Inside The Chart: Slot Machine

Slot Machine: Malik Rutherford has faced skepticism about his size forever. But thanks to infectious energy and unflinching toughness, Georgia Tech’s slot receiver has made believers out of defenses one catch at a time.

Inside The Chart | By Andy Demetra (The Voice of the Yellow Jackets)

Malik Rutherford has been slight of stature his whole career. He used to do weigh-ins before Pop Warner games in full pads to give himself extra heft on the scales. He’s heard fans crack wise about why Georgia Tech let a little kid on its team, like he did at Ole Miss last season. It’s hard to escape scrutiny when you arrive at school weighing 138 pounds, arguably the lightest scholarship skill player in the NCAA Division I FBS that year.

But as Malik Rutherford has also proven, slight of stature does not mean slight of stats.

Last Saturday offered the latest example, when the slot receiver from Miami finished with a career-high seven receptions for a career-high 131 receiving yards in Georgia Tech’s 35-12 win over Georgia State at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Rutherford said he couldn’t recall having that many receiving yards in a high school game.

“All of my teammates were telling me I had about 100-some yards in the huddle, but I didn’t believe it. I saw it after the game, and it was satisfying. It’s just a testimony to all the hard work I’ve put in. I’ve just got to keep going,” the redshirt junior said.

He and the 23rd-ranked Yellow Jackets will look to keep their solid start going this Saturday when they head to Syracuse for their ACC road opener at the JMA Wireless Dome (Noon ET, Georgia Tech Sports Network). Rutherford knows the Jackets’ first national ranking in nine years will put a bigger target on them, especially as the visiting team. Their approach won’t change, he insists.

“We talk about this every day. We expect this to happen. We feel like it’s not new to us,” Rutherford said.

He has experience ignoring numbers. Despite earning all-state honors at Champagnat Catholic High School in Hialeah, Fla., where he helped lead his team to two state titles, Rutherford knew his waifish frame would create skepticism on the recruiting trail.

Slot receivers are short and shifty by nature. But could high-major programs really buy in to a player who stood 5-foot-9 and was a Waffle House All-Star Special shy of 140 pounds?

“Even though I didn’t have the weight, I could go out there and compete with the best of the best,” Rutherford recalled. “I was always the littlest guy on the field, but I’m tough.”

Georgia Tech believed in him (as did Syracuse, which also gave him an early offer).  Rutherford didn’t hesitate reciprocating that belief, becoming the Yellow Jackets’ first commitment in their 2021 signing class. Now up to a sturdy 170 pounds, the supposedly undersized Rutherford has caught a pass in 18-straight games, a streak that puts him just outside the top 10 in school history. He’s averaging 17.9 yards a catch on a team-leading 11 receptions, with a reputation for fearlessness going over the middle to make contested catches.

“He may be the smallest guy on the field, but he has the biggest heart,” said fellow wideout Chase Lane.  “He plays like he’s 6-2, 6-3.”

Actually, his quarterback disagrees.

“He plays like he’s 6-4,” Haynes King countered.

“He probably still thinks he’s 6-4. I love it. I love the way he plays, the way he carries himself – everything about him,” he added.

King and Rutherford’s chemistry is well-established, as shown by his career night against the Panthers. But King encourages people to watch Rutherford without the ball in his hands, the way he adjusts a route to clear a seam for a teammate or the way he turns and transitions into a blocker. Even on plays that don’t result in a catch – perhaps even more so on those plays – Rutherford’s IQ shines.

King, a coach’s son with a bottomless appetite for grinding tape, has seen it first-hand in their film sessions. “He gets the game of football. He gets the flow of football. And especially when he’s playing good ball, it’s wonderful,” he said.

That includes blocking on the perimeter, where Rutherford takes pride in knocking back DBs who underestimate his toughness.

“Showing love to my teammates,” Rutherford said of his blocking mentality. “It’s just about Coach [Trent] McKnight drilling in our heads, ‘Protect your teammates.  Protect your teammates.’ We’re just a group that really cares about each other.”

“He’s a tough, physical guy – probably one of our best blockers in the room at his size. That says a lot about his heart and his passion for the game,” Lane said.

Coaches and teammates also praise Rutherford’s electric current energy, which isn’t just limited to slant routes or runs after the catch.

“It’s contagious, getting us going before practice. He likes to dance and have a good time. Whenever we see Malik out there bouncing around, it definitely gets the rest of the group going,” Lane said.

“He’s one of my favorite people in the world. You talk about a guy that’s got energy every single day. He loves playing the game,” said head coach Brent Key.

Chalk that up to genetics as well.

“I’ve always been that guy that brings the juice to the team, but I have no problem with that. Some people just don’t have that in them like that. That’s why I come in and step in and play my part,” Rutherford said.

Like his team’s ranking, Rutherford knows his stats won’t make him overlooked any longer. And like the rest of his teammates, he expects a loud, unforgiving environment in Syracuse, where Georgia Tech will seek to validate its first national ranking since September 2015.

But figuratively speaking, the scales have tipped for Malik Rutherford, from skepticism over his size to respect for his production. And if someone still wants to give him grief for his slight frame, he’ll be ready.

“It’s becoming natural at this point,” Rutherford said of the barbs.

“I’m just shaking my head and say, ‘Okay, okay, we’re going to wait to see until the game. You’ll see what I can do.’”