For some reason, we in the NFL and draft community always have huge crushes over student-athletes that are enrolled in Ivy League Schools. We are enamored with the idea that teenagers/young adults can play sports and get an education at the top schools in the country (It’s the reason we still drool over Ryan Fitzpatrick at times).

Although there isn’t really much behind it, “smart” student-athletes make people feel good enough about sports to distract our shallow minds from the domestic violence cases, drug abuse, and academic scandals that plague universities of lesser integrity (looking at you, North Carolina).

Tyler Varga, your typical caucasian pretty boy from a wealthy, good-looking family offers a lot more than what you’d expect out of a kid that looks like the lacrosse captain and homecoming king at your high school who whines every time he gets touched and expects penalties… Looks can be deceiving.

Varga is an absolute wrecking ball with the football and absorbs contact like a black hole absorbs energy (I never took a physics class in my life #science). He runs north/south exceptionally well and picks up extra yards with ease.

Standing at 5’11 and weighing 222 pounds, it’s easy to see Varga’s incredible muscular frame not only on his upper body and torso, but his legs as well. It is this leg strength that gives him the ability to shed blocks regardless of where defenders try to wrap him up. You will rarely see him tackled by just one player, as it usually takes at least two defenders to bring him down on a carry.

At Yale, he was a work-horse back who carried the team and provided most of the momentum for the offense.

Varga keeps his pad level low and is more than willing to drive through the pile. Here, Varga puts his head down, pummels the Harvard linebacker, and continues onward.

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Another reason Varga wins is simply just his effort. He’s never complacent going down on first contact and will fight for every single yard. This is especially true when near the goal-line, where he has the task of fighting through more tacklers.

Varga does his best to continue his momentum with his active feet and lower body to complement the power and brute strength he brings with his hits.

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One of the biggest reasons to like Varga is the way he’s utilized on third downs. He was unstoppable on third and short situations this year, and when watching him, you knew he was going to convert it nearly every time.

His running style is tailor-made for short-yardage situations, and it’s no surprise he was as successful as he was in these scenarios.

But Varga is not just a one-dimensional threat. His receiving skills out of the backfield enhance his value. He’s not Darren Sproles, but he is a viable option on passing downs and can pose a threat in the red-zone, as you see on the following play.

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Varga won’t have to be like Matt Forte and make over 100 receptions to be impactful, he’s shown that being used sparingly as a receiver adds another element to his game to make him more useful.

However, there are some reasons why Varga went undrafted…

His burst is not great and his straight-line speed is well below average. Noting the competition he went against in the Ivy League, it’s surprising how little, if at all, Varga broke of runs more than 10-15 yards.

A reason for this is that he offers little to no elusiveness in the open field and won’t break tackles that don’t include trucking over someone.

While obviously that is his go-to move and he knows how to use his power, being one-dimensional in eluding tacklers won’t get you very far at all, literally.

This next play shows Varga making a reception on a 2nd and long, and while he does stop very well to change directions, his burst isn’t enough to escape the defender and he’s tackled by the ankles, which was and will be his biggest downfall.

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Varga rarely opts for the open field, primarily choosing to stay in between the tackles and find running lanes there. This makes sense given his playing style, but there are times it seems he settles for a three yard gain when he had the chance to bounce a run outside.

Teams knew this and were able to contain him by stacking the box with eight or more players knowing he wouldn’t attempt to turn the corner.

The following play shows just that, as Varga can’t find any wiggle room through the line when it appears he has ample open space to the right of the offensive line, but he doesn’t take it.

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Many people have said that Varga should prepare for a transition from running back to fullback, for many obvious reasons (He’s white). It has yet to be seen whether the Colts will actually carry a “fullback” on their roster, a good amount of their handoffs come from the shotgun.

Nonetheless, he can be implemented in an “H-back” role where he would be utilized in jumbo sets and have duties of running/receiving the ball or blocking.

With being a blocker, Varga does not have that much experience, especially run blocking, since he was the one running with the football. In pass blocking, although he provides natural strength to be a formidable blocker, he sometimes is like this which will need a good amount of coaching.

A player comparison for Tyler Varga is Toby Gerhart.

And right now you’re saying, “Really, Brian? You’re going to be that shallow and compare Tyler Varga to Toby Gerhart?”

Yes, yes I am. Not just because they are both white running backs who made national headlines from two of the smartest schools in the country (Yale and Stanford, respectively) and people wanted them to become fullbacks because of their massive size and ability to run over defenders…. Okay, well maybe that is why.

Although it has been shown that this type of running back shouldn’t be a heavily featured aspect of an offense (See: Gerhart, Jacksonville) it does help when this sort of player has other talent around him to be used complementary (See: Gerhart, Adrian Peterson).

Frank Gore and Boom Herron have earned their spots on the roster. The jury is still out on Vick Ballard, and his future is very uncertain in Indianapolis. He may even be replaced by fellow Mississippi State Bulldog and 6th round pick Josh Robinson.

It’s tough to see the Colts keeping more than four running backs, with the plethora of tight ends and wide receivers they have. Three might even be the magic number.

Varga will most likely find his way on to the practice squad, but should absolutely be in the picture of the Colts roster moving forward.

Most people had him as a draftable player, some even suggested an early/mid-third round grade on him. He’s a talented and hard working individual. Frank Gore will soon depart and that will leave a spot open on the roster, which hopefully means that Varga can exepct to see playing time within the next couple of years.

You want a short-yardage back who is incredible at converting on third/fourth downs and plays harder than almost all players on the field? I give you Tyler Varga.

Handsome Rating®: 9/10

My lord *eyes emoji*. This is absolutely flawless and if it weren’t for the acne, he would have broken the scale. He’ll have plenty of $$$$ to buy neutrogena to take care of that. WHEWWW.