INDIANAPOLIS — Conversion. That is the most oft-used term by coaches and scouts here this year as they try to project college stars to the next level during the NFL Scouting Combine.
That is not about converting pounds to dollars or one religion to another. It is merely the act of taking players who were great in their college system and converting them to the NFL way of doing things.
This concern is most prevalent for quarterbacks and offensive linemen, especially offensive tackles charged with the responsibility of protecting those quarterbacks.
The villain in this drama is college football’s spread offense, which has proliferated in various forms for more than a decade. It features quarterbacks taking a long snap rather than putting his hand under the center’s buttocks to get the ball. That difference is easily obvious to the newest of football fans.
But also of major concern is that most offensive tackles in the spread formation were seldom in a stance that required one hand on the ground, as is the norm in the NFL. After all, the spread formation screams pass, so what’s the point of pretending they might run block? So they crouch a little with two feet and no hands on the ground, prepared to pass block.
So it is that the most popular terms used by coaches and scouts here are “projections” and “conversion.”
Arizona Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians explained the challenge.
“So many of those guys never get into a three-point stance,” Arians said of offensive line prospects. “You’re drafting guys who are coming out of colleges that have never been in a three-point stance, in high school or college.
“You are going to pay him a ton of money and have to teach him how to play in a three-point stance and run block. It’s fundamentals we have to go back and teach that we never had to teach before. Athletes are much better. But fundamentals are worse than they have ever been.”
And the players are not taking this lightly. Ohio State’s Taylor Decker is rated as the No. 3 offensive tackle prospect here, 19th overall and expected to go in the first round, per NFLDraftScout.com.
But he concedes that if he wants to play immediately in the NFL he must be ready. Along with everything else, his particular challenge includes being very tall, at 6-foot-7, 310 pounds.
“Yes it will be different than starting from a two-point stance because I will need to get my whole body feeling comfortable from much lower in a three-point,” Decker said. “Ultimately I should be able to generate better leverage. But I want to start soon, so I need to be ready for whatever it is I need to do.”
And that is the general tenor of NFL teams and college hopefuls here this week. The current concern is converting college athletes from the spread offense to the so-called pro style in the NFL.
In reality this is not all that new. It’s just different. It is the flavor of the college to pro transition right now. For decades, pro football found it necessary to convert college players from a variety of offensive schemes. There was Single Wing, the Wishbone, the Triple Option, the Run-and-Shoot and many others.
Now there are various spread formations, including the hybrid Pistol. That has a shorter long snap (five yards) and can keep two backs behind the quarterback, in a juxtaposition similar to a two-back Pro set. This keeps quarterbacks comfortable if they prefer shotgun snaps or haven’t mastered the footwork to drop back after getting the snap under center. It also allows teams to use basically the same blocking schemes they have from the standard, two-back Pro set.
This was popularized in the NFL when quarterbacks Robert Griffin III (Washington Redskins) and Colin Kaepernick (San Francisco 49ers) used the pistol to help their transition to the NFL. Like other trendy college schemes, it did not catch on as a mainstay. And, perhaps noteworthy, both players are expected to go to other teams this year.
Gil Brandt is known respectfully as “The Godfather” in honor of his tenure analyzing pro football talent since he joined the Dallas Cowboys in 1960. He literally has seen it all and is still extremely active evaluating talent on NFL’s SiriusXM radio programming.
“There are always differences between college and pro systems,” Brandt said Friday during a break from watching Combine players at Lucas Oil Field. “You hear the players and the coaches talking about technicalities, about changing this or doing that. But there is really only one thing you need to know — can they play football?”
Brandt cited his experience with the Cowboys, who were known for their innovative approach to scouting players.
“There was a time in the 1960s and ’70s that our entire offensive line was made up of players who had played defense in college,” he said. “First, defensive players are usually more athletic than offensive players, especially the big guys on the line. So you try them on the other side and if it works you have a more athletic offensive lineman.”
Among the Cowboys’ offensive linemen who were converted was Pat Donovan, who blocked for Tony Dorsett in the 1970s. Later there was Mark Tuinei, who was on the great front wall that blocked for Emmitt Smith and Troy Aikman. And the Cowboys’ conversion projects went beyond that, with Rayfield Wright, who was a tight end at Fort Valley State, but tried defensive line with the Cowboys before becoming a Hall of Fame offensive tackle.
Brandt said the common denominator was more basic than worrying about the difference between a two-point and three-point stance.
“First, is he an athlete,” Brandt said. “Second, can he play football. If you find a player who is both of those things, then you did well.”
In fact, the Cowboys were the first to identify football potential in basketball, and this was long before former basketball stars Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta Falcons, Kansas City Chiefs) and Antonio Gates (San Diego Chargers) converted from college power forward to All-Pro tight ends.
In 1962, on a tip from Utah State basketball coach LaDell Anderson, the Cowboys signed Cornell Green, whose only college sport was basketball. Green played cornerback from 1962-1974 for the Cowboys, including four years as an All-Pro.
“He was obviously a great athlete and his abilities transferred well to football,” Brandt said.
However, whether it is to justify their existence or that they really believe there is an issue, team executives continue to consider if, how and when they may need to convert these college stars to fit the NFL. And their worries go beyond quarterbacks and tackles.
“It really affects everything,” Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert said. “The offensive line plays different, the receivers are different. The tight ends, instead of being attached to a formation, they could be flexed in the slot and they’re used for the block on the perimeter. The running backs have different reads, they have different run lanes.
“But that’s not the college’s concern, it’s our concern. It doesn’t make it more difficult, it just changes how we have to evaluate. Just like we have to look at the drills we do here, you have to evolve and change with the times of the colleges, really.”
Decker, the big OSU tackle, is becoming a bit numb to all the chatter. He is beginning to believe the simplified message from The Godfather.
“The style of play is a lot different at the next level,” he said. “But it’s still football. … and regardless of how you must line up, either you can play or you cannot.”
— Frank Cooney, founder and publisher of The Sports Xchange and NFLDraftScout.com, is in his sixth decade covering football and 26th year on the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee.