Before fall camps opened, NFL Draft 365introduced you to a pair of Southeastern Conference talents who had proven themselves capable of playing on both sides of the ball. A few weeks later, it appears that while Florida's Loucheiz Purifoy has embraced the concept in every way, Georgia's Malcolm Mitchell has settled into an offense-only role.
The Albany Herald went into detail with Mitchell about his efforts to become a full-time receiver after performing double duty last year. The Bulldogs' defense may be the worse for it, but it's a nice bonus for senior quarterback Aaron Murray.
"I've gotten a lot better at receiver. That's what happens when you boil it down to one thing and try to get better at it," Mitchell said.
Last year, Mitchell was Georgia's second-most productive receiver with 40 catches for 572 yards despite spending about a month of the season playing defense. This year, with 2012 receiving leader Tavarres King now with the Denver Broncos, Mitchell looks to lead the position.
Camp talk in Gainesville, by contrast, suggests Florida's Purifoy will hardly ever come off the field. Defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin told Gatorsports.com the coaching staff will monitor Purifoy's total snaps from game to game to ensure he isn't overly fatigued. He's also one of UF's top special-teams performers, which will run his snap count even higher. Durkin even suggested that 100 snaps in a game, something not seen in the SEC since Georgia's Champ Bailey 15 years ago, isn't out of the question for Purifoy.
"Yeah, I think so. The guy's in good condition, he can run and go all day. We've all seen it here before," Durkin said. "Last year he was playing defense every snap and you see us punting the ball or kicking off and he's the first one running down the field."
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
