Iowa offensive tackle Brandon Scherff won the Outland Trophy as the nation's best interior lineman in 2014, and he is a good choice to be the first offensive lineman off the board Thursday night in the first round of the NFL draft.
But don't be surprised if Scherff ends up at guard rather than at tackle in the NFL. NFL Media analysts Mike Mayock and Lance Zierlein, among others, think Scherff's best NFL fit is at guard.
And Scherff (6-foot-5, 319 pounds) is far from the only player who might fit better in the NFL at a position other than the one he played in college.
Safety is one of the weakest positions in this draft, so teams could be looking at Rowe (6-1, 205) to make the move from cornerback to safety. Actually, for Rowe, the move should read "back to safety." He started at free safety in each of his first three seasons at Utah, then moved to cornerback as a senior. His experience -- and success -- at safety in a draft that features few elite prospects at the position could mean a team selects Rowe with the purpose of using him at safety. The flipside: His size as a corner sure is enticing.
Players changing positions once they get to the NFL certainly isn't new. Herb Adderley was a running back at Michigan State before he was converted into a cornerback by the Green Bay Packers; he now is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So is Rayfield Wright, who was a tight end at Fort Valley (Ga.) State before being moved to offensive tackle by the Dallas Cowboys. And so is Sam Huff, who was a tackle at West Virginia before becoming one of the best middle linebackers in NFL history with the New York Giants. Julian Edelman (from quarterback to wide receiver), Bruce Miller (defensive end to fullback), Jason Peters (tight end to offensive tackle), Antwaan Randle El (quarterback to wide receiver) and Denard Robinson (quarterback to running back) are a few other notables who changed positions.
Nick Marshall, who played quarterback at Auburn, knows his best chance to make an NFL team is as a defensive back, and he already is preparing for the move. Here are 12 other players who could be in line for a position change once they get to the NFL.
Alex Carter, Stanford
Donald Celiscar, Western Michigan
Imoan Claiborne, Northwestern State (La.)
La'el Collins, LSU
Ereck Flowers, Miami
Byron Jones, Connecticut
Ali Marpet, Hobart (N.Y.)
Darian Miller, Kentucky
Mitch Morse, Missouri
Quinten Rollins, Miami (Ohio)
Josh Shaw, USC
Shaq Thompson, Washington
Mike Huguenin can be reached at mike.huguenin@nfl.com. You also can follow him on Twitter @MikeHuguenin.
