
Tight end, Indiana (from Wisconsin), 2020–25
Riley Nowakowski
- Number
- No. 37
- Height
- 6′2″
- Weight
- 243 lb
- Class (2025)
- Senior
- Hometown
- Milwaukee, WI
- Born
- Jun 30, 2002
Wikipedia readers: about 2,489 a month over the past year
Riley Nowakowski played tight end at Wisconsin (2020–24) and Indiana (2025). The Pittsburgh Steelers took Nowakowski in round 5, No. 169 overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.
At a glance
Honors
Team titles: National champions, 2025 (Indiana); Big Ten champions, 2025
Receiving
Season lines from CollegeFootballData, regular season and bowls.
On the roster
| Season | Team | No. | Pos | Class | Ht | Wt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Wisconsin | 37 | TE | Yr 1 | ||
| 2021 | Wisconsin | 37 | TE | Yr 2 | ||
| 2022 | Wisconsin | 37 | TE | Yr 3 | ||
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 37 | TE | Yr 4 | ||
| 2024 | Wisconsin | 37 | TE | Yr 5 | ||
| 2025 | Indiana | 37 | TE | Sr. (Yr 6) | 6′2″ | 243 |
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.
Per play
| Season | Team | Plays | EPA/play | Pctile | Median | Total | Usage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Wisconsin | 9 | 0.48 | – | – | 4.3 | – |
| 2024 | Wisconsin | 11 | 0.31 | – | – | 3.4 | – |
| 2025 | Indiana | 39 | 0.69 | 85th (n=1040) | 0.46 | 26.9 | 4% |
Expected points added: how much the player’s plays moved the team’s expected score, per play and in total. Plays: total EPA divided by EPA per play, the plays the source credits to him (for a receiver roughly his catches and runs, not every target; for a passer, not every attempt), so it can differ from attempts plus carries. Percentile: against the position’s regulars that season across all divisions on file (quarterbacks with 150+ plays, backs 60+, receivers and tight ends 30+), with how many there were (n) and their median; a dash means too few plays to rank. A season in progress uses the full-season bar scaled by games played, never below 75 plays for quarterbacks, 30 for backs and 20 for receivers. The cohort grows or shrinks with the source’s coverage each season (2025 lists far more players), so compare percentiles rather than raw EPA across years. FCS seasons are marked. Usage: the share of the team’s plays the player was part of (shown from 20 plays). From CollegeFootballData, 2013 on.
Game by game
2025 Indiana 14 games, 32 catches, 387 yards, 2 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Yds | TD | Long | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 27–14 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 9 | – |
| Sep 6 | vs. | W 56–9 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 1 |
| Sep 20 | vs. | W 63–10 | 1 | 43 | 1 | 43 | – |
| Sep 27 | at | W 20–15 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | – |
| Oct 11 | at | W 30–20 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | – |
| Oct 18 | vs. | W 38–13 | 3 | 54 | 0 | 39 | – |
| Oct 25 | vs. | W 56–6 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 6 | – |
| Nov 1 | at | W 55–10 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 19 | – |
| Nov 8 | at | W 27–24 | 3 | 51 | 0 | 29 | – |
| Nov 15 | vs. | W 31–7 | 4 | 65 | 1 | 37 | – |
| Dec 6 | vs. | W 13–10 | 2 | 20 | 0 | 11 | – |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. | W 38–3 | 3 | 36 | 0 | 31 | – |
| Jan 9 ✦ | vs. | W 56–22 | 2 | 18 | 0 | 13 | – |
| Jan 19 ✦ | vs. | W 27–21 | 2 | 17 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
2024 Wisconsin 7 games, 11 catches, 74 yards
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Yds | TD | Long | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30 | vs. | W 28–14 | 2 | 22 | 0 | 13 | – |
| Sep 28 | at | L 21–38 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 | – |
| Oct 5 | vs. | W 52–6 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 15 | – |
| Oct 12 | at | W 42–7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | – |
| Oct 26 | vs. | L 13–28 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | – |
| Nov 2 | at | L 10–42 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | – |
| Nov 23 | at | L 25–44 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | – |
2023 Wisconsin 5 games, 7 catches, 57 yards, 1 TD
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Yds | TD | Long | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 21 | at | W 25–21 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 14 | – |
| Nov 4 | at | L 14–20 | 2 | 31 | 0 | 23 | – |
| Nov 11 | vs. | L 10–24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | – |
| Nov 25 | at | W 28–14 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 5 | – |
| Jan 1 ✦ | vs. | L 31–35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – |
2020 Wisconsin 1 game, 1 tackle
| Date | Opponent | Result | Rec | Yds | TD | Long | Rush |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23 | vs. | W 45–7 | – | – | – | – | – |
Box scores from CollegeFootballData, 2004 on. ✦ postseason; ★ a career high on file.
Before the draft
| Drill | Combine 2026 | Combine or pro day 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6′2¼″ | |
| Weight | 250 lb | |
| Arm length | 31½″ | |
| Hand size | 8¾″ | |
| Wingspan | 77¼″W | |
| 40-yard dash | 4.66 s | |
| 10-yard split | 1.70 s | |
| Vertical jump | 33½″ | |
| Broad jump | 9′11″ | |
| 3-cone drill | 7.43 sW | |
| 20-yard shuttle | 4.61 sW |
Combine or pro day: the source doesn’t say which. Unmarked: Combine and pro day results compiled by array-carpenter (nfl-draft-data); W: Pre-draft measurables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
In the NFL
1 season, 2 games with a stat; latest team: Pittsburgh Steelers.
| Season | Team | G | Rec | Yds | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (so far) | Pittsburgh Steelers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Regular seasons, from nflverse (CC BY 4.0). G counts games in which the player recorded a stat.
Is this you, or do you know of something wrong or missing here? Suggest a correction. We check each one against a source before changing the page.