Auburn quarterback Nick Marshall will go through quarterback drills at the NFL Combine this week.

Marshall is expected to get drafted as a cornerback after leading the Tigers to an SEC championship in ’13 and performing as one of the conference’s better quarterbacks again in ’14.

At the NFL level, his athleticism makes him a project with significant upside as a defensive back, but his skill set at quarterback probably isn’t enough to get him drafted.

But Marshall did participate in the Senior Bowl as a cornerback, voluntarily practicing all week at the position despite little preparation and the risk of getting exposed. He also will work through defensive back drills on the side for several NFL teams at the Combine, though he won’t participate in on-the-field drills with the position group.

“He had the guts to come out to the Senior Bowl and roll the dice a little bit with about five days of practice at corner,” NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock said of Marshall, according to AL.com.

“Now, I know he played as a freshman and all that but to have the guts to roll out there and say I’m going to go cover some of the best wide outs in football coming off playing quarterback the last few years, that showed me something. And I liked it.”

Mayock also said he doesn’t anticipate many NFL teams being interested in watching Marshall throw at the Combine.

Marshall has given public indications he’s more than willing to switch back to corner and backed it up at the Senior Bowl. He’s earned the right to throw in front of NFL scouts if that’s what he wants to do. This doesn’t feel like Marshall is having second thoughts about the career move. More like he just wants the opportunity, however bleak it seems, to change the NFL’s mind before accepting his fate and moving forward.

Marshall, recruited as a four-star cornerback at Georgia as part of the 2011 signing class, has worked with former NFL assistant and Rutgers head coach Doug Graber on shaking off the rust since the Senior Bowl, so it’s not as if he’s abandoned his progression or sacrificed the chance to get better in favor of chasing an unlikely dream.

As a cornerback, Marshall currently projects as a third-day pick.