With the San Francisco 49ers, 2019. Photo: Jeffrey Beall, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Receiver, SMU, 2005–⁠09

Emmanuel Sanders

Number: No. 17
Height: 5′11″
Hometown: Bellville, TX
Born: Mar 17, 1987

Emmanuel Sanders played receiver at SMU (2005–⁠09). The Pittsburgh Steelers took Sanders in round 3, No. 82 overall in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Best season: 1,339; Receiving yards, 2009 (SMU, 8–⁠5)
Drafted: No. 82; Round 3, 2010 NFL Draft (Pittsburgh Steelers)

18catches, best game on fileat Washington State, 2009 178receiving yards, best game on fileat Washington State, 2009 3receiving touchdowns, best game on filetwice; last vs. Texas State, 2008

Receiving

Receiving yards, season by season, with his team’s record

605

889

958

1,339

6–⁠61–⁠111–⁠118–⁠5

Season	Team	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
2006*	SMU	46	605	13.2	9	56
2007*	SMU	74	889	12.0	9	54
2008*	SMU	67	958	14.3	9	77
2009	SMU	98	1,339	13.7	7	75
On file (2006–⁠09)		285	3,791	13.3	34	77

Returns

Season	Team	PR	Yds	TD
2007*	SMU	25	183	0
2008*	SMU	4	19	0
2009	SMU	40	275	1
On file (2006–⁠09)		69	477	1

Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls. * That team-season’s player lines are missing part of the team’s yards in our source, so these numbers may be short. Kickoff returns are in our source’s box scores from 2009; before that most are missing, so return totals from those years may leave them out.

Defense before 2016

Season	G	Solo	Tkl
2006	11	5	5
2007	12	1	1
2008	10	4	4
2009	13	2	2
On file		12	12

Our box scores carry tackles, tackles for loss and sacks from 2016 only, so these come from other sources: cfbstats.com (Open Data Commons Attribution License), its game lines summed (G: the games he has a line in). A dash: the source has no number for it.

On the roster

Season	Team	No.	Pos	Ht
2006	SMU	17	WR
2007	SMU	17	WR
2008	SMU	17	WR
2009	SMU	17	WR	5′11″

As each season’s roster listed the player (CollegeFootballData). Classes before the latest listing are counted back from it; “Yr 1” is the year on file where that count can’t place a season he played (a redshirt, transfer or 2020 year); height and weight as last listed.

Game by game

2009 SMU 13 games, 98 catches, 1,339 yards, 7 TD

Date	Opponent	Result	Rec	Rec yds	Rec TD	PR
Sep 5	vs.Stephen F. Austin	W 31–⁠23	8	66	0	3
Sep 12	atUAB	W 35–⁠33	9	148	1	4
Sep 19	atWashington State	L 27–⁠30	18	178	0	4
Oct 3	atTCU	L 14–⁠39	8	74	1	3
Oct 10	vs.East Carolina	W 28–⁠21	4	62	0	1
Oct 17	vs.Navy	L 35–⁠38	6	53	0	2
Oct 24	atHouston	L 15–⁠38	6	47	0	2
Oct 31	atTulsa	W 27–⁠13	5	79	0	5
Nov 7	vs.Rice	W 31–⁠28	6	136	1	2
Nov 14	vs.UTEP	W 35–⁠31	7	134	2	2
Nov 21	atMarshall	L 31–⁠34	8	94	1	3
Nov 28	vs.Tulane	W 26–⁠21	6	144	0	4
Dec 24 ✦	vs.Nevada	W 45–⁠10	7	124	1	5

