Defying the Odds: Small Guys Who Will Make a Big Impact on 2017 CFB Season
Arkansas State's Warren Wand is shorter than the vast majority of running backs and weighs about half as much as some of the guys trying to tackle him, but the 5'5" machine might just lead the Sun Belt in rushing yards in 2017.
Based on a sampling of 10 percent of college football rosters from last season, the average height at several key offensive positions is 6'2.1" for quarterbacks, 6'0.6" for wide receivers and 5'10.6" for running backs.
With those numbers in mind, the search was on for QBs no taller than 6'0", WRs no taller than 5'9" and RBs 5'7" or shorter who are likely to put up big numbers in 2017. (We also included a pair of undersized defensive players in the honorable mentions, although small impact defenders were almost impossible to find.)
As far as rankings were concerned, the smaller the player, the better. A 5'6" wide receiver with a good shot at a breakout season is more valuable than a 5'9" one who has already had a solid season or two. But stats from last year did play an important part in the ranking process.
Honorable Mentions
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Marquis Haynes, 222 lbs, Ole Miss DE
Every other guy on the list is here because of his height, but it's incredible what Marquis Haynes is able to do in spite of his weight. The average defensive lineman is just under 270 pounds. Most edge-rushers weigh in a bit below that mark, but not this far below. However, without that extra 50 pounds, he has been able to knife into the backfield for 24.5 sacks in his career.
Steven Richardson, 6'0", Minnesota DT
At 300 pounds, Steven Richardson's weight is much more in line with the norm than Haynes'. But at just 6'0"—the average defensive lineman is 6'2.75"—Richardson is like a bowling ball trying to penetrate offensive lines. But it works for him and the Golden Gophers, as he had seven sacks last year.
Olamide Zaccheaus, 5'8", Virginia WR
Olamide Zaccheaus is one of the best offensive weapons the Virginia Cavaliers have at their disposal. He had 51 receptions for 584 yards and seven touchdowns last season and should be headed for an even bigger role with Taquan Mizzell and Keeon Johnson both gone.
Kenny Young, 5'7", Miami (OH) RB
He's still stuck behind Alonzo Smith on the depth chart, but Kenny Young has been a Darren Sproles-esque change-of-pace back for the RedHawks. He had 758 total yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns as a sophomore.
Kyle Evans, 5'6", Colorado RB
Like Young, Kyle Evans is also relegated to backup duties with Phillip Lindsay still around to put up big numbers for the Buffaloes. But this 5'6" running back had 460 yards from scrimmage last year.
J.J. Taylor, 5'6", Arizona RB
It was running back by committee in 2016 at Arizona, where four different backs rushed for at least 250 yards. This 5'6" then-freshman was one of those guys, and he got all of those yards in two games. Taylor rushed for 168 against Hawaii, followed by 97 against Washington. Unfortunately, he suffered a broken ankle in that second game, but he could be the No. 1 guy for the Wildcats if he stays healthy this year.
10. Quinton Flowers, South Florida
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Measurements: 6'0", 210 lbs
2016 Stats: 2,812 passing yards, 24 TDs, seven INTs; 1,530 rushing yards, 18 TDs
Most quarterbacks are at least 6'3". Preferably, they would be 6'5" or 6'6" so they can see over the giants in the trenches to assess the whole field. At 6'0", South Florida's Quinton Flowers is well below the average height for his position.
Then again, most quarterbacks don't rush for 1,500 yards in a season. In fact, in the past decade, Flowers, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Lynch and Denard Robinson are the only players with at least 500 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards.
If you consider Flowers a running back who just so happens to throw the ball a lot, he's actually tall for his position.
Regardless, he's going to put up huge numbers for a team with a real shot at going undefeated.
Maybe Flowers takes a step back in the absence of Marlon Mack and Rodney Adams. Or maybe he becomes even more of a statistical wrecking ball as a one-man show. Either way, this undersized, dual-threat quarterback should easily finish the season in the top 10 in total yards for a second straight year.
9. Traveon Samuel, Louisville
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Measurements: 5'7", 170 lbs
2016 Stats: 230 receiving yards, 54 rushing yards, two total TDs; 190 kick return yards
We just discussed one of the nation's best dual-threat QBs, and now it's time to indirectly talk about the other.
Traveon Samuel was not one of Lamar Jackson's top targets in 2016. With 18 receptions for 230 yards, the 5'7" receiver ranked fifth on the team in both categories, virtually tied with former backup running back Jeremy Smith (18 for 227). But with Nos. 1-3 in both categories having left Louisville, Samuel should be in line for the first crack at a starting job.
Even if he's not a starter, this utility man is definitely headed for an expanded role. In addition to his primary job as a receiver, Samuel has averaged 8.9 yards per carry and 22.2 yards per kick return in his two seasons with the Cardinals. He's the type of guy you want to get the ball by any means necessary.
