Top 5 Players from Non-Power 5 Schools (Offense)

As Draft Season continues to heat up, we look at players from schools of all shapes and sizes, well right now we’re looking at the smaller schools. For the sake of this article, we’re covering all schools that aren’t part of a Power 5 conference. Through each section there will be two sections, the first one will separate the top prospects at that position, the second one will be the next prospects.

Quarterbacks

Tyree Jackson, Buffalo

Brett Rypien, Boise State

Justice Hansen, Arkansas State

Easton Stick, North Dakota State

David Pindell, Connecticut

The second strongest group on offense is the most important one. Tyree Jackson and the rocket launcher that he calls his right arm headline this list. Jackson has one of the most powerful arms in this years class among all prospects, not just the non-Power 5 prospects. Brett Rypien has been climbing up boards lately with his strong showing at the Shrine game. He fits more as a game-managing type of QB but that’s not meant to be an insult, game managers can be more than enough with a solid supporting cast.

Justice Hanson isn’t a household name, even a lot of draft fans have no idea who he is. However, he’s got potential, was efficient in college, and was a three-year starter so he at least meets most of, if not all of, the Bill Parcells QB requirements. Easton Stick came into the season with high expectations but failed to live up to the hype, he’ll be either a day 3 pick or UDFA. A two-year starter at UConn, David Pindell is a relatively unknown as prospect. Looking at the stats, Pindell is a much better runner than passer but he’s actually a fairly good passer with a solid motion that just didn’t have a lot of help offensively and was in a system that ran a lot of option plays. I could see a Taysom Hill-esque role being a great fit for him.

Running Backs

Darrell Henderson, Memphis

Devin Singletary, Florida Atlantic

Wes Hills, Slippery Rock

Jalin Moore, Appalachian State

Alexander Mattison, Boise State

Devin Singletary and Darrell Henderson are two of the more well-known prospects mentioned in this post and for good reason. Henderson is the thunder from the non-power 5 schools, Singletary is the lightning.

Wes Hills is another late-climber that’s very well-deserving. For those of you that don’t know who Wes Hills is, he’s a physical runner with quick feet that knows how to create contact, he’ll be successful if a team trusts him to carry the rock. Jalin Moore is a powerful runner that’s struggled to stay healthy otherwise he’d be more talked about than he currently is. Alexander Mattison runs with nice power and falls forward, would fit best in a system where he can just come in as a change of pace back and try to power through contact.

Wide Receivers

Anthony Johnson, Buffalo

Andy Isabella, Massachussetts

Diontae Johnson, Toledo

Miles Boykin, Notre Dame

Tyre Brady, Marshall

Anthony Johnson and Andy Isabella really set themselves apart from the rest of this talented receiver group, the best group on the offense. Johnson is the most complete receiver from this bunch and Isabella will probably be one of the best slot receivers in the entire draft class.

Diontae Johnson is an explosive receiver that plays much larger for his size, he had a bit of a down year production-wise but that was more because of poor quarterback play. Miles Boykin possesses the combination of speed, size, hands, and route running, but he lacks being great at any one skill which is why he’s not talked about more as a prospect. Tyre Brady went to Miami (FL), got suspended, then transferred to Marshall, where he really started to produce solid numbers. Brady is another receiver that isn’t really great at any one thing.

Tight Ends

Josh Oliver, San Jose State

Alize Mack, Notre Dame

Dax Raymond, Utah State

Donald Parham, Stetson

Keenen Brown, Texas State

Josh Oliver and Alize Mack are pretty similar in the sense that they’re high potential tight ends that are better receivers than blockers and they’re both athletic for the position. What separates them from each other however, is that Alize Mack has more question marks. Mack has battled injuries and has a questionable work ethic, making him a higher risk. Dax Raymond isn’t too far behind Oliver and Mack so he finds himself just behind them here. Raymond excels as a receiver but really struggles as a blocker, he’ll be best-used when he’s allowed to work the middle of the field but really don’t expect him to do much in the ground game.

Donald Parham is 6’8” and can run, he’ll be an absolute mismatch nightmare for NFL defenses if he ever finds his way onto the field. He needs some refinement and he definitely needs to bulk up a little bit if he wants to be even serviceable as a blocker. Keenen Brown has okay size but he’s only got one year of production after moving from receiver to tight end, so he’s a high-risk pick but he could pay off.

Offensive Line

Max Scharping, Northern Illinois

Sam Mustipher, Notre Dame

Trey Pipkins, Sioux Falls

Tytus Howard, Alabama State

Olisaemeka Udoh, Elon

Max Scharping has good size and he’s got experience starting for four seasons and starting at multiple positions along the offensive line. Sam Mustipher has solid technique, plenty of experience, and the skill to succeed but you’d like to see him get more aggressive when blocking.

Trey Pipkins has the size and athleticism to become a useful contributor to an NFL offensive line. Coming from a small school, there’s always the question of whether or not he could perform against better competition but he really excelled during Shrine week. Tytus Howard is big with great athleticism and against the top team he faced this past season (Auburn) he held his ground really well, could be a sleeper on the offensive line. Olisaemeka Udoh had a little bit of buzz going into Shrine week but he put forth a solid performance and really helped himself out there. He’s got the traits to be a successful offensive lineman.