James Empey - Football | byucougars.com

James Empey

Offensive Line 66

Ht/Wt

303 lbs.

Class

Junior

Hometown

American Fork,

Utah

Last School

American Fork High School

Roster Years

2017-2021

Parents are Stephanie and Mike Empey
Mike also played offensive line at BYU (1987, 91-93), was a team captain as a senior and coached TE and OL at BYU
Has three sisters
Served LDS mission to Lisbon, Portugal

BYU Hall of Fame

Freshman Year 2018

Named Freshman All-America by 2018 Football Writers Association of America
Named 2018 No. 1 freshman center by Pro Football Focus
Played and started all 13 games
Named best freshman lineman in the country by Pro Football Focus after the New Mexico State game
Between the LYnes web chat in Portuguese at Media Day

Sophmore Year 2019

Started all 13 games at center
Part of an offensive line unit ranked No. 12 by Pro Football Focus
Center for offense that generated 284.7 passing yards per game (No. 26 nationally)
Snapped for three different starting quarterbacks
2019 Rimington Trophy watch list nominee

Junior Year 2021

Played in and started six games (vs. Arizona, vs. No. 21 Utah, vs. No. 19 Arizona State, vs. Boise State, at Baylor, at Washington State).
Led BYU offense to...
- Scoring 33 points per game.
- Averaging 452 yards of total offense per game.
- Converting on 46% of third downs.
- Scoring on 89% of red zone trips (49 of 55), 75% of which (41) were touchdowns.
- Allowing just 15 sacks on the season.
Named a finalist for the 12th annual Pop Warner College Football Award (honors the difference a player makes on the field, in the classroom and in their community)
Named Preseason All-American by Phil Steele and Athlon Sports
Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year Award Semifinalist
Wuerffel Trophy Semifinalist
NFF William V. Campbell Trophy Semifinalist
Rotary Lombardi Award Semifinalist
Started in all 41 games he has played over his BYU career
Three-time Rimington Award Watch List (2019, 2020, 2021)
Two-time Outland Trophy Watch List (2020, 2021)
CoSIDA Academic All-District 8
Part of Pro Football Network Offensive Line of the Year

Senior Year

Graduate Year

Redshirt Year

Medical Redshirt Year

Junior 2020

Played and started eight games
2019 All-Indy center and anchor to BYU’s Joe Moore Semifinalist OL unit in 2020
Helped BYU offense rank No. 4 in scoring (43.5) and No. 6 in total offense (522.2)
Called protections/blocking for Cougars ranked No. 8 in the nation with 322.1 passing yards per game and ground attack that added 190.1 yards rushing
Part of the offensive line that created many explosive play opportunities, helping BYU rank No. 1 for the most plays of 30 or more yards and No. 2 for the most plays of 10+ yards
Named CoSIDA Academic All-District