For sake of comparison, in 5'8" Dexter McCluster's first two seasons with Ole Miss, he had a similar number of kick returns and touches/yards from scrimmage prior to becoming his team's top offensive weapon over the next two years. He just had to wait for opportunity to knock.
Now it's Samuel's turn to open that door.
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8. Boston Scott, Louisiana Tech
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Measurements: 5'6", 199 lbs
2016 Stats: 515 rushing yards, 125 receiving yards, six total TDs; 199 kick return yards
It's likely to be a rebuilding year for Louisiana Tech's offense.
Starting QB Ryan Higgins threw for 4,617 yards last season. Wide receivers Trent Taylor (1,803) and Carlos Henderson (1,535) were on the receiving end of most of those yards. But all three of those guys are gone, leaving 5'6" Boston Scott as one of the biggest weapons on the roster.
The Bulldogs do still have starting running back Jarred Craft, which forces us to temper expectations for Scott.
Still, aside from Craft, Scott had at least twice as many total yards from scrimmage as any other returning player. And both players proved last season they can make an impact in the passing game. Getting both heavily involved in the offense shouldn't be a challenge.
For Scott, the path to success hit its first major stepping stone in the 2015 New Orleans Bowl. He had four carries for 106 yards and five kick returns for another 90 yards. And in a 2016 blowout of Rice, he ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns—one of four times that he gained at least 60 yards on the ground.
In each of the past two seasons, Scott averaged 7.9 yards from scrimmage per touch. We'll just have to wait to find out by what multiplier his number of touches increases in his final year.
7. Myles Campbell, Georgia Southern
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Measurements: 5'6", 170 lbs
2016 Stats: 384 receiving yards, four TDs; 207 kick return yards
The average wide receiver in college football is about half an inch taller than 6'0". A lot of slot receivers are 5'9" or 5'10".
But 5'6"?
That puts Myles Campbell in a league of his own. And with B.J. Johnson gone, Campbell is in that league as the top returning receiver for the Georgia Southern Eagles.
Granted, top returning receiver doesn't mean much when you play for a team that ranked 117th nationally with 155.7 passing yards per game, but Campbell did have several strong showings in 2016. He had 121 yards and a TD in a closer-than-expected loss to Ole Miss, as well as six catches for 98 yards and a score in a last-second loss to Arkansas State.
Toward the end of the season, Georgia Southern experimented with ways to get him the ball as often as possible. After not fielding one until mid-November, Campbell returned 10 kickoffs in his last three games. In the season finale against Troy, he had two receptions, two carries, two kick returns and two punt returns.
He could be poised for a huge senior year.
6. Arkeel Newsome, Connecticut
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Measurements: 5'7", 185 lbs
2016 Stats: 715 rushing yards, 273 receiving yards, seven total TDs; 464 kick return yards
In scoring just 14.8 points per game, Connecticut had the most anemic offense in the nation last season. It's almost laughable to suggest someone from that team will make a big impact this year, regardless of his height.
However, 5'7" Arkeel Newsome has been one of the only bright spots on this team for the past two years, and he should remain its top weapon in 2017.
In October, Newsome had three consecutive games with at least 115 yards from scrimmage. Factor in the kick return yards, and he had at least 145 total yards in five of his final seven games.
The most impressive performance came in the season finale against Tulane, when he had 166 rushing yards, 28 receiving yards and both of the team's touchdowns. He had 80 more yards from scrimmage than the rest of the Huskies combined.
In fact, he finished the season with more than three times as many yards from scrimmage as any teammate not named Noel Thomas. With that 100-catch, 1,179-yard receiver no longer on the roster, Newsome's workload should only increase.
5. Trace McSorley, Penn State
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Measurements: 6'0", 201 lbs
2016 Stats: 3,614 passing yards, 29 TDs, eight INTs; 365 rushing yards, seven TDs
For the most part, the quarterbacks listed among the favorites to win next year's Heisman Trophy are also in the top 10 on Matt Miller's QB big board for next year's draft.
One noteworthy exception to that rule is Penn State quarterback, Trace McSorley, and his height is a big reason why. He's two inches taller than Doug Flutie and a hair taller than Russell Wilson, but by normal QB standards, 6'0" is well below average.
But the numbers he put up as a sophomore were far from below average.
The best part is he was just getting warmed up when the season ended. McSorley averaged 236.4 yards and 1.5 passing TDs through the first 11 games, but he took it to a whole new level in the final three games for an average of 338.0 yards and 4.0 TDs.
And we're not talking about meaningless, end-of-season stats against weak opponents, either. McSorley shone in the Big Ten championship game and the Rose Bowl against a pair of teams that hadn't lost a game in months. If that guy shows up for an entire year, Penn State will win the Big Ten again.
