The Best Kept Secret in College Football
The USF Bulls have a legit under-the-radar stud at WR.
In time, the savage bull doth bear the yoke.
- William Shakespeare, writer
Few would recognize the name KeShaun Singleton if you mentioned it to them. Even fewer would know that once the redshirt freshman began starting for USF (Oct. 19), he scored double digit full PPR CFF points in five of his last seven games, including 20+ points three times.
In fact, USF relief QB Bryce Archie referred to Singleton as a "baby Calvin Johnson'' due to his Megatron-like big body. Singleton wears 14 1/2-size shoes and 3XXXL-size gloves.
"He has big old paws,'' (offensive coordinator) Gordon said. "You love to see it.''
I don’t even know if he played vs. UNCC on Nov. 16, as he registered zero stats in that contest (zero targets). Normally that wouldn’t be odd but considering that he saw six, three and seven targets in the games leading up to that, and saw seven, eight, and five targets in the three games after, I do wonder what exactly happened there.
Either way, even if the game vs. UNCC was just a total zero from Singleton, his second half of the season was notable to me, especially considering that he didn’t play at all in 2023 as a true freshman, and then didn’t register a stat until his breakout on Oct. 19. Despite not starting (and barely playing) until mid October, Singleton actually finished as the Bulls’ WR2 on the year.
WR1 Sean Atkins is moving on this offseason, taking 118 targets with him. Ditto for WR3 Michael Brown Stephens, who takes with him 62 targets. And, WR4 Abdur Yaseen entered the portal, taking another 34 targets. Are you following what I’m putting down here?
Singleton is one of the last men standing in the room, and he’ll have the benefit of returning QB Byrum Brown throwing him passes in 2025. Brown himself had a disappointing season in 2024, but I am optimistic that he will bounce back in 2025. In fact, I wrote about him in detail in the 2025 Q1 QB rankings.
The one snag that I can see re:Singleton’s ascension in 2025 is that at 6’3 inches tall, it is unlikely that he’ll occupy the slot role for Golesh. As we’ll see in the next section, Golesh’s system has a preference in which WR dominates target share.
Coaching & System
WR1 PPG AVERAGE — HC: 15.8 — OC: 13.1 (half ppr)
USF head coach Alex Golesh is a disciple of the Josh Heupel coaching tree, serving as his OC at Tennessee in 2021 and 2022. He made his way onto my radar in a big way during the 2022 season when his prodigy in the slot, Jalin Hyatt, torched CFB and won the Biletnikoff Award.
His OC, Joel Gordon, joined Golesh’s staff in 2023 after serving as the pass game coordinator and QBs coach at ISU from 2018 to 2022.
As can be seen in Table 1 below, the slot receiver position is the preferred option in this system. While it is not recorded for 2024, the slot receiver led the team in target share once again (Sean Atkins). That’s three straight seasons where the WR1 came through the slot.
Also not captured in the table is Marlon Williams’ 2020 season. Williams finished the shortened COVID campaign with 1039 yards and 10 TDs on 71 receptions from the slot position; and yes, he was UCF’s WR1 by target share.
Unsurprisingly, as a Heupel Air Raid disciple, Golesh’s teams move very fast. His average hovers around 20 seconds per play, which means his offences are in the top five to 10 FBS programs with regard to pace each season.
The number of plays per game of the teams he’s been associated with never falls below 72, with a career high of 79 plays per game in 2023 (that probably had something to do with Byrum Brown’s monster output). That scaled back to only 72 plays per game in 2024.
However, what may surprise the reader is that Golesh’s offences lean heavier into the run. His average over the last four seasons is a 56/44 split, and a 55/45 split at USF. Even when Jalin Hyatt had his career year in 2022, Tennessee’s split was 55/45 in favour of the ground game.
KeShaun Singleton (6’3, 210)
2024 STATS: 27 (39) - 428 - 3 (7.5 PPG)
I don’t know if I can summarize Singleton’s CFB career any better than the USF team website, so why don’t I just paste that here:
2024: Ranked third on the team with 26 receptions for 408 yards and three touchdowns in his first season of action...made his USF debut at UAB (10/19), recording four receptions for 105 yards and a touchdown...caught two passes for 21 yards at FAU (11/1)…hauled in five passes for 58 yards against Navy (11/9)...caught five passes for 96 yards and a touchdown against Tulsa (11/23)…recorded seven receptions for 110 yards and one touchdown at Rice (11/30)...made four catches for 41 yards in Hawaii Bowl victory over San Jose State (12/24), including an acrobatic, 17-yard reception on 3rd-and-10 with 20 seconds to play that set up a game tying 41-yard field goal that sent the game to overtime.
