Every year, we search tirelessly for the small school player who will come out of nowhere to have a storied career that no one saw coming. It’s the classic underdog story that everyone roots for when watching sports. As we all know, this year’s running back class is loaded. This may cause even more players to slip through the cracks than usual, allowing NFL teams to pluck up talented backs that would normally get drafted as undrafted free agents. Most of these backs will be the small school players that we root so hard for. To learn more about these backs, here are my top 15 draft-eligible small school backs.
1. Jeremy McNichols, RB, Boise State
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Kyle Pollock
Latest posts by Kyle Pollock (see all)
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brandon kronk
December 25, 2016 at 11:19 am
Great list. As you mentioned, Pumphrey will probably be the most known of this list after becoming the NCAAs all time leading rusher. The two that I’m highest on as of now and will follow closely through the combine is McGuire and Hill. I think they both translate well from a physicality standpoint of being lead backs in the NFL, though with McGuire I wonder if he can be productive in the passing game.
Ryan Livergood
December 26, 2016 at 11:54 am
Okay, so I haven’t followed college football for a few years and I’ve seen none of these guys, but I caught a little bit of the James Madison – NDSU semifinal game the other day and Khalid Abdullah looked great playing for James Madison. Any thoughts on him? Does he have a chance to do anything in the NFL (or even make a practice squad)?
Wesley Lang
December 26, 2016 at 12:13 pm
Awesome article . Any chance you are doing a similar small team WR special like this?
Andrew Rafferty
December 28, 2016 at 5:52 am
Gotta move Jamaal up more! Hop on the bandwagon now before too many people catch on. With Chubb returning, there is a legitimate case Jamaal is not only a top 3 RB this year, but maybe even the best when you consider Fournette’s lack of lateral agility and Cook’s lack of mass for the style he plays. I still think Cook is the top back but after landing spots that could change.