The Average Measurables of Players from the Power 5

Conferences

Matthew Newhall

American University

Sports Analytics and Management

SAM 700
Introduction

The Virginia Tech Football Department suggested finding the average height and weight

of Power 5 conferences for the starters and backups, All-Conference, and All -American players.

The Power 5 conferences are the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, and Sec along with Notre Dame

totaling 65 teams. The most time-consuming task was gathering the data along with making it all

uniform. Once the data had been collected the average height and weight were easy to calculate

in Microsoft Excel. The findings of the analysis provided insight into whether elite football

players are bigger or smaller than the rest of the Power 5 football athletes. The implementation

process would be quick and free so there would be buy-in throughout the Virginia Tech Football

Department.

Summary of Research

The data on the rosters were gathered from the college’s official website which included

name, position, height, weight, and academic year. The school, conference, year, All-American

status, and All-Conference status were added once the roster was downloaded into Microsoft

Excel. Not every roster from the Power 5 conferences over the span of 2016-2020 was able to be

downloaded into Excel. 60 out of the 325 possible rosters had an issue being downloaded into

Excel. For the most part, the official websites did not have the 2016 rosters available for

download which accounted for 24 of the 60 missing rosters in the analysis. Lastly, the teams that

are excluded from the analysis because none of the rosters were able to be downloaded are

Mississippi State, Baylor, Kansas State, and Florida State.

For determining the 2-Deeps, the official Week 1 depth charts that were posted by the

team were used in conjunction with the individual statistics that were available once the season
was over to determine the most accurate list of starters and backups. This was important because

serious injuries that happened early in the season would not be reflected in the 2-Deep list if not

for cross referencing with the individual statistics. A player who was injured early and missed

significant time but started in Week 1 would still have low individual statistics. All-American

and all-Conference accolades were much easier to decide since there are multiple articles listing

all the players who made the team.

Most research papers and reports breakdown the positions for analysis into Offensive

Line, Tight End, Wide Receivers, Running Backs, and Quarterbacks for the offense and

Defensive Line, Linebackers, and Defensive Backs for the defense. This analysis breaks down

the Offensive Line, Running Backs, Defensive Line, Linebackers, and Defensive Backs into

more positions because each of these positions consists of more specific positions that have

distinct differences. The Offensive Line was broken down into Offensive Tackles and Interior

Offensive Linemen since Tackles tend to be much taller and heavier than Centers and Guards.

Running Backs were split into Running Backs and Fullbacks since they are very different

positions, and the Running Backs heavily outnumber Fullbacks in number of data entries.

Defensive Line was divided into Nose Tackles, Defensive Tackles, and Defensive Ends which

tend to be heavier players the farther away from the center you line up since Nose Tackles and

Defensive Tackles need to hold their ground and Defensive Ends need to be able to speed past

the Offensive Tackles. Linebackers are broken down into Inside Linebackers and Outside

Linebackers which may be the most different physically and responsibilities wise out of the sub-

positions. Lastly, Defensive Backs were split into Corners and Safeties who have similar

responsibilities, but Corners tend to be more man-to-man than zone coverage. The number of

data points by position are as follows:

 Defense
CB DE DT ILB NT OLB S
2-Deep 275 211 163 274 46 112 266
All-Conference 115 116 72 117 10 63 107
All-American 23 19 22 27 2 13 24

Offense
FB IOL OT QB RB TE WR
2-Deep 11 359 238 121 126 118 358
All-Conference 2 166 104 48 105 57 133
All-American - 33 23 12 24 12 25

Summary of Findings

The findings of the research were the average height and weights for each position of 2-

Deeps, All-Conference, and All-American. Each of the data sets have a different number of

players for analysis with the 2-Deep data set consisting of 2,678 players, the All-Conference data

set consisting of 1,215 players, and the All-American data set consisting of 259 players. The 2-

Deep data set contains data from as many rosters as possible for the 2020 season while the All-

Conference and All-American data sets contains data for the applicable players of the 2016-2020

seasons. The compiled average height and weight for each position of the 2-Deeps. All-

