Blake Proehl - Football (original) (raw)

Enjoyed success at both the “X” and “Z” positions during career, but turned in a banner final collegiate campaign playing at the latter slot ... In all, played in 31 career contests (22 starts) and recorded 130 receptions for 1,576 yards (12.1 ypr) and nine touchdowns … Of his 130 catches, 59 exceeded 10 or more yards (16 for 20-plus) … Had at least one reception in 29 of 31 games (two or more on 28 occasions) and closed career with a run of making at least one catch in 24-straight contests (streak began at UCF in 2018) … Scored at least one TD in seven outings (multiple scores on three occasions) ... Booked four century-mark receiving games (100/ODU '19, 105/CIN '19, 182/TLN '20, 152/SMU '20) ... Successfully bounced back to regain speed, quickness and full range of motion after completing a near year-long rehabilitation assignment (following a non-contact knee injury suffered during the first full workout of training camp in 2017 as a true freshman).

2020: Played in all nine games, opening seven ... Came off the bench in tilts at Tulsa and Cincinnati ... Topped team with 577 receiving yards on 47 catches (12.3 ypr) ... Scored four TDs - two each during home contests against Tulane (30, 75 yards) and SMU (11, 35) ... Established career-bests vs. the Green Wave with 13 receptions for 182 yards before following up with a six-catch, 152-yard season finale against the Mustangs during the Pirates' 52-38 victory ... In all, logged multiple catches in eight of nine outings ... Pulled down 11 grabs for 83 yards at Georgia State to account for other double-digit reception total ... Also blocked a punt and returned it 29 yards for a score against the Panthers ... Other notable effort came on the road at Tulsa with six catches for 69 yards ... Had four receptions at USF (36 yards), two catches against UCF (19), Navy (6) and Cincinnati (24), while netting one at Temple (6) ... Season-long grab was the 75-yarder vs. Tulane and also snared 38, 37 and 35-yard pickups vs. SMU ... In all, produced a team-high six catches of 20+ yards ... Was 19-of-21 (receptions-targets) on 1st down, 15-of-22 on 2nd down, 12-of-20 on 3rd down and 1-of-2 on 4th down ... Accounted for 25 first downs ... Picked up 494 yards on 36 catches during eight-game American Athletic Conference schedule ... Was unit's top receiver at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (four contests) with 23 grabs for 359 yards, an average of 15.6 yards per catch ... Also was the Pirates' hottest pass-catcher down the stretch with team highs in receptions (22) and reception yardage (364) during second half of campaign (November).

2019: Experienced action in all 12 games and made 11 starts … Opened the NC State, Gardner-Webb, Navy and Old Dominion contests at the “X” position and the William & Mary, Temple, UCF, Cincinnati, SMU, Connecticut and Tulsa tilts at “Z” … Came off the bench in American Athletic Conference matchup vs. USF … Was unit’s second-leading receiver with 54 catches and four touchdowns, while standing third in reception yardage with 670 … Averaged 12.4 yards per grab … Authored a pair of triple-digit receiving yardage outings, finishing with exactly 100 at Old Dominion (two catches) and 105 vs. Cincinnati (eight) … Caught at least two passes in each game and had five or more receptions on five occasions … Touchdown catches came against Bulldogs (20-yarder), Monarchs (season-long 72-yarder) and Golden Hurricane (3, 34) … Had a season-high eight receptions twice (8-105/Cincinnati, 8-89/Tulsa) … Other notables include seven grabs against Gardner-Webb (68 yards), six against UConn (49), five vs. NC State (45) and four each vs. William & Mary (51) and SMU (51) … Produced nine “big plays” (20-plus yards), including 72-yarder against Monarchs which ranked as the Pirates’ second-longest offensive play from scrimmage during the season … In all, was targeted 81 times (66.7 catch percentage) and recorded 34 first downs … Was third on receiving corps with 36 catches for 406 yards and two TDs during eight-game AAC schedule, but led all ECU pass-catchers with 18 receptions for 264 yards and a pair of scores during four non-league matchups … Other splits include home (32-379, 3 TD) and road contests (22-291, 1 TD), both of which ranked second on team … Was the Pirates’ top receiver in first half of season (22-315, 2 TD), but ranked third in final six games despite increased numbers (32-355, 2 TD) … Also was ECU’s most productive pass-catcher in the month of September, hauling in 15 throws for 238 yards and two scores … Credited with one tackle (interception return at UCF).

