Not always in the numbers

It is tough to make it big as a small school guy, especially when you lack eye-opening statistics. Some players are immensely talented, but for one reason or another they lack they big stats. Here are only a few random examples.

When you get down to the DIII ranks, you really need to be dominating to get a real shot at the big time. But, you really have to look at the big picture with some of these athletes. Wide Receiver P.J. Williams from Mary Hardin-Baylor in DIII is a 6'3" 180 pounder with great speed and agility. At first glance his 32 receptions seems average at best. But, he led the team with those32 grabs. He also gained 575 yards and averaged a solid 18 y/r. His 9TDs is nothing to sneeze at either. While he didn't catch 90+ balls, gain over 1,000 yards and score 15TDs ... he has one thing going for him, skills. He was named Special Teams POY, he averaged 20.4y/kr and 17.4y/pr while scoring 2TDs on punts. P.J. can catch, run and is an elusive returnman.

Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper. From DII comes Runningback Jess Brinson. He is 6'1" 205 and hails from New Mexico Highlands. He never was the feature guy at NMHU despite being a transfer from Bucknell. At Bucknell he was very effective, he gained 747 yards and scored 6TDs in limited duty. His powerful running style and soft hands has opened some eyes, despite his never gaining much more than 300 yards/year in his time at NMHU.

I-AA athlete Kevin Stensrud from Northern Iowa is another good example. At 6'2" 290 pounds he has the size and he can also move very well. He's a very versatile athlete that could easily play OL or DL. Based on athleticism alone, this kid is a keeper. He made 29t, 7tfl, and 2 sacks this season. Not exactly earth shattering.

Another I-AA player is Montrell Owens from Maine. He didn't gain over 1,000 yards but his running ability is awesome. Montrell is a hard runner that always moves forward. He has deceptive quickness at 5'10" 225 pounds and can be elusive. His 2005 stats are: 779y, 4.2y/c, 9TDs.

So that’s just a few of the many athletes that have the ability but not the numbers. It's not always in the statistics, sometimes you have to pay attention to the athletes that don't get the recognition that the 1,000 yarders or the 100 tackle guys may get.