Conference, and All-American data sets are as follows:

Defense
CB DE DT ILB NT OLB S
Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight
2-Deep 6'0" 188.9 6'3.5" 266.9 6'3" 300.0 6'1.5" 229.5 6'3" 309.9 6'3" 239.7 6'0.5" 198.4
All-Conference 6'0" 190.9 6'4" 265.2 6'3" 303.8 6'1.5" 234.5 6'3.5" 311.9 6'3" 242.2 6'0.5" 202.6
All-American 6'0" 190.7 6'4" 262.4 6'4" 304.7 6'2" 236.1 6'2.5" 302.5 6'3.5" 238.2 6'1" 205.5
Offense
FB IOL OT QB RB TE WR
Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight Height Weight
2-Deep 6'1" 242.3 6'4" 309.5 6'5.5" 310.3 6'2.5" 213.1 5'11" 208.6 6'4.5" 248.4 6'1" 195.6
All-Conference 6'2.5" 247.0 6'4.5" 312.1 6'6" 313.0 6'3" 217.3 5'11" 210.3 6'5" 248.7 6'1" 198.1
All-American - - 6'5" 318.0 6'5.5" 312.7 6'3.5" 219.6 5'11" 213.0 6'4.5" 243.9 6'1" 199.6
 The analysis provided some interesting insights into how the height and weight changes

as the players are more elite. The first insight gained from the analysis was that on average the 2-

Deep and All-Conference Offensive Tackles (OT) were heavier than the Interior Offensive

Linemen (IOL), but the All-American Interior Offensive Linemen were heavier than the

Offensive Tackles by an average of 5.3 pounds. This is most likely because the elite Offensive

Tackles need to be able to defend the edge from Defensive Ends (DE) and Outside Linebackers

(OLB) while elite Interior Offensive Linemen need to be able to anchor the line against Nose

Tackles (NT) and Defensive Tackles (DT). The average All-American Defensive End and

Outside Linebacker were 262.4 and 238.2 pounds, respectively, so Offensive Tackles were going

to be facing faster opponents compared to Interior Offensive Linemen who will be competing

against Nose Tackles and Defensive Tackles who weigh 302.5 and 304.7, respectively.

Another insight was that All-American Outside Linebackers and Defensive Ends were

two of the few All-American positions that weighed less than their 2-Deep and All-Conference

counterparts. This ties back to the idea that the outside defenders need to be faster than the

interior defenders so they can rush the quarterback. Lastly, offensive skill positions such as Wide

Receivers (WR) and Running Backs (RB) remain the same height in each data set but gain

weight as the players are more elite.

Summary of Strategies and Justification of Solution

Implementing the analysis of the research will cost Virginia Tech Football Department

nothing, require little stakeholder participation, and can be implemented almost immediately.

Since the analysis was already complete and the findings can be shared with scouts and player

personnel employees at no cost to the organization. The implementation process will go faster

with the stakeholder’s participation but is not necessary since the process is so short regardless of
if they participate or not. Stakeholder participation will play a significant role in whether the

scouts or personnel department use the findings when scouting players. The time estimate for

implementation would be however long it would take to send the findings to those who need it

along with answering any questions that may arise. Overall, the implementation process would

be free and quick but would benefit from stakeholder support.

Strategy for Garnering Support

The strategy for garnering support would be very straightforward as this was a project

that the player personnel wanted done for a while now. The plan is to keep an open line of

communication if any questions do come up about the research process, analysis, or the findings.

If there are any issues found in the research or analysis, then there will be an open and honest

discussion as to what went wrong and how to ensure it does not happen in the future.