2018: Enjoyed productive inaugural campaign on Pirates’ active roster, standing third on unit in both catches (29) and reception yards (329) … Averaged 11.3 yards per grab … Played in 10 games (did not experience action in final two contests against Cincinnati and NC State because of an injury) … Made four starts – North Carolina A&T, USF, Houston and Connecticut … Also recorded one rush, a 16-yarder vs. the Huskies in home finale … Scored once, hauling in a seven-yard pass from Reid Herring during second quarter action in the opener against the Aggies (which marked ECU’s first TD of the season) … Recorded multiple receptions in a game on seven occasions, which included a season-high nine grabs (65 yards) vs. N.C. A&T … Top yardage total was 70 (on just three catches) vs. Old Dominion … Tallied five receptions for 50 yards in American Athletic Conference opener at USF … Other multi-catch outings came against North Carolina (3-32), Temple (3-17), Connecticut (3-37) and Memphis (2-29) … Had a single 29-yard reception at Tulane … Did not record statistics in contests vs. Houston and UCF … Turned in a season-long 37-yarder during the Pirates’ victory against the Monarchs at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium … Fifteen (15) receptions resulted in a gain of 10-plus yards … Targeted on 47 occasions (61.7 percent catch rate) … Had 14 catches for 162 yards in seven AAC matchups, but was ECU’s second-leading receiver in three non-conference outings (15-167) … Produced 20 (of 29) receptions for 233 yards in seven home games (9-96 in three road tilts) … Stood second on the team with 23 grabs for 234 yards during the first half of the season (6 contests) … Recorded nearly 70 percent of his receptions in the month of September (20-217) before following with a three-catch October and a six-grab November.

2017: Redshirted as a true freshman to enable focus on aforementioned rehabilitation work after suffering season-ending injury during the opening days of preseason camp … Member of former head coach Scottie Montgomery’s second signing class who arrived on campus in mid-May for the first summer semester and immediately began work in Pirates’ strength and conditioning program ... Despite injury, developed into one of the more active and popular players in the program’s community relations efforts.

High School: A three-year letterman for coach Brad Bowles at Providence who recorded 80 career receptions for 1,424 yards and 14 touchdowns … Also contributed significantly to Panthers’ special teams squad with a combined 34 kickoff returns for 736 yards (21.6 ypr) and 29 punt returns for 196 yards (6.8 ypr) … In all, amassed 2,370 all-purpose yards in 37 prep outings … Earned All-SoMeck 8 Conference honors as a senior team captain after racking up 1,016 receiving yards and 12 scores on 52 catches … Posted a long reception of 66 yards in 2016 … Selected as wide receiver-of-the-year at the annual Charlotte Football Awards banquet … Averaged 22.7 yards per kickoff return (11-250) during final year in PHS program … Made notable impact on both offensive and special teams units during first full-time varsity campaign in 2015 with 22 catches for 336 yards and a pair of scores … Served as Panthers’ primary returner as a junior, tallying a collective 523 return yards on kickoffs (20-428) and punts (12-95) … Earned initial Providence varsity roster position as a sophomore and totaled 72 pass reception yards on six grabs after being elevated to starting status midway through season … Booked a personal single-season best 96 punt return yards in 13 attempts while also handling three kick returns for 58 yards … Committed to Pirates on June 22, 2016 after attending camp on the ECU campus … Rated as a three-star prospect and 48th in the state according to 247Sports.com … Also recruited by Appalachian State, Charlotte, Elon, FIU, Georgia State, Air Force, Coastal Carolina, Duke, Furman, Liberty, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest … Picked up an additional athletic letter in basketball during freshman year.

Personal: Full name is Christian Blake Proehl … Born at Greensboro, N.C. … Son of Ricky and Kelly Proehl … Father, a former receivers coach for the Carolina Panthers, was a record-setting and All-Atlantic Coast Conference receiver at Wake Forest (1986-89) who was drafted in the third round (58th overall) of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals and went on to enjoy a 17-year professional career that included 669 receptions for 8,878 yards and 54 touchdowns for six different organizations (two Super Bowl champions – 1999 St. Louis Rams and 2006 Indianapolis Colts) … Older brother Austin, who also starred as a wide receiver at Providence, signed with the North Carolina Tar Heel program in 2014 and made one catch for three yards against ECU as a true freshman during the Pirates’ 70-41 win at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium later that year on Sept. 20 … A communication major who earned numerous academic accolades for work in the classroom (ECU Honor Roll/2017 -2018 fall semesters & 2020 spring semester, ECU Dean’s List/2018 & 2019 spring semesters) before graduating with a bachelor's degree on Dec. 4, 2020.