Diminutive receivers making big mark in playoffs

	Though he stands a mere 5-foot-9, Steve Smith led the NFL in receiving this season and scored 12 touchdowns for the Panthers. Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
	RELATED • BANKS: Script flipped on rematch weekend • SI.com's writers forecast this week's games

My first thought upon standing next to Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith this week was how did someone that seems the size of a Lilliputian in the locker room become the most unstoppable player in the NFL. Generously listed at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds, Smith mixes Jordanesque leaping ability, world-class speed and Terminator-like ruggedness. He also has become a polished route runner who possesses LaDainian Tomlinson-like moves after making a catch. But he says his best attribute is his height. Say what?

"I use it to my advantage," the fifth-year veteran out of Utah said this week, with no hint of levity. He then went on to explain that without his height, he doubts he would possess other qualities, such as a 40-inch vertical that has made him a star.

Of course, the ideal wideout combines speed, size and strength, and NFL teams increasingly are placing a premium on bigger receivers in search of the next Randy Moss or Terrell Owens -- minus the drama. In fact, of the six receivers picked in the first round of the 2005 draft, only one was under 6-2: the Ravens choosing the 5-11, 187-pound Mark Clayton fifth.

Nonetheless, this season Smith headed a coterie of smallish receivers who showed that size doesn't have to matter. He led the NFL with 1,563 receiving yards, followed by 5-10, 190-pound Santana Moss, who set a Redskins single-season record with 1,483 receiving yards and will join Smith as a starter for the NFC's Pro Bowl squad. Indeed, of the eight wideouts selected to the Pro Bowl, only two are taller than six feet: Cincinnati's Chad Johnson (6-1) and Arizona's Larry Fitzgerald (6-3).

"The little guys are back in style," declared Tampa Bay receiver Joey Galloway, a 5-11, 197 pound veteran who had the best season of his 11-year career: a team-leading 83 catches for 1,287 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Sure enough, this year's remaining playoff teams are replete with small receivers who are factors in their team's chances at a Super Bowl title ...

At Seattle, the 5-10, 188-pound Bobby Engram had teams highs of 67 catches and 778 yards for the Seahawks' potent offense.

In Denver, the 6-0 Pro Bowler Rod Smith led the Broncos with 85 catches, 1,105 yards and six touchdowns.

The Patriots became a dynasty -- winners of three of the four past Super Bowls -- with no starting receiver taller than 6-0. The 5-9 Deion Branch was named the Super Bowl MVP last year. This season he produced a team-high 78 catches for 998 yards. Branch's partner, the 6-0 David Givens, has caught a touchdown pass in six straight playoff games -- the second longest such streak in NFL history

At Pittsburgh, the 6-foot Hines Ward led the Steelers with 69 catches for 975 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has caught a touchdown in five straight playoffs. Indianapolis' starters are Marvin Harrison (6-0), a perennial Pro Bowler, and Reggie Wayne (6-0).

An emphasis on the illegal-contact rule since the 2004 season appears to have helped level the playing field for small receivers. The NFL has been enforcing the existing rule against receivers being mugged five yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Small receivers, who virtually all possess explosiveness and quickness, now have more freedom to showcase their skills. Before the rule's increased enforcement, diminutive receivers were often treated the way a restless child abuses a ragdoll.

Drawbacks to being a small wideout include staying upright in a violent sport. But Smith and the 5-11 Laveranues Coles of the Jets are two of the NFL's toughest wideouts, and neither is afraid to go across the middle.

Of course, Washington coach Joe Gibbs remembers from his first NFL stint that a team with small receivers can win the title. He won three Super Bowls largely because of small receivers: the Smurfs in the early 1980s and the Posse in the late '80s. In '83, the Smurfs helped set a then-NFL record with 541 points in a season. Gibbs' receivers included the 5-10 Charlie Brown, 5-8 Virgil Seay and 5-7 Alvin Garrett.

After his offense floundered in '04, Gibbs jettisoned Rod Gardner (6-2, 213 pounds) and Coles, and went smaller to get bigger plays. Enter Santana Moss and David Patten, who entered the '05 season as starters, each listed at 5-10 and 190 pounds. (Washington's receiver corps was so small that the 5-9, 170-pound Antonio Brown said it was surreal to feel normal for once.)

While Patten suffered a season-ending injury last season, Moss flourished, averaging 17.6 yards on 84 catches. Offensive coordinator Don Breaux marvels at Moss' magnetic sense of the ball, regardless of whether the throw is off. Breaux joked to me recently that he thinks Moss has a GPS installed in his brain to track the ball.

It's natural to imagine Moss or Smith -- tied for the NFL lead in touchdowns (12) and catches (103) -- with a few more inches. But perhaps it would mean a few less inches on their verticals. Moreover, Moss might not have that uncanny knack for altering his route to pluck balls out the sky.

Smith, the most unstoppable receiver in the NFL this year, certainly wouldn't trade his height for anything.