quick Answers
Troy Niklas quick answers
- Latest team and position
- Notre Dame · TE
- Career Receiving Yards
- 573
- Tracked sample
- 3 unique seasons · 4 entries · 18 games
- Best season
- 2013 Postseason · Notre Dame
- Top game
- USC
- Recruit profile
- 4-star · Servite · Notre Dame
- High school pipeline
- Servite · 40 FBS recruits · 6 drafted players
- NFL Draft
- 2014 · Round 2 · Pick 20 · Arizona Cardinals
- Latest roster
- No. 85 · Class 2013
- 2013 Receiving yards rank
- 498 receiving yards · TE 11th (top 4%) · FBS Independents 6th (top 7%) · National 211th (top 12%)
Season Ledger
Crawlable season-by-season stats
| Season | Team | Games | Rec | Rec Yds | TD | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | - | 0 | 0 | - |
| 2012 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 5 | 5 | 75 | 1 | 33.7 |
| 2013 Postseason | Notre Dame | 13 | 4 | 76 | 0 | 72.5 |
| 2013 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 13 | 28 | 422 | 5 | 72.5 |
Related Context
Keep exploring Troy Niklas
Troy Niklas played TE for Notre Dame. Across 3 tracked seasons, Troy Niklas recorded 573 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. His top tracked season came in 2013 with Notre Dame.
Player insights
Lead takeaway
Best season by value score: 2013 Postseason
Notre Dame paired 498 primary output with 79.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
2013 Postseason role shape
target-driven usage with 79.1 efficiency.
Supporting note
Career value stayed steady
2013 Regular Season tracked close to the prior stop by season value score.
Supporting note
Peak game by takeover score: USC
Win with an explosive receiving profile. It landed in the 76.9th 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.
2013 Postseason · Notre Dame
Games
13
Receiving Yards / G
38.3
Efficiency
79.1
Usage
14.3
Consistency
63.2
Best Game by takeover score
USC
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. Rutgers: 76. Temple: 66. Michigan: 76. Purdue: 9. Michigan State: 7. Oklahoma: 43. Arizona State: 49. USC: 58. Air Force: 20. Navy: 44. Pittsburgh: 18. BYU: 8. Stanford: 24
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. Rutgers: 4 by 100. Temple: 1 by 100. Michigan: 6 by 84.4. Purdue: 1 by 60. Michigan State: 1 by 46.7. Oklahoma: 2 by 100. Arizona State: 3 by 100. USC: 4 by 96.7. Air Force: 2 by 66.7. Navy: 2 by 100. Pittsburgh: 3 by 40. BYU: 1 by 53.3. Stanford: 2 by 80
Split Comparison
Compare how this player performed across different situations. "Games" shows how many matchups are included in each split.
Wins37.4 · Games = 9 · -2.8 vs Losses
Losses40.3 · Games = 4 · +2.8 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
USC
Best efficiency game
100 vs Rutgers
| Result | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat 12/28 | vs Rutgers | W 29-16 | — | 4 | 76 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 28 |
| Sun 12/1 | @ Stanford | L 20-27 | — | 2 | 24 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 19 |
| Sat 11/23 | vs BYU | W 23-13 | — | 1 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Sun 11/10 | @ Pittsburgh | L 21-28 | — | 3 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Sat 11/2 | vs Navy | W 38-34 | — | 2 | 44 | 22 | 22 | 0 | 28 |
| Sat 10/26 | @ Air Force | W 45-10 | — | 2 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 0 | 11 |
| Sat 10/19 | vs USC | W 14-10 | — | 4 | 58 | 14.5 | 14.50 | 1 | 30 |
| Sat 10/5 | vs Arizona State | W 37-34 | — | 3 | 49 | 16.3 | 16.30 | 1 | 21 |
| Sat 9/28 | vs Oklahoma | L 21-35 | — | 2 | 43 | 21.5 | 21.50 | 1 | 30 |
| Sat 9/21 | vs Michigan State | W 17-13 | — | 1 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Sun 9/15 | @ Purdue | W 31-24 | — | 1 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Sun 9/8 | @ Michigan | L 30-41 | — | 6 | 76 | 12.7 | 12.70 | 1 | 21 |
| Sat 8/31 | vs Temple | W 28-6 | — | 1 | 66 | 66 | 66 | 1 | 66 |
Player Story
Troy Niklas story
Troy Niklas built his college career from 2011 through 2013 as a tight end from Fullerton, CA wearing No. 85, spending time with Notre Dame. The clearest part of Troy Niklas' career was his receiving role: 37 catches, 573 receiving yards, and 6 touchdowns across 18 career games in the available record. His largest box-score season came in 2013 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. With 18 career games in the available record, his career has enough shape to show both opportunity and production across Notre Dame.
The arc is straightforward: Troy Niklas 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
2011-2013
Opening stop
Season Value Progression
2011201220132013
| Season | Team | Primary | Efficiency | Usage | Delta |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2012 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 75 | 61.3 | 6.8 | 75 |
| 2013 Postseason | Notre Dame | 498 | 79.1 | 14.3 | 423 |
| 2013 Regular Season | Notre Dame | 498 | 79.1 | 14.3 | 0 |
Signature Performances
Top Games
#1 Featured game
vs USC
Week 8 · W 14-10
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
58
Receiving Yards
89.4 takeover
58 receiving yards with a 96.7 efficiency score.
#2
@ Michigan
Week 2 · L 30-41
76
Receiving Yards
84.5 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
76 receiving yards with a 84.4 efficiency score.
#3
vs Rutgers
Week 1 · W 29-16 · Postseason
76
Receiving Yards
83.1 takeover
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
76 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#4
vs Oklahoma
Week 5 · L 21-35
43
Receiving Yards
76.9 takeover
Loss with an explosive receiving profile.
43 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
#5
vs Arizona State
Week 6 · W 37-34
49
Receiving Yards
74.4 takeover
Win with an explosive receiving profile.
49 receiving yards with a 100 efficiency score.
Top Seasons
#1 Season by Season Value
2013 Postseason · Notre Dame
498 primary output · 79.1 efficiency · 14.3 usage
72.5
#2
2013 Regular Season · Notre Dame
72.5
498 primary · 79.1 efficiency · 14.3 usage
#3
2012 Regular Season · Notre Dame
33.7
75 primary · 61.3 efficiency · 6.8 usage
Milestones
0
100+ receiving yards
0
8+ catch outings
0
2+ TD games
Next best actions
Keep exploring Troy Niklas
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