SPORTS

Nick Marshall goes from 'all in' at CB to 'open to play anything'

James Crepea
Montgomery Advertiser

Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall speaks to the media at the 2015 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium.

INDIANAPOLIS – Nick Marshall's position in the NFL lies in the hands of both him and the hands of the team who drafts the former Auburn signal caller.

After switching to cornerback for last month's Senior Bowl, Marshall was "all in" with a move back to defense. Yet when the NFL Combine attendees were announced on Feb. 6 Marshall was listed among the 15 quarterbacks, but a source with knowledge of the situation said Marshall would perform drills as a defensive back.

Once again things changed this week as Marshall pulled another about face, deciding to throw and work out with the quarterbacks, at the request of an unspecified number of teams to his agent roughly two weeks ago, and perform defensive back drills on the side during the Combine.

"Anything that they sent me or invited me, I was going to come here and do what they wanted me to do," Marshall said. "I'm going to commit to one of them, but I'm open to playing any position."

On Monday, NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said he didn't believe many teams had an interest in seeing Marshall throw. Yet if it weren't for the interest from some teams to see Marshall, who threw for 2,532 yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions and ran for 798 yards with 11 scores last season, give it a rip at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday, he would be at cornerback.

"I was completely doing cornerback drills (while training at EXOS in Pensacola, Florida) because I had committed to playing cornerback," Marshall said. "It's about half and half (now) because I know a couple of teams probably want to see me throw the ball around and a couple want to see me backpedal."

While college quarterbacks switching positions in the NFL isn't uncommon, with Denard Robinson and Julian Edelman among those to make the move to running back and receiver in recent years, Marshall's move to defense is far less common, with Scott Frost and Rex Kern among the notable college QBs to move to safety in the past.

Marshall said the back-and-forth of the last month hasn't affected him.

"It's something that the man above blessed me with being versatile," Marshall aid. "I'm going to do whatever the team want me to do. I'm not going to argue with what they want me to do. I'm going to do anything to get on the field."

As long as he remains in the mix at quarterback Marshall wants to outperform his competition, including Oregon's Marcus Mariota and Florida State's Jameis Winston, the presumptive top two quarterbacks in this year's draft, in the Combine tests.

"My goal is I'm going to try to run a high 4.4 or low 4.5 (in the 40-yard dash)," Marshall said. "I'm going to do the bench press and then probably get 10 or 12."

If Marshall were to clock in at even 4.59 seconds, he would tie Cam Newton for the 13th fastest time by a quarterback since 2006, with Reggie McNeal's 4.35 seconds as the best by a QB in that span. The fastest corners typically run sub 4.4 times, with most falling in the 4.5-4.6 range.

New York Jets coach Todd Bowles, who coached Frost during his previous stint with the team in 2000, believes Marshall has the physical tools to be successful corner.

"Athletically he's fine," Bowles said. "You got a lot of nuances at corner for the first time (in three years) so how he catches on and how he adapts and sees things going from offense to defense, obviously you got to see things upside down. How he reacts to coverages and relates to things and how physical and how athletic he is will have a lot to do with it going forward."

Marshall had an impressive showing at the Senior Bowl, where he improved during practice each day and tied for a South team-high in tackles. He's refined his technique at corner, specifically his backpedaling, and worked with former NFL defensive backs coach Doug Graber while at EXOS.

"It was a couple of things I had to brush up on technique-wise; press with the right hands and working on the receivers I'm going up against," Marshall said. "It's basically staying on top against the receivers so I don't get beat deep how I was at the beginning of (Senior Bowl) practice."

Marshall said he met with the Buffalo Bills, Seattle Seahawks, Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers on Wednesday, with more meetings set for Thursday night.

Bills coach Rex Ryan is familiar with converting college quarterbacks to different positions, moving Brad Smith to wide receiver during their stint together with the New York Jets, though Marshall said Ryan didn't mention his time with Smith.

"(Teams) were just basically brushing up on things (and) asking me what position I feel more comfortable with, and then asking me would I be able to play cornerback and be emergency third-string quarterback," Marshall said. "Like I say, I'm open to play anything."