Conclusion

This was an interesting project to research which provided findings that will help the

Virginia Tech Football Department with recruiting in the future. Research process was lengthy

had some parts such as how many seasons of the 2-Deep players could be used for the analysis

had to be limited. This research would benefit from another analysis when there is either more

time or no time constraint to ensure that all the positions have a significant sample size. The

analysis was a simple average of the height and weight for each of the positions but could benefit

from an analysis of the range of height and weights for each position as well. The

implementation process would be quick and free since the findings simply need to be distributed

to those who would benefit from the information. The findings of this research will be a useful
tool in recruiting and help determine the best athletes for the player personnel department going

forward.
 Bibliography

*The university roster is only listed once even though there may be multiple rosters over the

years from the same university to save on space*

2016 AP All-America Team (2016, December 12). In USA Today. Retrieved from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2016/12/12/2016-ap-all-america-

team/95337122/

ACC 2020 https://theacc.com/news/2020/12/21/athlete-awards-tigers-irish-lead-all-acc-football-

team.aspx

ACC 2019 https://theacc.com/news/2019/12/3/athlete-awards-clemson-leads-2019-all-acc-

football-team.aspx

ACC 2018 https://theacc.com/news/2018/11/26/2018-all-acc-football-team-announced.aspx

ACC 2017 https://theacc.com/news/2017/11/27/2017-all-acc-football-teams-announced.aspx

ACC 2016 https://theacc.com/news/2016/11/28/583c89fae4b05d472a0921.aspx?path=football

Alabama https://rolltide.com/sports/football/roster

Arkansas https://arkansasrazorbacks.com/sport/m-footbl/roster/

Arizona https://arizonawildcats.com/sports/football/roster

Arizona State https://thesundevils.com/sports/football/roster

Auburn https://auburntigers.com/sports/football/roster

Big 10 2016 Defense https://btn.com/2016/11/29/2016-all-big-ten-defense-award-winners-

jabrill-peppers-wins-three-awards/
Big 10 2016 Offense https://btn.com/2016/11/30/2016-all-big-ten-offensive-team-award-

winners-saquon-barkley-reels-in-two-awards/

Big 10 2017 Defense https://btn.com/2017/11/28/view-the-2017-all-big-ten-football-defensive-

teams/

Big 10 2017 Offense https://btn.com/2017/11/29/view-the-2017-all-big-ten-football-offensive-

teams/

Big 10 2018 Defense https://bigten.org/news/2018/11/27/big-ten-announces-football-all-

conference-teams-for-defense-and-special-teams-and-select-individual-honors.aspx

Big 10 2018 Offense https://bigten.org/news/2018/11/28/big-ten-announces-football-all-

conference-teams-for-offense.aspx

Big 10 2019 Defense https://bigten.org/news/2019/12/3/big-ten-announces-football-all-

conference-teams-for-defense-and-special-teams-and-select-individual-honors.aspx

Big 10 2019 Offense https://bigten.org/news/2019/12/4/big-ten-announces-football-all-

conference-teams-for-offense-and-select-individual-honors.aspx

Big 10 2020 https://btn.com/2020/12/15/here-are-the-2020-all-big-ten-football-selections-

awards/

Big 12 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_All-Big_12_Conference_football_team

Big 12 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_All-Big_12_Conference_football_team

Big 12 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_All-Big_12_Conference_football_team

Big 12 2019 https://big12sports.com/news/2019/12/4/2019-all-big-12-football-awards-

announced.aspx

Big 12 2020 https://big12sports.com/news/2020/12/16/2020-all-big-12-football-awards-

announced.aspx

Boston College https://bceagles.com/sports/football/roster

California https://calbears.com/sports/football/roster

Clemson https://clemsontigers.com/sports/football/roster/

Colorado https://cubuffs.com/sports/football/roster

Duke https://goduke.com/sports/football/roster

Florida https://floridagators.com/sports/football/roster

Georgia https://georgiadogs.com/sports/football/roster

Georgia Tech https://ramblinwreck.com/sports/m-footbl/roster/

Illinois https://fightingillini.com/sports/football/roster

Indiana https://iuhoosiers.com/sports/football/roster

Iowa https://hawkeyesports.com/sports/football/roster/

Iowa State https://cyclones.com/sports/football/roster

Kansas https://kuathletics.com/sports/football/roster/

Kentucky https://ukathletics.com/sports/football/roster
Kercheval, B. (2018, December 10). 2018 AP All-America team: Heisman Trophy winner Kyler