4. Jamauri Bogan, Western Michigan
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Measurements: 5'7", 187 lbs
2016 Stats: 923 rushing yards, eight TDs
Jamauri Bogan's roster situation at Western Michigan is almost identical to that of Boston Scott at Louisiana Tech. The Broncos have lost their starting QB (Zach Terrell) and all of their noteworthy receiving options (Corey Davis, Michael Henry and Carrington Thompson), but they still have a pair of running backs who put up impressive numbers last year.
The big difference is that this duo was even more dominant than the one the Bulldogs have. Jarvion Franklin and 5'7" Bogan combined for more than 2,600 yards from scrimmage and 22 touchdowns in 2016.
At the beginning of the year, Bogan was the main guy. He had 16 rushing touchdowns the previous season and ran for at least 100 yards in each of the first four games of the 2016 season.
However, an ankle injury in early October followed by a knee injury in November kept his season from being anywhere near what it could have been. But the 198-yard game he had against Toledo in his first game back from the knee injury was a clear sign he still has what it takes to be special.
It's tough to say what WMU's offense will look like after losing head coach P.J. Fleck and all of the aforementioned pieces of the passing game, but you can take it to the bank that Bogan will be a featured weapon for as long as he stays healthy.
3. Chico McClatcher, Washington
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Measurements: 5'7", 179 lbs
2016 Stats: 574 receiving yards, 131 rushing yards, six total TDs
Chico McClatcher was not blessed with the gift of height. Instead, he makes up for it with a ton of speed and the ability to create after the catch.
There were 37 Pac-12 players with at least 30 receptions last season, but no one came close to matching McClatcher's rate of 18.5 yards per catch. YPC can be easily skewed by a few deep balls, but he only had one reception—a 75-yard TD off a screen pass—go for more than 50 yards. Nearly 75 percent of his catches resulted in a gain of at least 10 yards, and more than one-third of them went for at least 20 yards.
That first-down machine should be headed for significantly more targets in 2017, too. John Ross (89 touches, 1,252 yards, 18 TD) was Jake Browning's No. 1 guy last year, but both McClatcher and Dante Pettis are going to get a major boost in looks now that Ross is in the NFL.
In addition to that boost in yards from scrimmage, could McClatcher also go back to returning duties? When Ross missed the 2015 season, McClatcher returned 25 kickoffs and six punts for a combined 654 yards, but he didn't log a single return this past season.
2. Warren Wand, Arkansas State
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Measurements: 5'5", 174 lbs
2016 Stats: 879 rushing yards, 279 receiving yards, 10 total TDs
The phrase "Big things come in small packages" was clearly coined with Warren Wand in mind.
It's one thing for a 5'5" man to be a speedy return specialist who takes maybe a half-dozen legitimate hits over the course of a full season. Trindon Holliday made that work for a couple of years in the NFL.
But, somehow Wand had at least 11 carries in every game last season without getting broken in half. He had nearly twice as many touches as the closest runner-up on Arkansas State's roster, leading the team in both yards and touchdowns. He had at least 75 yards from scrimmage in eight of 13 games, including twice eclipsing the 150-yard mark against Georgia Southern and Texas State.
In addition to being the shortest guy on the list, Wand is probably going to put up better numbers in 2017 than everyone except for Richie James and the quarterbacks.
He'll get a pair of early chances to prove to a national audience that he is, pound-for-pound, one of the best running backs in the nation, as the Red Wolves open the season against Nebraska and Miami.
1. Middle Tennessee's Entire Pass Attack
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QB Brent Stockstill (6'0", 206 lbs): 3,233 passing yards, 31 TDs, seven INTs
WR Richie James (5'9", 180 lbs): 1,625 receiving yards, 339 rushing yards, 16 total TDs
WR Ty Lee (5'9", 155 lbs): 699 receiving yards, 107 rushing yards, 10 total TDs
The crux of this No. 1 unit is Richie James. Even if we hadn't included Brent Stockstill and Ty Lee with him, he would have been at the top of the list.
James was one of just six players to amass at least 2,500 receiving yards over the past two years. But the other five had an average height of 6'0" and got those yards in their junior and senior seasons.
James managed the feat as a 5'9" freshman and sophomore. He's already on pace to shatter Corey Davis' record of 5,278 career receiving yards, and he might go down as the greatest college receiver of all time if he stays (healthy) for all four years.
He isn't the only undersized member of MTSU's passing offense, though, as both Stockstill and Lee are more than two inches shorter than the average height for their positions. But that didn't stop the Blue Raiders from ranking eighth in the nation in passing yards per game.
Though they lost the game 52-35 to Hawaii, the last time we saw this trio in action, Stockstill threw for 432 yards and four touchdowns, James had eight catches for 162 yards and a score, and Lee matched a career high with 100 yards on 10 receptions with two TDs.
Each of the three guys has at least two years of eligibility remaining, too, so it's a safe bet they'll be No. 1 again next summer.
Unless otherwise noted, stats are courtesy of Sports Reference and cfbstats.com.
Kerry Miller covers college football and college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @kerrancejames.
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