A couple weeks back at Detroit Lions mandatory minicamp, Dan Campbell brought up the idea of Lions defensive tackle Alim McNeill playing fullback.
“Mac can do it. It’s just a matter of do you want to do that? He can do it. It’s just, alright how many plays did he just play on this last drive you know? Was this a ten-play drive? Does he got his energy back to run out there at fullback? We’ve talked about it for a while so you never know, we could throw him in there.”
We’ll see if the Lions actually do it, but until then, we thought it might be fun to go over the roster and speculate on which other players could have some success on the other side of the ball if they ever got the chance to. Here’s the four players we came up with:
Penei Sewell as a defensive lineman
For the record, I believe that Sewell could play any position on the field. Put him out there a punter and he would probably figure it out. But imagine a world where an offensive lineman would have to try to stop Penei Sewell from hitting their quarterback. I don’t know if it could be done. We’ll never see it. But we’ll always have the opportunity to see him to catch another pass some day.
Aidan Hutchinson as a running back
That spin move could be put to use on the offensive side of the ball too. Hutchinson wouldn’t be the best running back, but he could do some short yardage stuff with that burst, the strength and the lateral agility to play the position. Would really be interesting to see this.
Amon-Ra St. Brown at cornerback
Imagine the guy that always makes the catch trying to prevent someone from making the catch. It’s all about the way that St. Brown carries himself. If there were ever anyone that would be able to have the commitment and obsessive nature to learn a new position and thrive at it, it’s St. Brown.
Jared Goff at safety
This one is a joke. Let’s move onto the fourth and final real one.
Alex Anzalone at tight end
Imagine this guy out there running for passes while that hair flies out the back of his helmet and blinds a would be tackler so he can’t see. Seriously though, Anzalone is sneaky fast and can be shifty too. There’s no reason to believe he couldn’t play a little tight end.