Obviously the player would have to have some kind of natural ability for the position but at the end of the day, the idea isn't so crazy. Take a guy like Santana Moss for example.. with proper coaching at 5'10 200 pounds, why couldn't he have excelled at the RB position? He'd have elite speed, elusive moves... to me would probably be a 1000 yard rusher. Obviously when you draft a WR, your in need at that position and it would make absolutely no sense to convert the guy you just drafted to a different position. But thinking outside of the box, perhaps it's late in the draft, you see somebody on the board that has all-around talent, just doesn't do one thing great... a Hester-type player and he's been a WR in college, why not take a gamble? Take a guy like Jacoby Jones at 6'2, 210... out of college, help breaking down schemes for him... I think he'd be lethal out of the backfield, big, extremely fast, elusive.. Has this ever been done before successfully?
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Converting WR to RB's? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Mikey16x
- Start date
fantasysharkctb
Footballguy
Injuries...
Jerry Lawler
Footballguy
Anthony Aldridge played WR as a freshman in college before being converted to a RB. I know Indiana University coverted Marcus Thigpen to a RB. Neither of these translated to NFL success.
I'm guessing most WR's don't have the power to play RB in a way that gets the extra yards after contact, pass blocks effectively, and reasonably preserves their own health.
I'm guessing most WR's don't have the power to play RB in a way that gets the extra yards after contact, pass blocks effectively, and reasonably preserves their own health.
RenegadeGM
Footballguy
I do remember Rod Bernstine getting converted from TE to RB awhile back... he had a few decent years, too.
FUBAR
Footballguy
so they're Reggie Bush? I could see Santana Moss is a role like Darren Sproles or Leon Washington, but don't see any WRs as lead backs.
loose circuits
Footballguy
Leonard Weaver has done the same thing
coolnerd
Footballguy
Two issues in my mind
1) A light to moderate contact position to a heavy contact position. A running back either has to be good at absorbing, deflecting or avoiding hits. While in a game a WR may get a really big hit or two, there is not the constant punishment that a RB has to take. RBs are not only hit more often due to plays, but are hit more often during both plays the carry the ball and those where they either carry out a fake and/or block.
2) More subtile is the idea of vision/attitude. some guys can see the whole field when the field spread out. honestly i think this the strength of guys like Bush/Slayton is this sort of vision. tight space vision is different. A runner has to see spaces which will either close quickly if they don't get there right now or will only yield a short gain. a running back has to be ok with the 3 yard carry which is an attitude issue.
i would say if you look at the backgrounds of many players, more go from the heavy contact position (RB) to the lighter one (wr).
The closest people to being a good combination are Bush, Slayton, Harvin, Cribbs. when you see even a stockier guys like Moss he still has to have a RBs mental outlook. Yes, he could make a big run from the RB position often, but can he consistently plow in the middle on 3 and 1 or chip a 275 DE on a pass play? thus far none of the tweeners I can think of are consistently good at those two things.
The OP mentioned a guy like Jacoby Jones. From watching him for the last 4 yars, he does not even have the mindset to consistent go around the middle on pass plays nor really is physical as a returner. Very doubtful that he has the natural skills to be a true RB. Take a pitch or two in game yeah, but run an off tackle power player or an inside zone read, not so much.
1) A light to moderate contact position to a heavy contact position. A running back either has to be good at absorbing, deflecting or avoiding hits. While in a game a WR may get a really big hit or two, there is not the constant punishment that a RB has to take. RBs are not only hit more often due to plays, but are hit more often during both plays the carry the ball and those where they either carry out a fake and/or block.
2) More subtile is the idea of vision/attitude. some guys can see the whole field when the field spread out. honestly i think this the strength of guys like Bush/Slayton is this sort of vision. tight space vision is different. A runner has to see spaces which will either close quickly if they don't get there right now or will only yield a short gain. a running back has to be ok with the 3 yard carry which is an attitude issue.
i would say if you look at the backgrounds of many players, more go from the heavy contact position (RB) to the lighter one (wr).