2023: Redshirt season...sat out with an injury.
MEADOWCREEK HS: Totaled 1,078 receiving yards (67.4 ypg) and 13 touchdowns on 73 catches at Meadowcreek High School…had 1,254 career all-purpose yards and 16 touchdowns…2022 Atlanta Journal Constitution 7-7A All-Region First Team…posted 48 receptions for 640 yards (91.4 ypg) and nine touchdowns in his senior season…returned a punt 30 yards for a touchdown and caught a 32-yard touchdown vs. rival Berkmar…logged 25 catches for 438 yards and four touchdowns as a junior, adding 16 carries for 170 yards and two touchdowns…also played safety and logged 24 tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble in his senior season…played basketball and ran track…Rated a three-star prospect by 247Sports…chose USF over offers from Mississippi State, Purdue, Indiana, Minnesota, Wake Forest, Arkansas State, Coastal Carolina, ECU, Liberty, Marshall, Western Kentucky and others.
There is a discrepancy in his high school bio, from what I can tell Singleton was an unrated recruit according to 247 Sports.
It doesn’t really matter at this point. As mentioned above, his other offer sheet included multiple P4 programs such as Indiana, Wake Forest, Purdue and Mississippi State, suggesting that he was a notable high school recruit regardless of the ranking.
Singleton’s best game of the 2024 season came against Rice, where he caught seven passes on eight targets, for 107 yards and a score. It was the second time he went over 100 yards in the season. Again, considering that he really only played in six games, the fact that he finished second on the team in receiving is impressive.
Here is an update on Singleton’s development from the USF website from last season:
Singleton's practice progress has been noticed all season by USF coaches. The TD against UAB put him front-and-center for the fans, who are equally excited about the player's physical potential.
"Keshaun has big hands, big feet, good size, good speed, good burst … and he can really roll,'' Washington (former USF WRs coach) said. "When he made that play (against UAB), it gave confidence to him and to everybody. We had been lacking that big play and that showed everyone what he's capable of.''
"When I got to USF (last season), I feel like I wasn't very mature,'' said Singleton, who has gained 27 pounds since arriving in Tampa. "I had surgery, so that allowed me to get in the weight room, learn the plays and really reflect on my opportunity here. I think it made a huge difference. My body is better. And I think my head is better. I am ready to contribute.''
Singleton, who said he got his first name at birth when his mother glanced up at a television screen and saw the name of NFL player Keyshawn Johnson, hopes to play in the league one day. His physical skills, he said, could give him a chance.
"I'm bigger than most of the cornerbacks I face,'' Singleton said. "So I like to get physical with them. They don't like that. You put the ball up in the air and I feel like I'm going to go get it.''
It should also be noted that while it’s early (any info should be taken with a huge grain of salt), USF beat writer Sean Havens projected Singleton to be WR1 here.
Also of note, he projects former Wagner transfer Naeim Simmons in the slot. Simmons basically didn’t play in 2024 due to injury, but he had a solid year in 2023 with over 600 yards receiving on 65 targets off of the arm of Byrum Brown.
Closing
There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in this profile. If Byrum Brown bounces back… if Singleton takes on a lot of the vacated targets etc. etc. so naturally there is a lot of risk involved with projecting Singleton’s production in 2025.
As mentioned, the system under Golesh has a penchant for feeding the slot position, and it is unlikely that Singleton will play in this role. Nevertheless, he returns as the most productive player in the WR room, and if you are betting on Byrum Brown to bounce back in 2025 like I am, then a natural pairing would be to acquire Singleton at the very end of a draft.
While we all know Brown as a run-heavy QB, in 2023 he attempted 30 or more passes in eight out of 13 games. He threw three or more TDs five times, including a five TD game vs. Memphis.
So again, if you’re betting on a Brown bounce back, then the natural line of thinking should lead you to ask: who’s going to be on the other end of the line?
While CFFers should undoubtedly monitor the starting slot role in this system, I would say that as of writing this, Singleton is a WR from USF worth prioritizing as a late round dart throw as well. ◾
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