He may be one of the smallest players on the field but Eastern Michigan freshman wide receiver Eddie Daugherty is hoping to make a big impact this season.
The 5’7”, 157 pound Mentor, Ohio native impressed Eastern Michigan coaches early into fall camp and with the relatively young core at wide receiver, he has a pretty good chance to see playing time this season.
“He’s the littlest guy on the field, but he jumps up and makes the play [in practice]. He’s a 6’7” high jumper,” said Eastern Michigan offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer.
“With [Dustin] Creel out, he has gotten a lot more reps and has gotten a lot better,” said DeBoer.
At Mentor High School, Daugherty played both wide receiver and running back. In his senior season, he had 68 carries for 521 yards and eight touchdowns and 61 receptions for 886 yards and eight touchdowns.
Daugherty also broke the state record in his junior year in the state championship game against Cincinnati Moeller with 19 receptions.
Daugherty spoke of the toughness of playing at his high school but says Eastern Michigan is a whole other challenge.
“Our high school was really intense and we wanted to get that college feel to it but, I mean, it’s a whole different level and I guess I expected it to be different, but not this different,” Daugherty said.
“Every person on this team has the ability to do amazing things and everyone is good at this level and you have to come ready to work every day or you could be passed up like that,” Daugherty said.
Eastern Michigan’s team currently consists of fifteen wide receivers and nine of them have freshman status.
