Average Size of College Football Players (by Position)
I’ve been a collegiate sports performance coach for 20 years. One thing I always loved doing was going through and checking out the sizes of the other teams in our conference.
It helped give me (and our staff) an idea of how we stacked up against our competition. It also could be used as motivation with our team both during the season and, often, during the following off-season.
So, this is essentially the same research I’ve always done, but now I’m sharing it with you. I took starting depth charts for each team in the FBS (a total of over 3000 players) going into the 2023 season and broke them down by position.
For this guide, I took an average of the heights and weights of each position across college football. In addition, just out of my own personal curiosity, I broke down the sizes of players by conference.
Go ahead and impress someone today with your trivia bona fides.
Average Height for a College Football Player
The average college football player, across all positions, is 73.94 inches (just under 6’2″).
| Position | Height (inches) | Height (feet/inches*) |
|---|---|---|
| Overall | 73.94 | 6’2″ |
| Quarterback | 74.31 | 6’2 1/4″ |
| Running Back | 70.52 | 5’10 1/2″ |
| Wide Receiver | 72.76 | 6’0 3/4″ |
| Tight End | 76.49 | 6’4 1/2″ |
| Offensive Line | 76.48 | 6’4 1/2″ |
| Defensive Line | 74.97 | 6’3″ |
| Linebacker | 73.68 | 6’1 3/4″ |
| Cornerback | 71.97 | 6’0″ |
| Safety | 72.31 | 6’0 1/4″ |
*Rounded to the nearest quarter-inch
Average Weight of a College Football Player
The average college football player, across all positions, is 237.41 pounds.
| Name | Weight (pounds) |
|---|---|
| Overall | 237.41 |
| Quarterback | 212.35 |
| Running Back | 205.38 |
| Wide Receiver | 193.26 |
| Tight End | 245.02 |
| Offensive Line | 309.88 |
| Defensive Line | 279.07 |
| Linebacker | 230.51 |
| Cornerback | 185.83 |
| Safety | 198.62 |
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Who Are the Tallest Players in College Football?
There are some insanely tall guys walking around college football fields. There are 8 guys that are an incredible 6’9″ or taller.
Probably not surprisingly, they’re all Offensive Linemen – 7 Tackles and 1 Center.
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teddy Prochazka | OT | 6’10” | 325 | Nebraska |
| Devon Manuel | OT | 6’9″ | 310 | Arkansas |
| Christian Jones | OT | 6’9″ | 315 | San Diego St |
| Xavior Gray | OT | 6’9″ | 310 | Liberty |
| Travis Burke | OT | 6’9″ | 290 | FIU |
| Bryce Benhart | OT | 6’9″ | 315 | Nebraska |
| Tyler Miller | OT | 6’9″ | 316 | Iowa St |
| Hampton Ergle | C | 6’9″ | 305 | East Carolina |
Who Are the Shortest Players in College Football?
Out of the 3000+ College Football starters, there are only 10 guys that are 5’7″ or shorter – a handful of Wide Receivers and Running Backs and a Kicker.
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Briggs Jr | RB | 5’6″ | 185 | Utah St |
| Jerry Rice | K | 5’7″ | 168 | East Carolina |
| Amin Hassan | RB | 5’7″ | 176 | Navy |
| Tylan Hines | RB | 5’7″ | 175 | Hawaii |
| Kairee Robinson | RB | 5’7″ | 195 | San Jose St |
| La’Damian Webb | RB | 5’7″ | 208 | South Alabama |
| Smoke Harris | WR | 5’7″ | 183 | La Tech |
| Tyrin Smith | WR | 5’7″ | 170 | UTEP |
| Erik Brooks | WR | 5’7″ | 171 | Fresno St |
| Terrell Vaughn | WR | 5’7″ | 175 | Utah St |
Who are the Heaviest Players in College Football?
I went through height and weight data for about a week and this number might be the most interesting of all of them.
There are over 600 players (remember, I just took FBS starters*) listed at 300 pounds or more. That’s almost 20% of all the players I pulled!
To be included here, among the 9 heaviest players in college football, one needed to be 350 pounds or more.