2008 SMU 10 games, 67 catches, 958 yards, 9 TD

Date	Opponent	Result	Rec	Rec yds	Rec TD	PR
Aug 29	atRice	L 27–⁠56	8	121	1	–
Sep 6	vs.Texas State	W 47–⁠36	8	138	3	–
Sep 13	atTexas Tech	L 7–⁠43	8	125	0	–
Sep 20	vs.TCU	L 7–⁠48	6	62	0	–
Sep 25	atTulane	L 27–⁠34	9	115	1	–
Oct 4	atUCF	L 17–⁠31	6	51	0	3
Oct 11	vs.Tulsa	L 31–⁠37	6	132	1	–
Oct 18	vs.Houston	L 38–⁠44	8	79	2	–
Oct 25	atNavy	L 7–⁠34	3	28	0	1
Nov 8	vs.Memphis	L 26–⁠31	5	107	1	–

2007 SMU 12 games, 74 catches, 889 yards, 9 TD

Date	Opponent	Result	Rec	Rec yds	Rec TD	PR
Sep 3	vs.Texas Tech	L 9–⁠49	3	28	0	4
Sep 8	vs.North Texas	W 45–⁠31	10	72	1	1
Sep 15	atArkansas State	L 28–⁠45	8	100	1	1
Sep 22	atTCU	L 7–⁠21	7	98	0	4
Sep 29	vs.UTEP	L 45–⁠48	6	95	0	3
Oct 13	atSouthern Miss	L 7–⁠28	4	47	0	3
Oct 20	vs.Tulane	L 34–⁠41	8	155	2	1
Oct 27	atTulsa	L 23–⁠29	6	57	1	1
Nov 4	atHouston	L 28–⁠38	5	76	0	1
Nov 10	vs.Rice	L 42–⁠43	2	32	1	2
Nov 17	vs.UCF	L 20–⁠49	2	11	0	1
Nov 24	atMemphis	L 52–⁠55	13	118	3	3

2006 SMU 11 games, 46 catches, 605 yards, 9 TD

Date	Opponent	Result	Rec	Rec yds	Rec TD	PR
Sep 2	atTexas Tech	L 3–⁠35	2	20	0	–
Sep 9	atNorth Texas	L 6–⁠24	4	26	0	–
Sep 16	vs.Sam Houston	W 45–⁠14	3	33	1	–
Sep 23	vs.Arkansas State	W 55–⁠9	3	26	1	–
Sep 30	atTulane	W 33–⁠28	4	62	1	–
Oct 7	atUTEP	L 21–⁠24	2	74	1	–
Oct 14	vs.Marshall	W 31–⁠21	6	62	1	–
Oct 21	atEast Carolina	L 21–⁠38	8	87	2	–
Oct 31	vs.UAB	W 22–⁠9	4	52	0	–
Nov 11	vs.Houston	L 27–⁠37	9	151	2	–
Nov 25	atRice	L 27–⁠31	1	12	0	–

Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.

Before the draft

Played in the 2010 East–West Shrine Game (West team, lost 10–⁠13).

Drill	Combine 2010
Height	5′10⅞″
Weight	186 lb
Arm length	32″
Hand size	9¼″
40-yard dash	4.41 s
10-yard split	1.49 s^W
Vertical jump	39½″
Broad jump	10′6″
Bench press	12 reps
3-cone drill	6.64 s
20-yard shuttle	4.10 s

Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Rosters and honors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

In the NFL

12 seasons, 171 games with a stat; latest team: Buffalo Bills.

Pro Bowls: 2 (2014, 2016)

Season	Team	G	Rec	Yds	TD
2010	Pittsburgh Steelers	13	28	376	2
2011	Pittsburgh Steelers	11	22	288	2
2012	Pittsburgh Steelers	16	44	626	1
2013	Pittsburgh Steelers	16	67	740	6
2014	Denver Broncos	16	101	1,404	9
2015	Denver Broncos	15	76	1,135	6
2016	Denver Broncos	15	79	1,032	5
2017	Denver Broncos	12	47	555	2
2018	Denver Broncos	12	71	868	4
2019	San Francisco 49ers	17	66	869	5
2020	New Orleans Saints	14	61	726	5
2021	Buffalo Bills	14	42	626	4
NFL career		171	704	9,245	51

Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0), matched to him by his draft pick and college (Player ids: DynastyProcess (GPL-3.0)). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat. Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams by NFL season: rosters and honors, Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

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