Two college quarterbacks will audition for NFL teams at new positions at the Scouting Combine.
Northwestern’s Kain Colter will work out at wide receiver and Georgia Southern’s Jerick McKinnon will work out at running back, according to NFL.com.
Colter played some receiver at Northwestern, catching 63 passes in his four-year career for the Wildcats. His passing numbers weren’t bad (222-of-320 for 2,160 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions), but at only six feet tall and without a great arm, his pro future, if he has one, is at wide receiver. The biggest question facing Colter may be about his health: He has a history of concussions, and he missed the Senior Bowl with an ankle injury.
McKinnon ran an old-school triple-option offense at Georgia Southern, so there was never any chance he’d play quarterback in the NFL. McKinnon carried nine times for 125 yards and a touchdown in an upset over Florida, a game Georgia Southern won without completing a single pass.
It’s not unusual for a few college quarterbacks to switch positions when it’s time to enter the draft. In fact, if there was a surprise when the list of Combine participants came out, it was that Northern Illinois Heisman Trophy finalist Jordan Lynch is listed as a quarterback. Lynch is widely regarded as a good enough athlete to make it in the NFL, but not a good enough passer to make it as a quarterback. If Lynch is following in the footsteps of Kansas State’s Collin Klein, a Heisman Trophy finalist a year earlier who insisted that he wanted to play quarterback in the NFL, he might want to consider what Klein learned last year: If you’re a run-first, pass-second quarterback, there may not be a place for you in the NFL.