Jerreth Sterns was a 2-star prospect from Waxahachie Texas, a community just outside the Dallas-Fort Worth area. For Jerreth Sterns, football is a part of his family; his brother Josh signed with Western Kentucky, his brother Caden played at Texas, his brother Jamison played at West Texas A&M, and his brother Jordan played at OK State. He committed to Houston Baptist University at the FCS level and played with Bailey Zappe. As a freshman, he set a school record by hauling in 68 receptions for 684 yards and 4 touchdowns. In 7 of his 11 games he had 50 or more receiving yards and had at least 4 receptions in 9 of those 11 games. He continued to excel at Houston Baptist in 2019. In 10 of the 12 games he played, he recorded at least 50 receiving yards and he only had 2 games where he caught less than 5 passes. It’s evident by his 20.20% target share that he was a major reason that the Houston Baptist offense found success. He finished the year with 105 receptions and 833 yards. You love to see it.
The FCS season was cut short in 2020, but the numbers Sterns was putting up were absolutely absurd. In the 4 games he played, he recorded 47 receptions for 454 yards. He was on pace to have 141 receptions, 1,362 yards and 15 touchdowns if the FCS had a regular 12 game season. Following the season, he entered the transfer portal. Him and Bailey Zappe took their talents to the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers.
Technically still a junior in 2021 (the NCAA granted a year of eligibility to players due to the 2020 covid season), his stats increased across all fronts. Largely due to the new offense put in place, the air raid maximized Bailey Zappe’s arm and Sterns’ ability as a receiver. Over 14 games, he had 150 receptions, 1,902 yards and 17 touchdowns. It's at this point that I'm obligated to remind you that this was against better competition than he saw at the FCS level. He retained a target share that was greater than 25% at a 75% catch rate. He was number 1 in receiving touchdowns, receiving yards, and receptions across the entire NCAA in 2021.
At the Shrine Bowl, Sterns made opposing defenders consistently miss. He looked to be agile and elusive on the field. He was one of the bigger combine snubs, so we'll have to wait for the pro day numbers to see how he compares to the others in this class.
Jerreth Sterns was a UDFA signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers following the 2022 NFL Draft. He’s probably not going to make the team.