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalan Ellis | G | 6’6″ | 375 | Syracuse |
| Cam Jackson | DT | 6’6″ | 371 | Florida |
| T’Vondre Sweat | DT | 6’4″ | 362 | Texas |
| Damieon George Jr | OT | 6’6″ | 361 | Florida |
| Delfin Xavier Castillo | G | 6’5″ | 361 | Vanderbilt |
| Micah Pettus | OT | 6’7″ | 360 | Ole Miss |
| Evan Anderson | NT | 6’3″ | 356 | Florida Atlantic |
| Willis Patrick | G | 6’4″ | 355 | TCU |
| Anez Cooper | G | 6’6″ | 350 | Miami |
Who are the Lightest Players in College Football?
Out of 3000 players, there are only 38 listed under 170 pounds. Out of those, only 7 were under 160 pounds.
4 Wide Receivers and 3 Kickers make up the smallest players in college football this year.
| Name | Position | Height | Weight | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tez Johnson | WR | 5’10” | 150 | Oregon |
| Silas Bolden | WR | 5’8″ | 153 | Oregon State |
| Alex McPherson | K | 5’9″ | 154 | Auburn |
| Noah Perez | K | 5’8″ | 155 | Akron |
| DJ England-Chisolm | WR | 5’8″ | 155 | Middle Tennessee |
| Malik Rutherford | WR | 5’9″ | 155 | Georgia Tech |
| Isaac Kone | K | 6’1″ | 155 | Georgia State |
Which Conference Has the Tallest Players?
The interesting thing that happens when you compare conferences as a whole, the results seem to be surprisingly close.
And, relatively speaking, they are.
However, when you add an inch and 5 to 10 pounds to every player on the roster (basically the difference between most of the Power 5 conferences and Group of 5 conferences), the actual result can be overwhelming.
| Conference | Height (inches) | Height (feet/inches*) |
|---|---|---|
| Big 10 | 74.41 | 6’2 1/2″ |
| SEC | 74.39 | 6’2 1/2″ |
| Big 12 | 74.29 | 6’2 1/4″ |
| Pac 12 | 74.21 | 6’2 1/4″ |
| ACC | 74.03 | 6’2″ |
| MAC | 74.02 | 6’2″ |
| AAC | 73.58 | 6’1 1/2″ |
| Conference USA | 73.54 | 6’1 1/2″ |
| Independents | 73.52 | 6’1 1/2″ |
| Mountain West | 73.49 | 6’1 1/2″ |
| Sun Belt | 73.37 | 6’1 1/4″ |
*Rounded to the nearest quarter-inch
Which Conference has the Heaviest Players?
| Conference | Weight |
|---|---|
| SEC | 243.11 |
| Big 10 | 242.23 |
| Big 12 | 240.26 |
| ACC | 238.63 |
| Independents | 238.17 |
| Pac 12 | 238.04 |
| MAC | 234.84 |
| AAC | 234.1 |
| Mountain West | 233.62 |
| Sun Belt | 233.5 |
| Conference USA | 232.65 |
Important Notes
As a former sports scientist, I tend to take data pretty seriously so I must stress that these ‘averages’ should be used for entertainment purposes only.
Why do I say that?
There are multiple issues that can make all the data in this article flawed.
First and foremost, it’s pretty commonplace in athletics to lie about heights and weights. There’s even a term for it – ‘Program Height’.
Why?
The best answer that I was ever given is that it could potentially help with NFL scouting. However, I can’t imagine in 2023 that anyone is fooling an NFL scout with the size listed in a program. I think the real answer is it’s just part of the culture in sports.
*Second, I used the heights and weights of all the projected starters leading into Week 1. Whether it’s through injury or performance, starters can and will change throughout the season.
In fact, it took me a week to gather all these numbers and by the time I was done I would bet that there were dozens of starting positions that had already changed hands.
And, if a few 6’5″ 300-pound players are swapped out with a couple of 6’0″ 250-pound players, the sample size is small enough that this would most likely affect the overall averages.
Finally, I can tell you for a fact that players’ weights can fluctuate pretty wildly from week to week and sometimes even day to day and, especially, over the course of a season.
Just because a guy weighed 250 on the first day of camp when weights were put in the program, does not mean that’s what he weighs in Week 8.
So, have fun with the data above, but this is just a reminder to not take the numbers too seriously.
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I also broke down the sizes of NFL players by position. So, if you want to compare the sizes of NFL players vs college players – now you can.
If you want a deeper dive into the position group that I’m asked about the most, here are the average sizes of offensive linemen in college football.
Finally, you may not be able to control how tall you are, but you can control how hard you work and how smart you work. I can’t help you with your work ethic, but I have put together a Strength and Conditioning Guide for Football.
