Caullin Lacy 2026 NFL Draft Profile

The slot receiver and return man for Louisville is coming off on an All-American 2025 season.

Sep 20, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Louisville Cardinals wide receiver Caullin Lacy (5) returns a kickoff against the Bowling Green Falcons during the first quarter at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

Prospect: Caullin Lacy
Position: Wide Receiver
School: Louisville
Year: Sixth-Year Senior

Background

Born December 22, 2001 (age 24) to parents Shanta and Quincy. A native of Mobile, Ala., Lacy was three-sport athlete at Faith Academy, lettering in football, basketball and track & field in all four years. He was a multi-purpose weapon in high school rushing for 1,842 yards and 23 touchdowns as a senior.

Coming out of high school, Lacy was projected as a wide receiver at the college level, and ranked as just the No. 2,208 prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. South Alabama and Jacksonville State were his only FBS offers, and Lacy opted to stay close to home and play for USA.

During his four seasons with South Alabama, Lacy showed clear improvement from a year-to-year basis. He caught just 11 catches for 98 yards (along with 20 rushes for 112yards) in 11 games as a freshman in 2020, then logged 41 receptions for 291 yards (plus 10 rushes for 26 yards) in 11 games as a sophomore. His junior year saw him take a massive jump, as he caught 64 balls for 812 yards and six scores in 13 games - along with 341 combined punt and kick return yards.

As a senior is 2023, Lacy was one of the most prolific wide receivers in all of college football, earning First-Team All-Sun Belt honors. He caught 91 passes for 1,316 yards and seven touchdowns, with the receptions mark good for fifth in the FBS and the yardage mark coming in at sixth. He also had 21 punt returns for 210 yards. Lacy entered the portal following the season, and committed to Louisville over Texas A&M.

Lacy was in line to be a significant contributor for the Cardinals in 2024, but his season was derailed after suffering a broken collarbone on the final day of fall camp. He rushed to return and was up-and-down as a result, catching 15 passes for 179 yards in his first four games of the season.

After the fourth game, Lacy opted out for the rest of the regular season to preserve his redshirt. He did return for the Sun Bowl, catching three passes for 17 yards and a touchdown, while rushing twice for 10 yards and a score. After the season, he announced he would return to the Cards.

For his final season in college, Lacy was a consistent No. 2 option behind First-Team All-ACC wideout Chris Bell. In 13 games and 11 starts, he caught 60 passes for 635 yards and two touchdowns, all of which were second on the team to Bell. He also had 15 rush attempts for 53 yards, 25 punt returns for 454 yards and two touchdowns and 12 kickoff returns for 251 yards. He not only earned a Third-Team All-ACC nod as a all-purpose back, he was an FWAA Second-Team All-American as a return specialist.

Measurements

At the NFL Combine, Lacy measured in at 5 feet and 9 1/8 inches (5091) and 183 pounds, along with 9 7/8" hands and 29 3/8″ arms. Additionally, he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds (with 1.59 and 2.66 10- and 20-yard splits, respectively), leapt 9 feet and 8 inches (116″) in the broad jump and 33 1/2″ in the vertical. Based on these measurements and numbers, Lacy earned a Relative Athletic Score of 2.67 out of 10, ranking 262nd out of 382 wide receivers from 1987 through 2025 (31st percentile).

Scouting Report

Strengths

• Has tremendous downfield vision with the ball in his hands, giving him very high run-after-catch ability.
• Takes extremely quick in cuts in all directions. Doesn't need much of a crease to make a man miss.
• Is better against press coverage vs. slot corners than expected, can get separation very fast at the line of scrimmage.

Weaknesses

• Has an undersized frame for the NFL game, has slight durability concerns given injuries in '24.
• Is quicker than fast. Lacks the second gear you'd expect him to have, which can allow corners to recover on longer developing routes.
• Doesn't have great ball tracking skills on deeper routes, and can be knocked off base relatively easily on contested catches.

NFL Comparison

• Parker Washington (Penn State: 2020-22, Jacksonville Jaguars 2023-present)

Highlights

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(Photo of Caullin Lacy: Jamie Rhodes - Imagn Images)