The 5 Most Successful Small-School Pass-Catchers in the NFL

Pierre Garçon, Wide Receiver

Our next small-schooler, Pierre Garçon, has had less time in his career to rack up Total NEP than others but still occupies the third spot in our rankings. The 6-foot, 216-pound, 4.40-second 40-yard dash Garçon doesn't fall into the typical mold of most small-school receivers, who are often fast but undersized, or huge but slow.

Garçon's path to the NFL was unusual. In high school he only played two years of football, only starting one year. A few colleges were interested in his raw physical talents, but his grades were poor and ruled him academically ineligible for even the smallest FCS programs. Garçon therefore enrolled in Division III Norwich University in Vermont for his freshman year of college before transferring to Mount Union, who he led to two consecutive Division III Championship titles. In fact, Garçon never had a college season with fewer than 950 yards receiving and 13 touchdowns.

In 2008, Garçon proceeded to light up the NFL Combine, and the rest is history. Catching passes from Peyton Manning as an Indianapolis Colt, Garçon posted three consecutive seasons of 60.00 or more Total NEP from 2009 to 2011. He then joined Washington, posting a career year in Total NEP in 2013, despite an injury-derailed 2012 and a franchise train wreck in 2014.