Small School Running backs for the 2008 NFL Draft

It’s been a while since I posted here in this Small School NFL Draft Blog. I have been busy working on my NFL Draft Web site and my NFL Draft Blog, but the 2007 football season is almost upon us and I will have to step up my game. We can’t ignore the small school prospects now can we? I will be covering a new position each week or two, starting with the running backs. On a side note, Division 1AA is now officially called the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), but I am going to keep referring to it as the 1AA.

Calvin Dawson, 5’ 10” 207 lbs, Louisiana Monroe
Yes the Sun Belt Conference is still Division 1, but Louisiana-Monroe (ULM) is still considered a small school program, at least in my eyes. However running back Calvin Dawson should be considered a big time talent. Last year ULM had a prospect invited to the NFL Scouting Combine, Safety Kevin Payne, and he was subsequently drafted in the 2007 NFL Draft in the 5th round by the Chicago Bears. This year they have Dawson, ast year (2006) led the Sun Belt Conference in rushing with 1,210 yards and a 5.7 yards per carry average. He started seven games and rushed for over 100 yards in each game. He actually rushed better against SEC opponents than Sun Belt opponents; he rushed for an average of 141.7 yards against three SEC opponents. He recorded his first 100-yard game of 2006 at Alabama on a season-best 7.4 per carry, and then dominated Arkansas with a 128 yard performance and a 6.7 yards per carry average. Dawson is very powerful and never retreats; he only has 48 negative yards on 213 carries.

Kevin Richardson, 5’ 9” 190 lbs. Appalachian State (1AA)
Appalachian State is such a football powerhouse loaded with stars, but the biggest star is running back Kevin Richardson. He currently holds six school rushing records, including single-season yards (1,676) and touchdowns (30), both set last year as Appalachian won its second-straight NCAA Division IAA national championship. He only needs 954 more rushing yards to break John Settle's school record of 4,409. Richardson is a little small which will hurt his evaluation from NFL Scouts.

Mike McLeod, 5’ 11” 200 lbs. Yale (1AA)
Niced sized, speedy running back, McLeod had ten games last year (2006) with over 100 rushing yards. He is only the 11th running back from Yale to ever rush for more than 1,000 yards in a single season. Voted First-Team All-Ivy last year and he established new Yale records with 20 TDs in a season. One of the very best running backs in Division 1AA, ranked sixth among I-AA runners and first in the Ivy with a 136.40 yard average.

Herb Donaldson, 5’ 11” 220 lbs. Western Illinois (1AA)
Donaldon gets kudos just playing for a school that has a cool mascot, the “Leathernecks”. But all kidding aside, Donaldson is a solid NFL prospect in his own right. Decent size and good speed, Donaldson was very productive on the football field last year, playing in all 11 games he rushed for 1,417 yards and scoring 18 TDs. He had an impressive 6. 1 yards per carry average and displayed good hands catching 14 passes for 116 yards.

Jerome Felton, 6’ 0” 247 lbs. Furman (1AA)
Powerful running back/fullback that can get the football in the end zone. Felton has decent NFL potential due to his size and strength. Last year (2006) he rushed for 711 yards and an amazing 23 touchdowns. He raely gets tackled for a loss only losing four yards all year. He is also a solid blocker at the point of attack. Unlike a lot of these small school running backs, size will not be an issue with Felton.

Danny Woodhead, 5’ 8” 200 lbs. Chadron State (D2)
I really like Woodhead, I interviewed him a couple years ago after he led Division 2 in rushing as a freshman. Last year (2006) he led all of college football in rushing with the 2,756 yards, while also recording 38 touchdowns and accumulating 3,159 all-purpose yards. Danny is a bright kid; he was a first-team Academic All-American with a cumulative GPA of 3.72. Entering his senior season, he ranks 11th on the all-time career rushing list and has rushed for 6,365 yards during his three years at Chadron. His height, or lack thereof, will limit his placement in the NFL Draft. But talent wise he could be compared to Darren Sproles, who was selected in the 4th round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers.

Justin Beaver, 5’ 8” 196, Wisconsin Whitewater (D3)
This talented very small school (Division 3) running back rushed for an impressive 2,494 yards along with 24 touchdowns last year. Beaver currently has 3,730 rushing yards with his senior season still remaining. He has talent and has dominated at Division 3, but like Woodhead will suffer from only being 5’ 8” tall. Beaver is not the talent that Woodhead is, but he deserves his accolades for dominating his opponents at his level.