Nick Marshall moving to cornerback for NFL
MOBILE -- Nick Marshall has likely thrown his last pass as a quarterback.
The former Auburn signal caller has decided to move to cornerback, where he played as a freshman at Georgia in 2011, as he prepares for the NFL draft and, after initially accepting an invitation to the this week's Senior Bowl as a quarterback, opted to make the move to defense before the first practice of the week Tuesday afternoon.
"I'm coming here to finish out as a quarterback but I already got my mind made up what position I want to play, and I'm going to move over there," Marshall said. "I'm going to play cornerback."
Marshall discussed his future with his family and decided a move to cornerback was "what was best for me in my near future."
Marshall threw for 4,291 yards with 32 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and has 1,848 rushing yards and 23 scores in his two seasons at Auburn, including 2,532 passing yards with 20 touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. He broke the program records for total offense (505 yards) and passing yards (456) in this year's Iron Bowl.
Marshall said he never considered another position, such as receiver or running back, which is more common for quarterbacks, including Denard Robinson and Julian Edelman. He also didn't discuss how past college quarterbacks who attempted positions changes when they entered the NFL fared when considering his options.
"It's going to be hard. I'm willing to accept the challenge," Marshall said. "It's just going to come with days the rest of the week. I'm just going to keep getting better at what I do."
Marshall had a change of heart even after Tuesday morning's weigh-in. After measuring in at 6-foot-1 and 1/2 inches and 205 pounds, Marshall announced he was changing to cornerback for the NFL but would still play quarterback this week.
Just four hours later, he walked on the field at Fairhope Municipal Stadium sporting a yellow quarterback jersey but quickly changed to an orange jersey and participated solely on defense and special teams.
"I'm a competitive guy," Marshall said. "Everyone knows that and I want to go against the best in order to be the best, and I'm going to train to be the best."
Marshall lined up against several of the South team's wide receivers in one-on-one drills and 11-on-11, including Kansas State's Tyler Lockett, who blazed past Marshall on a second repetition after he got the better of Lockett on their first duel.
"He ended up getting me on the first one, I think I ran a stop route," Lockett said. "I had the opportunity to go against him again, and I try to win and he tries to win, and fortunately I won the second one so it went 50/50."
The sudden change caught many off guard, including Senior Bowl executive director Phil Savage, who on Monday said Marshall "primarily will be at quarterback, if not 99 percent of the time," after inviting him to play in the premier all-star game on Friday.
"I was surprised," Savage said. "At the end of the day this might be the best thing that ever happened to Nick Marshall because he's getting a ton of attention about it and everybody in the country is going to know he's now playing defensive back."
Auburn coach Gus Malzahn "advocated" for Marshall, a two-year starter at Auburn and the first two-year signal caller in Malzahn's coaching career, to play quarterback in the Senior Bowl.
"I don't want to speak for Gus but I think he was surprised like everybody was because it was such an emphasis on bringing him here as a quarterback," Savage said. "That's what we had sort of come to a collective agreement upon, that this is the way it would happen. We get 24 hours into it and it changed, but hey that's what happens in the NFL every day."
ESPN NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr. projects Marshall as a late round pick as a defensive back and Savage felt that was a fair "starting point," whereas if Marshall stayed at quarterback it would "limit the number of teams that will really have a sincere interest in him."
Like several other players, Marshall has been training at EXOS football in Pensacola, Florida, in preparation for the NFL Combine and draft.
Marshall's not wavering at all as to what position is best for his future.
"(Corner is) all I've been focusing on," he said. "I'm all in now. I made my decision. … So I might as well stick with it and get better at it."
When Marshall meets with teams this week he plans to tell them "I'm athletic enough and I might get my technique down and that would be great."
Now Marshall will transition back to the position he last played in the 2012 Outback Bowl while at Georgia. He made five tackles in 13 games as a true freshman with the Bulldogs in 2011.
After being dismissed from Georgia in Feb. 2012, Marshall, the Georgia state high school record holder for touchdown passes in a season, was determined to play quarterback in the SEC and began his road back to major college football as a quarterback at Garden City Community College.
He decided to play at Auburn over Kansas State and helped lead one of the greatest turnarounds in college football history, leading the Tigers to the 2013 SEC championship and within 13 seconds of winning the BCS title.
Marshall said he fondest memory will be the Prayer at Jordan-Hare, his 73-yard touchdown pass to Ricardo Louis on fourth-and-18 with 36 seconds to play against Georgia in 2013.
The Rochelle, Georgia, native acknowledged that he'll miss playing quarterback but is looking forward to a future on defense.
"I'm not going to be disappointed," Marshall said. "I'm going to miss it just because, but I'm going to still have fun playing on the defensive side of the ball too."