Murray leads the way. In CBS. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/college-

football/news/2018-ap-all-america-team-heisman-trophy-winner-kyler-murray-leads-the-

way/

Kercheval, B. (2020, December 28). 2020 AP All-America team: Alabama stars lead the way as

Crimson Tide earn six first-team selections. In CBS. Retrieved from

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/2020-ap-all-america-team-alabama-

stars-lead-the-way-as-crimson-tide-earn-six-first-team-selections/

Louisville https://gocards.com/sports/football/roster

LSU https://lsusports.net/sports/fb/roster/

Maryland https://umterps.com/sports/football/roster

Miami (Fl.) https://miamihurricanes.com/sports/football/roster/

Michigan https://mgoblue.com/sports/football/roster

Michigan State https://msuspartans.com/sports/football/roster

Minnesota https://gophersports.com/sports/football/roster

Missouri https://mutigers.com/sports/football/roster

NC State https://gopack.com/sports/football/roster

Nebraska https://huskers.com/sports/football/roster

Northwestern https://nusports.com/sports/football/roster

Notre Dame https://und.com/sports/football/roster/

Ohio State https://ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-footbl/roster/

Oklahoma https://soonersports.com/sports/football/roster

Oklahoma State https://okstate.com/sports/football/roster

Ole Miss https://olemisssports.com/sports/football/roster

Oregon https://goducks.com/sports/football/roster

Oregon State https://osubeavers.com/sports/football/roster

Pac 12 2016 https://pac-12.com/article/2016/11/29/pac-12-football-awards-and-all-conference-

team-announced

Pac 12 2017 https://pac-12.com/article/2017/12/05/pac-12-football-all-conference-team-

announced

Pac 12 2018 https://pac-12.com/article/2018/12/03/pac-12-football-all-conference-honors-

announced

Pac 12 2019 https://pac-12.com/article/2019/12/09/pac-12-football-all-conference-honors-

announced

Pac 12 2020 https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/21/2020-pac-12-football-all-conference-honors-

and-annual-awards-announced

Patterson, C. (2017, December 11). Oklahoma, Clemson and Big Ten well-represented on AP

All-America teams. In CBS. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/college-

football/news/oklahoma-clemson-and-big-ten-well-represented-on-ap-all-america-teams/
Patterson, C. (2019, December 16). 2019 AP All-America team: Joe Burrow, Chase Young lead

college football's top stars. In CBS. Retrieved from https://www.cbssports.com/college-

football/news/2019-ap-all-america-team-joe-burrow-chase-young-lead-college-footballs-

top-stars/

Penn State https://gopsusports.com/sports/football/roster

Pittsburgh https://pittsburghpanthers.com/sports/football/roster

Purdue https://purduesports.com/sports/football/roster

Rutgers https://scarletknights.com/sports/football/roster

SEC 2016 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_All-SEC_football_team

SEC 2017 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_All-SEC_football_team

SEC 2018 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_All-SEC_football_team

SEC 2019 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_All-SEC_football_team

SEC 2020 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_All-SEC_football_team

South Carolina https://gamecocksonline.com/sports/football/roster

Southern California https://uclabruins.com/sports/football/roster

Stanford https://gostanford.com/sports/football/roster

Syracuse https://cuse.com/sports/football/roster

TCU https://gofrogs.com/sports/football/roster
Tennessee https://utsports.com/sports/football/roster

Texas https://texassports.com/sports/football/roster

Texas A&M https://12thman.com/sports/football/roster

Texas Tech https://texastech.com/sports/football/roster

UCLA https://uclabruins.com/sports/football/roster

UNC https://goheels.com/sports/football/roster

Utah https://utahutes.com/sports/football/roster

Vanderbilt https://vucommodores.com/sports/football/roster/

Virginia https://virginiasports.com/sports/football/roster/

Virginia Tech https://hokiesports.com/sports/football/roster

Wake Forest https://godeacs.com/sports/football/roster

Washington https://gohuskies.com/sports/football/roster

Washington State https://wsucougars.com/sports/football/roster

West Virginia https://wvusports.com/sports/football/roster

Wisconsin https://uwbadgers.com/sports/football/roster