The closest people to being a good combination are Bush, Slayton, Harvin, Cribbs. when you see even a stockier guys like Moss he still has to have a RBs mental outlook. Yes, he could make a big run from the RB position often, but can he consistently plow in the middle on 3 and 1 or chip a 275 DE on a pass play? thus far none of the tweeners I can think of are consistently good at those two things.
The OP mentioned a guy like Jacoby Jones. From watching him for the last 4 yars, he does not even have the mindset to consistent go around the middle on pass plays nor really is physical as a returner. Very doubtful that he has the natural skills to be a true RB. Take a pitch or two in game yeah, but run an off tackle power player or an inside zone read, not so much.
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Wasn't Leonard Weaver a RB that just had superior blocking skills? Naturally, then converted to FB? He has more speed then probably any other FB in the NFL and probably more moves. I mean it's easy to say the marquee names shouldn't convert, and that's obvious... they obviously have the most value to their team at their skill position. I can see guys like Steve Smith (Car), Santana Moss, etc be lethal out of the backfield. Andy Reid kind of has the idea when he lines DeSean Jackson at QB in their wildcat... he takes it to the house, but obviously he could never be a lead back... after a few hits, he'd be destroyed. I'm making a bold statement that sometime in the near future your going to see a RB by committee with a lead back/speedy WR. We're starting to see the beginning with Josh Cribbs... hasn't he averaged a nice YPC average this season? If you gave somebody like Cribbs/Desean/Hester 5-10 carries a game.. I think you'd see amazing results.Edit for research: Cribbs has 218 yards on 34 carries with a 6.4 YPC average... not to shabby.
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A
awesomeness
Guest
Better question, why don't the Saints use Reggie Bush in a Wes Welker type role?
QuizGuy66
Footballguy
this guy piled up some points for me back in the day Easy, he doesn't have Wes Welker's ability as a receiver. He doesn't have Welker's toughness, hands, physical strength.. overall not able to do it. Wes Welker is probably going to have a relatively short career.. he's a very scrappy guy... he's not like Marvin Harrison where he see's the hit coming and goes down... he's more a Wayne Chrebet type player and takes the shalacking... I hate to see it and I hope it doesn't happen bc I like Wes Welker and his scrappy style, but it's probably going to lead to some head injuries. The Patriots should attempt to teach Wes Welker how to avoid the collision to prolong his career.
Yes. I seem to recall Chris Johnson spending time at WR at ECU. UF converted Percy Harvin to an RB in his senior season. Josh Cribbs has played both WR and RB through his career.The problem is that the two positions both take very different skillsets, so if someone's skillset is more suited to one or the other, they get put in that position early and stay there their whole career. Truly borderline talents are very rare, and most of them aren't going to be NFL-caliber at either position. But yes, very very rarely you will find a Reggie Bush, Percy Harvin, Josh Cribbs, or Chris Johnson who is capable of making the transition.
two_dollars
Footballguy
Steve Smith could do it. He's got the mean streak to take it to the defenders.
CaptainHook
Footballguy
rb's have to be guys that absolutely love contact. most wr's are the absolute opposite.
Plus the guy capable of being an RB who has been developing his route running for years is going to be much more valuable at WR anyway.
RB is more of a commodity position whereas WR requires both a honed skillset and either elite size or speed.
To me the opposite conversion of RB to WR with a guy like reggie bush makes much more sense but im guessing he cant run routes or is really soft in traffic.
Plus the guy capable of being an RB who has been developing his route running for years is going to be much more valuable at WR anyway.
RB is more of a commodity position whereas WR requires both a honed skillset and either elite size or speed.
To me the opposite conversion of RB to WR with a guy like reggie bush makes much more sense but im guessing he cant run routes or is really soft in traffic.
