TCU football notebook: Freshman receiver Ed Small off to strong start in spring camp
Enrolling early can be a huge advantage to incoming freshmen hoping to make an early impact in college football.
TCU has many early enrollees during spring camp and a few are starting to stand out, such as receiver Ed Small. A four-star recruit from Anderson High in Austin, Small has been a pleasant surprise in the receiver room and could be in line for a bigger role than anticipated.
Small was a dual-sport athlete in high school, playing baseball in the spring, but now he’s fully focused on football and reaping the benefits with a strong performance in spring camp.
“It’s been great,” Small said after Saturday’s practice. “It’s my first spring football in college and high school because I was always in baseball. The biggest adjustment has been all the time going into football, like I said I was playing baseball and (football) was never a year round thing. Now it’s the full year and I’ve been getting better each day.”
Small has taken his game to the next level over the last week of practices. Last Thursday he was on the receiving end of multiple chunk plays including a 20-yard touchdown from Ken Seals during 7-on-7.
He continued to be productive during the April 4 practice as he caught a long pass from freshman quarterback Adam Schobel and a 10-plus yard touchdown in the final drive of that practice.
Small caught another touchdown during Saturday’s open practice from Schobel and also had two more catches totaling at least 20 yards. Described as a running back lined up as a slot receiver, Small has been a perfect fit in TCU’s passing game.
“It’s a lot of fun, it’s run-and-gun, high tempo,” Small said. “We just get set and go, man. It’s a lot of fun. It was kind of hard to learn the plays at first because there are so many formations, but now that I’ve gotten a glimpse of it, it’s been a lot of fun so far.”
Small has shown strong hands and advanced skill as a route runner. Small’s natural talent has played a big role in his fast start, but he also credits the coaching he’s received from wide receivers coach Malcolm Kelly and new assistant wide receiver coach Corey Coleman.
“Both those coaches are amazing,” Small said. “Coach Kelly, he’s just so knowledgeable about the offense because he’s been with (Kendal) Briles a long time. He keeps the meetings simple, but it’s effective. Coach Coleman has been coaching the slots out here. He was a Biletnikoff winner. He’s a great player, great coach. He’s given us a bunch of tips, and he’s been amazing too.”
The goal for Small is to continue to master the playbook and learn the different positions he could possibly play. He’ll mainly be in the slot, but says the staff has implored him to learn the duties of the outside receiver spots to be as versatile as possible.
Small is also in the mix to return punts and kicks this season. His time as a baseball player has helped him a lot with special teams.
“A bunch of the drills we do in baseball translate over to football,” Small said. “It’s a lot of the same things, just with a glove and ball vs. just a ball out here. They translate directly, I would say.”
The Horned Frogs will have their hands full replacing Savion Williams, Jack Bech and JP Richardson, but the return of Eric McAlister plus the emergence of Small and Idaho transfer receiver Jordan Dwyer has TCU in a good position at receiver with just a few practices remaining in spring camp.
