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Auburn Football: Nick Marshall Preparing For NFL Draft as a Quarterback and Cornerback

By Nicholas Ian Allen

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One of the best quarterbacks to ever play Auburn football may not have an opportunity to play the position as a pro. Therefore, Nick Marshall is preparing for the NFL Draft as both a QB and a cornerback.

Following an impressive two seasons as the starting quarterback for the Auburn football team, Nick Marshall is headed to the National Football League. We just don’t know what position he’ll play yet.

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“A lot of teams are very interested to see what he could potentially do as a defensive back,” Phil Savage, a former NFL general manager who is currently the executive director of the Reese’s Senior Bowl, recently told AL.com. “I know the next month when he goes to the combine, even if he goes as a quarterback, at the end of the meeting they ask ‘What alternate positions do you want to see some of these players at?’ The hands are going to go up, ‘We want to see Nick Marshall in the defensive backfield.”

The former Auburn signal caller hasn’t yet received an invitation to join teammates Sammie Coates, Cameron Artis-Payne, Reese Dismukes and Gabe Wright in the Senior Bowl, but there’s still a chance he could be added to the roster at either position. In the meantime, he is preparing in Pensacola, Florida as both a quarterback and defensive back.

Marshall led the Tigers to the 2013 SEC Championship and a spot in the BCS National Championship Game as a junior – his first season on campus following his departure from Georgia and a year at Garden City Community College in Kansas. In 2014, he led Auburn to an 8-5 overall record and a No. 22 ranking in the final AP Poll.

Oct 25, 2014; Auburn, AL, USA; Auburn Tigers quarterback Nick Marshall (14) looks to pass during the first half against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Jordan Hare Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Shanna Lockwood-USA TODAY Sports

Over the course of two seasons, Marshall accumulated 4,508 passing yards, 34 touchdowns and 13 interceptions while also completing 60% of his passes. A dual threat that used his athleticism to escape pressure in the pocket and also pick up big chunks of yardage on the ground, Marshall also ran for 1,866 yards and 23 scores.

Additionally, he set an Auburn single-game passing record with 456 yards against Alabama this season and finished just ten yards shy of Phil Gargis’ record for most rushing yards by a Tigers’ quarterback.

The 6-foot-1, 210-pound strong-armed right-hander has put up great numbers and made spectacular plays for Auburn, but there are concerns about his accuracy as a passer. Plus, much like he did as a freshman at Georgia, Marshall may prove to be too talented to sit on the bench as a backup quarterback.

Bulldogs’ head coach Mark Richt thought enough about Marshall’s skill and athleticism that he and his staff made the Pineview, Georgia native a defensive back and special teams performer instead of sitting and waiting behind star quarterback Aaron Murray.

“There’s no doubt he’s a very talented guy and he’s playing quarterback as well as anybody in the league and probably in the country,” Richt said before this year’s game against the Tigers. “We certainly looked at him as that, the possibility, but we believed he could be one of the best cornerbacks in America. We believe he could be a very high draft pick as a corner as well. He’s that talented of a guy.”

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    • ESPN NFL Draft analyst Mel Kiper offered his thoughts on Marshall in December.

    “You project them to wide receiver, some move to running back, or that safety spot,” Kiper said of other college quarterbacks with skill sets similar to Marshall. “For Nick Marshall, that’s a possibility. I could see him in the fourth round, fifth-round picks as a DB.”

    In his last game in an Auburn uniform, Nick Marshall impressed former Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen, an analysts covering the Outback Bowl for ESPN. Millen mentioned several times that he believed that Marshall could be a backup quarterback in the NFL (“a No. 3”), but that he also saw the young playmaker contributing either as an offensive weapon as a receiver or in the defensive secondary.

    Simply put, someone will find a way to utilize Marshall’s speed and athleticism, and if it’s not as a quarterback, he’ll have other options.

    Good thing he is preparing himself.

    Next: 5 Bold Predictions For National Signing Day 2015

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