Muscle characteristics and body composition of NCAA Division I football players. J Strength Cond Res 28(12): 3320–3329, 2014—The purpose of this study was to examine muscle characteristics of the vastus lateralis (VL) and body composition of National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I football players. Sixty-nine Division I football players (mean 6 SD; age: 20.0 6 1.1 years; height: 186.2 6 7.0 cm; body mass: 106.3 6 21.1 kg; %fat: 17.8 6 4.6%) were stratified by player position, race, year, and starter status. A panoramic scan of the VL was performed using a GE Logiq-e B-mode ultrasound. Muscle cross-sectional area (mCSA) and echo intensity (EI) were determined using Image-J software from the VL scan.