Cheesedawg
Footballguy
I think a big reason kids are sorted into RB's, WR's, LB's and DB's in the formative years is related to courage. You have to be a bit crazy to be a physical RB. Most WR's would have a ceiling of 3rd down back if they were converted. I do think Boldin could be a RB.
DesmondBishop
Footballguy
I doubt they can take that away from Wes, it makes him who he is, however, I do think the Patriots took a precautionary measure by drafting Wes part deux, Julian Edelman. He may not be as good yet, but he's only played wr 1 year.
FUBAR
Footballguy
Boldin could be, but would miss more games probably.Hines Ward might be able to as well.
Csonka4life
Footballguy
Specialization is the reason. In the 20's through early 60's it happened all of the time. I can name 3 hall of famers that have been switched from running back to wide out(Gifford, Hirsch and Taylor). When this happened players weren't nearly as big as they are now. Even in the 70's the size difference wasn't as much. Look at the way Fullbacks have gained girth compared to the Fullbacks from the 70's.
Hester could come out of the backfield and be involved in the passing game, but no way could he play RB. He's too contact-phobic. Best case scenario would be Darren Sproles, only much worse running the ball.
He certainly has the mindset. However, his mind would be cashing checks his body couldn't cover, IMO.
Not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. See MJD.
good answer.Occasionally there's a guy like Bush. I've been quite unimpressed with him as a pro RB though. As a receiver he's good but...IIRC Kevin Faulk and Curtis Martin played WR a smidge, Marshall Faulk lined up wide a number of times. Kentucky has a guy that is plenty talented to do both in the NFL, Randall Cobb,. but it's so rare.And the Moss stuff. I would guess Sinorice is similarly good in breakaway ability and I think he was the tiniest bit faster. (Clearly he's horribly worse as a receiver) He stunk coming out of the Giants backfield trying to run. It was over so quick. If you ever thought someone was a sure-bet to get hurt; Sinorice playing RB would strike up that feeling. One other thing-WRs don't get tackled by DEs and DTs often and have it relatively easy as far as weight coming down on them. It's gotta be different getting tackled by a guy 80-100 pounds heavier, over and over for four quarters.
loose circuits
Footballguy
seen him, and he's built like a fire hydrantMikey16x said:
loose circuits
Footballguy
No, he was a LB at Carson-Newman who converted to TE his last 2 years.
FUBAR
Footballguy
Even smurf Sproles is 5'6" and 181. 5'6 vs. 5'9 is pretty significant for basically the same weight.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
Maybe the best player (career) who was a WR in college for much of his career was Ricky Watters who played flanker at Notre Dame.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
I think the reason it doesn't happen much is that open field vision is different than vision behind the line of scrimmage. A player like Bush would be a better WR, but I believe the reason he isn't already one is his adamant desire to be an RB and he had enough proven production at USC to force his hand early in his career.
The ability to find a crease and more importantly learn how to show the patience to time when to hit a crease that isn't open yet, but will be when you reach it, is a skill that separates a great athlete from a good RB.
Vision and burst are two of the most important skills an RB has. The reason big bruisers aren't converted to RB more often is they either lack the burst or the vision to find a hole and gain more than a yard or two, or they don't have the flexibility and agility to run with the proper pad level to get win collisions AND stay healthy.
There is a big difference between being a good open field runner with LBs beside you or behind you and DBs ahead of you and being a good runner where you get the ball with 20 players facing you as you receive the hand off.
The ability to find a crease and more importantly learn how to show the patience to time when to hit a crease that isn't open yet, but will be when you reach it, is a skill that separates a great athlete from a good RB.
Vision and burst are two of the most important skills an RB has. The reason big bruisers aren't converted to RB more often is they either lack the burst or the vision to find a hole and gain more than a yard or two, or they don't have the flexibility and agility to run with the proper pad level to get win collisions AND stay healthy.
There is a big difference between being a good open field runner with LBs beside you or behind you and DBs ahead of you and being a good runner where you get the ball with 20 players facing you as you receive the hand off.
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